When we decided to establish our firm, back in 1998, we were enthusiastic, full of dreams and only slightly scared, but rather from bureaucracy than from work.
We chose the name Quaderno Corporate Design because there were four of us (quattro>quaderno) and because we wanted to evoke the warmth of a production that starts from scratch on a notebook (quaderno), with a sketch by hand, and that keeps the human being on the foreground —be it the person who inquires, the client, or the person who listens, the designer.
In 2000 we changed the name of the brand to +39 Design Management because our work was opening itself to the world (+39 is Italy’s international phone code) and it was a good way to announce that we, from Italy, were ready to spread our country’s skills and knowledge.
20 years now.
Our 15th anniversary has come a little as a surprise in 2018, since we have been constantly busy taking new challenges. We have not won all of them, but we still do burst with enthusiasm every single time a new challenge shows up around the corner —with a pure, selfless enthusiasm that always prevails.
Here are our ‘first’ 20 years.
Alessandra Chiti
She obtained her Architecture degree from the Politecnico di Milano in 1990. She worked until 1996 in the Ufficio Pubblicità e Immagine (Advertisement and Communication Department), first at the Alfa Romeo headquarters, in Arese, and later at the Fiat Auto headquarters, in Turin. She was responsible for the concept and organization of events that ranged from stands in international trade shows to the launch of new car models.
During those years she had the opportunity to work with some of the most interesting firms of contemporary architecture: Renzo Piano’s team for the remodeling and the inauguration of the old Lingotto factory, Pierluigi Cerri’s studio for the international design shows dedicated to the Alfa Romeo brand.
From 1996 to 1998 she worked as a freelancer. She managed different events for the Fiat Group: launches of new models and international contests for car racing, Velocità Turismo, ITC e DTM (Alfa Corse) all over Europe.
In 1998 she was a founding member of the Quaderno Corporate Design society, which later changed its name to the present +39 Design Management.
Fabio Antinori
At the end of the eighties he started working as a set designer for Italian television programs such as Fantastico, among other productions for the RAI Radio Televisione Italiana. He also worked in Rome and Milan in the making of advertisement spots for film production companies such as Filmaster.
Before 1998, the year of the firm’s establishment, he worked as a freelancer for the Fiat Group in the design of stands and scenographical sets used for the launch of new products, for conventions and for cultural events.
Due to his long experience in the world of entertainment, he was able to propose an avant-la-lettre use of innovative solutions that had strong visual effects, both in a scenographical sense and in relation to new interactive techniques.
His permanent quest for innovative systems produces in his projects a formal synthesis that blends technology and esthetics with, often, a strong underlying emotional commitment.