Branding Project
Own the O: Reframing Olivetti’s Legacy
Created for:
Fondazione Natale Capellaro
in collaboration with
Fabio Ferrero, Ilaria Bocca, Antonio Iorio
Role:
Tools:
Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Figma
A rebranding project for the newly renamed Museo Innovazione Olivetti in Ivrea. The goal was to create a bold, flexible identity that pays homage to Olivetti’s 117-year visual legacy while establishing the museum as a forward-looking educational and cultural space.
The Challenge
The museum had recently secured rights to the name “Museo Innovazione Olivetti” after a deal with TIM. It needed an identity that reflected its connection to Olivetti while asserting its own distinct cultural presence. Limitations included brand mark restrictions from Olivetti and internal attachment to the original brand heritage.
Concept & Strategy
Through interviews and surveys, we learned the museum needed to feel educational, inclusive, and future-facing, while grounded in its archival mission. We developed a modular identity centered around the letter “O” — referencing Olivetti’s evolving logo forms over 117 years. Each “O” variation visually symbolizes a different phase of the brand’s history, and metaphorically, a path toward innovation and new generations.
A key insight came from the acronym MIO (Museo Innovazione Olivetti), which in Italian means “mine.” This allowed us to subtly position the museum as a space of collective ownership — suggesting that Olivetti’s legacy is not just a corporate archive, but a shared cultural heritage that belongs to everyone.
Video by Fabio Ferrero
Visual Development
& Design System
The typeface FormaDJR was selected for the logo due to budget constraints and aesthetic compatibility. Manrope supports secondary content. Colors were sampled from iconic Olivetti products (Lettera22, Valentine, Divisumma) and amplified to create a bold, contemporary palette. The logo’s grid informed poster layouts, visual hierarchy, and system modularity. A photographic treatment system ensures brand consistency across media.
Execution & Deliverables
Primary and secondary logo versions for web and print
Color palette inspired by historic products
Layout templates based on the logo’s geometric grid
Photo filters (grayscale, tinted, and original-preserving treatments)
Full brand identity and usage guidelines deck
The project was well received by younger stakeholders, while some resistance came from older members still attached to the historical Olivetti identity. This project has been made as charitable support activity from the Arduino Design Team, and its results are still under evaluation by the museum association.
Lessons & Next Steps
Working on a culturally significant brand outside regular work hours showed the power of design in bridging generations. The biggest takeaway: visual systems can honor the past while guiding institutions into the future. The next step is to support the museum with freelance recommendations for future visual evolution.
It was an honor to reinterpret one of Italy’s most iconic brands through a new lens — not by copying, but by extending its story through education, inclusivity, and imagination.
