Designer shopping

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The latest project promoted by Pixartprinting as part of its content creation strategy involves an unusual tour of Milan, in search of the city's historic signs. The company is continuing its quest to produce non-commercial content to spread the word on topics related to the world of design, printing and graphic design. The Milan Re-Tale page provides visitors with a visual itinerary that takes them on a ‘typographical shopping trip’, illustrating the variety of styles and the creativity involved in producing the ancient signs for the city's shops and boutiques. In this project, Pixartprinting has once again revealed its innovative spirit, which goes far beyond its core business to incorporate various means of communication and content sharing.

From 19th century embellishment to art nouveau typefaces, and from refined golden letters to the work of old sign painters, the 30 shots by photographer Marco Valmarana combine to produce an absorbing piece of visual storytelling.

And it is not just the shops emblazoned with lettering that feature in Milan Re-Tale: the owners are also shown in the images, standing in front of their shop windows and bearing witness to the amount of passion for the business passed down through the generations. Each photo is accompanied by a tale that reveals interesting facts, such as, for example, the origins of the oldest bookshop in Italy or the bar where the first house aperitif was invented.

‘Signs are important pieces of cultural and aesthetic heritage for cities. Through the Milan Re-Tale project we wanted to create a meeting point between a past which is still strongly imprinted in the collective imagination and the vibrancy of contemporary creativity,’ stated Andrea Pizzola, sales and marketing director at Pixartprinting. ‘Today the visual communication used by retail outlets has abandoned artisan methods in favour of industrial production techniques. But the design element can still draw on the immense historic expertise we have narrated in this project.’