Làbora develops design training projects for both students and professionals,

with the goal of knocking down boundaries between different design fields.

April 8-14, 2010

Michele Bortolami

We founded Undesign in 2003.
We design identities: that is our job. Identity is the outward expression of a brand or a company: it includes everything, from the name to the symbol, from the visual aspects to the verbal ones.
It is made up of all the elements which combine to create a strong personality and define a characteristic style, thanks to which a brand or a company is recognized and chosen by its clients. When we work we take into consideration every aspect of the creative process because we are convinced that a carefully planned system of coordinated identity is best able to express all the care that a company takes every day in doing its work. We design identities, and we do it combining the functional, communicative, formal and emotional aspects.
Basing ourselves on the interrelation between design and branding, we created and follow an aesthetic programme defined as undesign, like the name we chose for our studio: un-design as the English term suggests, means a move towards an economy of form, by a process of subtraction. In short, design less, design better. This is the vision that we have embraced, based on a precise philosophy: our own. Pull down the wall of prejudice and work with an open and receptive spirit. Build the bridge between yourself and the world, create connections between thoughts and people. Give joy, work with passion and make your designs accessible. Design is for everyone.
We are undesigners and we design identities.

The students will be split in three classes. Every class will include fifteen students. Every class will be led by two professional designers.

1. Laboramos music
Simone Muscolino / Roberto Clemente

Fame: in english means the status of someone known or being talked about by all. In Italian means a condition of strong appetite, even in a metaphorical sense. If we do overlap the two meanings we'll have in English a result that could sound like Hungry for Fame: the spasmodic desire of being famous, to get your own 15 minutes of celebrity and maybe make them last for ever.
Students will be divided in groups: not simple groups of students but musical groups. To get their own 15 minutes of fame, they will design the cover of the 7inches record, the legendary 45 giri. The cover of the 7" is the platform for the graphic communication of their own brand: naming of the band, song title, infos.
But it's not so easy. They should cut a track with toy instruments. Some sounds will be recorded, and these sounds will be transformed into loops: the digital growing of the loop will give birth to the song.
Then students will write some lyrics (at least one sentence, or a sequence of words, a la Daft punk manner) that could be read by a syntetic voice or by a vocoder. And obviously they will choose the band name, they will draw the logo and produce the proper lettering.
Got to this point, they should support their career with some applications that could feed and vehicle the fame of the band. Some pins will be produced, to start. During the opening of the exhibition, the record covers will be enriched with tag rfid that could activate the audio files of the song.
Music, graphic and interaction design as ingredients to build your own 15 minutes of fame.

2. Unfolding identity

Men are not born, but fashioned – Erasmus of Rotterdam

Giorgio Olivero / Marco Ruffino

Like it or not, designers are a product and must advertise themselves.
We know that you feel quite intoxicated by the dull self repeating coverage about the usual design stars, but in the meanwhile Design Academies graduate thousands of fresh designers every year: this competiton is to be taken seriously if you want to stand out without drowning in ambient noise.
So you really need a portrait, soon you'll get a call from a journalist –hello! send me your bio and picture in half an hour, byebye– writing a piece about a project of yours on one trendy design magazine. Since it's not the 'photo-boot' picture quality that you're aiming for, you need something better, something different. We aren't even talking about a picture portrait. We won't be shooting images in order to experiment with other production tecniques.
Your self-protrait must not resemble simply your physical attributes, it needs to be an an icon of your attitude, your personal design ethos or even design manifesto. The aim of this brief is not an high fidelity representation but a communication weapon to keep yourself afloat in the fast contemporary networks of production, distribution and consumption of imagery. How far can you push this experiment in self-making?

3. Extreme brand identity
Michele Bortolami / Luca Macrì

What do they share Jim Morrison, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Marylin Monroe and James Dean?They are famous - for ever famous - and they are dead!
Don't wait to be dead to get the fame that you deserve!
Fame - extreme identity program allow you to get eternal fame before dying.
Don't wait to be dead to leave something memorable to your posterity, enroll now to "extreme brand identity" workshop of Làbora.
Set your coffin dress code. Bring with you: - a pair of blue jeans - your flag-color t-shirt (no brand - no images) - accessories to define your peculiarity (rings - piercings - glasses - belt etc..)
Design your "design oriented" gravestone, It will be in plexiglass, led enlightened, with your laser-embossed portrait. Write your epitaph, chose an appropriate font for it. Set your hair and make-up style.
Now you are ready for Fame. This is not for superstitious!

PEOPLE

Bellissimo - Roberto Clemente

Id-lab - Simone Muscolino

magmaprogetti - Luca Macrì

ToDo - Giorgio Olivero

Undesign - Michele Bortolami

yet|matilde - Marco Ruffino