BCBF Visual Identity Workshop

Il Visual Identity Workshop (VIWS) nasce nel 2017 dalla volontà di arricchire ogni anno l’immagine della Bologna Children’s Book Fair attraverso il coinvolgimento di giovani illustratrici e illustratori selezionati tra i 300 finalisti e gli 80 vincitori della Bologna Illustrators Exhibition.

Dovrebbe chiamarsi “Visual Imagination Workshop”, poiché mette in discussione l’idea di identità basata su una singola illustrazione con formato, colore e forma ben definiti. Non è facile:

“[...] imagine [...] it isn’t hard to do [...]
You, you may say I’m a dreamer,
but I’m not the only one [...]”.

Il VIWS è basato su attività pratiche che hanno l’obiettivo di indagare e sviscerare il tema dell’anno. Esplorare gli elementi visivi e strutturali che lo caratterizzano. Comprendere come questi elementi si possono mettere in relazione tra loro attraverso una matrice che, condivisa con il gruppo di lavoro, soddisfi la molteplicità delle esigenze comunicative della Bologna Children’s Book Fair e garantisca il rispetto del lavoro dell’illustratore.

Il VIWS è guidato da Beppe Chia. Oltre all’illustratore o l’illustratrice selezionati, vi partecipano Alex Weste, Jessica Cantoni e Michele Tomasini di Chialab, insieme ad alcuni ospiti.

Mr. Brandmark loves difference. Once upon a time, there was a red circle and an orange one. The red one had two small red triangles touching its circumference. The little triangles and the two circles were supported by four magenta-colored diamonds. The diamonds, in pairs, balanced upon an orange rectangle and a red one. This whole orderly architecture went by the name of Mr. Brandmark, and it was the sole emblem of the largest children’s book fair in the world.

Every spring, beneath arcades and exhibition halls, it welcomed masters of color, type, images, and stories. A great bustle of curious people spilled into the squares. Mr. Brandmark, hieratic and indolent like all brandmarks, kept his geometric posture, letting things happen around him. Everything worked, everything was in its place.

But then it happened: a handful of illustronomist designers, followers of the movement If it works, it is obsolete, were entrusted with the care of Mr. Brandmark. They precisely defined his contours, his colors, and his rigorously white clear space. Mr. Brandmark said nothing. Taking advantage of his silence, they first placed him alongside some strange typographic characters, and then with a troupe of icons disguised as fairy-tale figures. At one point, the slogan We love difference appeared. Mr. Brandmark was delighted: from taciturn he became talkative, and with every spring he asked for new clothes, a new visual identity.

So the illustronomist designers began inviting young visionaries from different parts of the world into their workshop. Illustrators were welcomed into the Bologna Children’s Book Fair Visual Identity Workshop, where one would draw, cut, sew, and tell the story of a different, tailor-made garment.

Everyone took delight in it, and with every spring they began to expect a new story. All it took was turning the page.

Tratto da “10 Vision 2017-2026.
The Open Visual Identity of Bologna Children’s Book Fair”
il volume in cui abbiamo raccontato i 10 anni del VIWS.