Historic opinions

Tratto met the opinions of the great names in Italian graphics, Giancarlo Iliprandi, Graphic artist and Italian graphics historian, and Alfonso Grassi, Designer.

Who is Giancarlo Iliprandi

Anty Pansera: " Giancarlo Iliprandi, a leader in Italian graphics who dedicated life and spirit to designing and supporting this discipline. He won two Compasso d'Oro in 1979: one for the dashboard instruments, the interface of the 131 Fiat externally designed by Rodolfo Boretto, the other for the module feature. An incredibly innovative feature which, unfortunately, was unsuccessful".

Giancarlo Iliprandi: "The module feature was innovative but, let's say, controversial. Because it wasn't designed according to the rules, still followed, in feature design, that includes continuous adjustments, corrections, tapering and, in some points, different depths, it was all perfectly geometric, the approach between lettering and spacing was calculated with fixed models. It wasn't, therefore, a full design model".

Anty Pansera: "A very essential feature, minimalist, that lends well to Tratto and the climate of those years". Giancarlo Iliprandi: "Yes, it was the "less is more" climate of those years. Tratto is an example, an example of the simplified, essential things that offered much more than redundant or exaggerated designs".

The Tratto designer

Anty Pansera: "Why Tratto Pen? ".

Giancarlo Iliprandi: "As a designer, Tratto Pen caught my attention and still does. Today, it is still one of the pens I always carry with me, especially since its disadvantage is, in reality, its great advantage: it is a pen that can easily double as a watercolour. This quirk probably doesn't interest those who use it to write but it is very important for a designer. I remember those years well, exciting thanks to the opening of the Urbino ISIA project, the graphic arts school, in 18974: many people think that the 60's were more prolific but the 70's were on the same level. I remember them well because Marco Del Corno was with be at ADI, on the professional problem committee, and thus we were there for the birth of the Tratto Pen. An admirable pen, all-Italian, that replaced other ways to write and draw: a new word was created, for both the shape and for ink".

Who is Alfonso Grassi

Anty Pansera: " Alfonso Grassi, a designer then identified with Meed Design and who now means Grassi and Logrand Associates: in the 70's your organisation was much larger with many more employees and less elastic but, in the 90's, it started to become more flexible, modifying operating space and group aspects that now expand and retract with greater flexibility. In the 70's it designed two evergreen objects, the be alcohol and disposable razor in addition to working on projects that are still visible like the pedestrian pavement in Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Milan".

Alfonso Grassi: "They were years when trends and fashion inflated every object, especially in the furniture sector. The Bic razor, like the Tratto Pen, are minimalist objects, simple, elementary. Bic weighs four grams, coloured black and white to help it stand out against the shower floor. Therefore it offers physical and moral serenity and is easy to use, thanks to the excellent grip. Then like now, these are key qualities: remember that in the USA, the consumers' union focuses on protecting individuals when using daily objects".

What is Tratto Pen

Anty Pansera: "Tratto Pen. Why has it been successful for thirty years?"

Alfonso Grassi, Designer: "Bic came before Tratto Pen, something else, another story. Tratto Pen was and is a perfect object, with these small teeth that prevent it from rolling, it is a fantastic object because it is easy to open and close. It was a perfect object for a designer of that period. This is the truth. Nothing could be less than this and better than this".

Anty Pansera: "We are in the computer era. Is there a risk that Tratto Pen, that the pen, as a traditional writing tool, disappears?".

Alfonso Grassi: "Tratto Pen will never be replaced by the computer. This object is an extension of the finger and mind, connected to the finger; and this is the perfection of its design. Whoever thinks the computer can replace the mind is wrong. It is a mechanical object, rather stupid. We have a dozen and only work on that one, but everything is born from this pen, from a mark, in this case a Tratto Pen, still a mark of man".