Il Moderno d’Autore was not a furniture brand but a contemporary furniture fair, “Rassegna d’arredamento contemporaneo,” held in Modena, Italy, and promoted by the exhibition organizer Modena Esposizioni. Its visual identity is documented through a 1991 promotional poster designed by the Italian graphic designer A. G. Fronzoni (1923-2002), a figure known for his work in industrial, graphic and exhibition design as well as architecture. The poster is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. [1] [2]
Design and History
Fronzoni created the poster for “Il moderno d’autore” (Author’s Modern) in 1991, the same year he produced a companion poster for Modena Esposizioni’s antique fair, V Modenantiquaria. The poster measures 99 by 68.5 cm. [2] [3]
According to the Italian Graphic Design Archive, Fronzoni combined two distorted letters in the poster: the “M” of “modern” and the “d” for “of author,” generating a new arrow-like sign. [2]
Meaning and Symbolism
The arrow-like mark created from the “M” and “d” letters functions as a graphic synthesis of the event’s name, “Il moderno d’autore.” Rather than depicting furniture or products, the poster relies on the typographic construction to convey the fair’s identity. [2]
Typography and Design
The design is built entirely from typographic elements. Fronzoni distorted the letters “M” and “d” to create the arrow-like sign, a treatment consistent with his broader approach to poster design for Modena Esposizioni. In the same year, for the V Modenantiquaria poster, he cut parts of the letters of the event name to make them resemble ancient ruins, graphically suggesting the idea of antiquity. [2] [3]
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