About the Journal

PROGETTO GRAFICO is a peer-reviewed, half-yearly scientific journal, founded in 2003 and classified as a Class A journal in the ANVUR lists for the design area. Beginning with issue 41, the journal has inaugurated a new editorial phase, featuring a renewed project designed to address the emerging needs of the national and international scholarly community in communication design.

PROGETTO GRAFICO wants to offer a comprehensive view of the past, present, and future of visual communication design. It encourages scientific debate – through a critical approach – on emerging trends, innovative methodologies, challenges, and opportunities within and across the design discipline.

The journal welcomes theoretical, visual, and experimental contributions, fostering interdisciplinary approaches and critical perspectives on contemporary visual design culture. The thematic structure of the project is rooted in two cross-cutting dimensions of investigation: (i) Exploring interdisciplinarity; (ii) Elevating the cultural tradition of Italian graphic design.

 

The interdisciplinary dimension of graphic design

Visual communication design is inherently a convergence of diverse disciplines, is a space in which linguistic codes, technologies, media, and knowledge coexist, overlap, and frequently hybridize. This plurality of knowledge and the fluidity of disciplinary and practical boundaries require a critical examination – both internal and external to the discipline – that reveals its multimodal and multimedia identity (Anceschi, 1981; 2012). At the same time, this process needs to map and systematize the several experiences, perspectives, and intersections between design and other disciplines.

The editorial proposal of PROGETTO GRAFICO embraces this interdisciplinary vocation, recognizing that graphic design thrives on influences from diverse fields. Interdisciplinarity in visual communication design represents an untapped means of connections, inspirations, and creative potential, and makes the design practice dynamically interact with disciplines such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, technology, art, environmental design, and new media studies (cf. Grimaldi, 2020; Piscitelli, 2015).

Reflecting on interdisciplinarity opens new perspectives on how visual communication design can be conceived, understood, practiced, and innovated.

 

The cultural dimension of graphic design

Visual communication design artifacts are multidimensional phenomena, whose histories are shaped by economic and social flows as well as technological, aesthetic, and linguistic orientations within specific cultural and territorial contexts. They are also opportunities for widespread techniques, technologies, and verbo-iconic languages (Bertola & Manzini, 2004) – both static and dynamic – to convey messages, suggest behaviors, share ideas, or explore phenomena (Falcinelli, 2014).

The history of Italian graphic design reflects this plurality of languages, themes, media, and technologies, drawing on the nation’s rich cultural and historical heritage. Iconic elements from art, architecture, fashion, and industrial design coexist with regional peculiarities that preserve a unique diversity. These artifacts represent an intellectual practice – a singular celebration of Italy’s multi-identity – incorporating distinctive visual and symbolic elements (Rauch, 2021).

Since 2009, AIAP’s Graphic Design Documentation Centre (AIAP CDPG) has sought to map the identities of Italian graphic design by identifying, collecting, and acquiring documentary materials, with a specific focus on typographic culture.

PROGETTO GRAFICO continues this historical research, expanding it to include other forms of visual communication design. It offers an analytical approach that critically balances the preservation of visual traditions and embraces innovative disciplinary practices and technologies.

The journal, therefore, seeks to elevate the territorial dimension of Italian graphic design and its intrinsic connections to artistic, cultural, historical, economic, and technological identities. It aims to become a repository of cataloging, mapping, and critical analysis of Italian traditions in visual communication design, fostering their understanding for an international audience, strengthening the global position of Italian graphic design, and offering a unique and recognizable perspective within the broader scientific literature.

The mission of the journal is to articulate these complex identities and themes, creating a space for critical reflection on the experimental, polysemic, and pervasive nature of Italian graphic design. The journal also aspires to strengthen global connections and effectively communicate these design experiences to an extensive audience that transcends national and disciplinary boundaries.

 

Objectives

The primary objective of the journal is to inspire and inform the scientific community and design professionals about the issues and challenges related to visual communication design on both national and international scales. Specifically, PROGETTO GRAFICO aims to:

  • Explore new disciplinary boundaries. Through scientific essays, static and dynamic graphic visualizations, and literature reviews, the journal will examine how graphic design interacts with other disciplines.
  • Promote excellence in Italian graphic design. In line with AIAP’s initiatives inaugurated in 2009 with the Historical Archive of Graphic Design, the journal will act as a reliable guide on Italian graph design, dynamically mapping and disseminating experimental case studies, offering critical insights, visualizations, and technological and applied analyses.
  • Provide a space for promotion and dialogue. The journal will encourage authors of research projects aligned with the themes of various “Calls for Contributions” to highlight their experimental nature, opening new perspectives for development and fostering the exchange of analyses and evaluations involving languages, media, techniques, technologies, and approaches to graphic design.
  • Establish a practical tool to affirm the academic recognition of graphic design. The contributions gathered in the journal will deepen the understanding and legitimacy of the multidimensional role and interdisciplinary strength of graphic design within the complex contemporary design landscape.
  • Facilitate dialogue between professionals and academics in design and other disciplines. By focusing on applied research, the journal will encourage collaboration and methodological hybridization across diverse contexts.
  • Propose thematic focuses shared by the scientific community. The journal will explore visual communication design in national and interdisciplinary contexts through thematic pathways suggested by the scientific committee, consolidating a network for the journal’s ongoing methodological, thematic, and analytical evolution.
  • Serve as an educational tool for students. By providing robust theoretical foundations for academic curricula and inviting contributions from early-career researchers, the journal will foster innovation and training.
  • Engage in international dialogue and respond to global trends. The journal aims to participate in international conversations, reflecting on cultural, aesthetic, and economic influences from around the world, and resonating with diverse audiences.