It’s no secret I love stationery. I’ve amassed quite a collection over the years, and am always on the hunt for interesting pieces to add to it. You name it, and I probably have an example of it – everything from Victorian (I know but my mom gave it to me) to hand marbled Florentine papers to letterpress kitsch. Lately I’ve been obsessed with vintage Italian typography in all forms – from signage to packaging design. You may have seen our post on the Perfetto! pencils and packaging we scored earlier this year. Now I am obsessed with these Louise Fili notecards and packaging she designed for Princeton Architectural Press.
Called“Quattro Parole Italiane /4 Italian Words,” Fili pays homage to the anonymous designers of art deco Italian packaging. In her signature style, she’s illustrated four Italian words–ciao (hello), auguri (greetings), grazie (thank you), and prego (with pleasure). These simple words are a visual delight, combining type and design in a fun and fanciful collection and are the perfect addition to any collection of correspondence cards.
For those unfamiliar with her work, Louise Fili is a graphic designer specializing in logo, package, restaurant, type, and book design. She was art director of Pantheon Books from 1978 to 1989, where she designed a ton of book jackets. She’s received awards from every major design competition, taught and lectured on graphic design and typography, and has work featured in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and the Bibliotheque Nationale. She’s a modern day graphic design and typography icon.
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