Scope of Work

Graphic Identity
Polygraphic Design
Type Design
Letterings
Navigation
Interior Layout
Photography
Videography

madeprogram.it

Made in 28 days
Siracusa, Italy

For most people, the place where they were born holds a particular emotional weight. Leaving it — especially right after finishing school — is rarely simple. Over the past years, around forty international students from different cities, countries and cultural backgrounds have joined the MADE Program in Siracusa.
We decided to transform this experience of "moving away from home" into a visual narrative: simple, clear and honest. First for the visitors of the Confartigianato event, and more importantly for the students themselves, who had never seen their geographical stories mapped from the perspective of the university.

As our conceptual anchor, we turned to an element already present in the university’s identity — the orange circle. We interpreted it simultaneously as the Sicilian sun, as a symbol of circularity (a reminder that nothing is permanent), and as a metaphor for existing between two familiar places: home and MADE.
This became the foundation for a graphic language built around dots and circular geometry. Each dot represented a hometown. Through visual experimentation, we connected these points in several ways to articulate different nuances of the students' journeys.

A unifying circle — We gathered the individual dots into one large orange circle — echoing the MADE logo and forming a multilayered graphic element. This mark can serve as an alternative signature for international workshops or off-site events.
Linear connections — Simple straight lines connected point A (a student's hometown) to point B (MADE), expressing the most direct version of the journey.
Circular outlines — Additional circular contours reinforced the identity’s primary shape and reflected the emotional truth of relocation: even when far from home, we remain mentally connected, travelling back and forth — sometimes not in a straight line.

The resulting graphic system was applied across all communication materials: posters, banners, brochures, wall graphics, shoppers, T-shirts, stickers, social media and the website.
Initially, the university approached us with a modest request — to create a quick exterior styling for a pop-up event during a city festival. But we decided to go a step further. The constraints were tight: limited space, no time for large-scale production, no budget for costly materials, and no desire to do something ordinary.
So we worked within the limitations — and gently overdid everything.
Over the course of a month, we created more than 150 sticker variations, argued passionately, ate fourteen paninos together, spent too many nights working in the kitchen until 2AM, and finished an entire Instagram moodboard to keep our direction sharp.

The layout grid for the announcement poster and the thesis brochure follows MADE’s standard graphic structure. For workflow convenience, the initial design was created in A4 and later scaled to A3 for the poster and A5 for the brochure.
Grid specifications (pt) — 6 columns: 85.736 width, 10.242 gutter, 14.823 margins; 18 vertical blocks: each 37.847 height, 8.086 gutter.
The map poster relied on a simplified six-column grid, used only for the lower captions with approximately an 8% gutter.
To project the identity onto the building facade, we used 38 orange circular stickers, each 9 cm in diameter. Their placement was guided by a 3D layout sketch developed by Ambra, prepared to present both interior and exterior graphics to the university.
Across all elements, we maximised the use of circles and the signature orange hue — at once the brightest and most recognisable part of the identity, and visually suitable for silkscreen printing, wall graphics and small-format materials.

"MADE" stands for both "product" or "manufactured" and "Mediterranean Arts & Design Program."
MADE is the first academy of its kind in Italy operating at the intersection of design, art, craft and local cultural traditions. Located in Siracusa, it serves as an active platform invested in the cultural and creative potential of the South — a region often overlooked.
From the beginning, the academy has prioritised strong international partnerships. Faculty members come from different parts of the world; exchange programs connect the school with foreign universities; and the English-language Summer School positions MADE as the first step in a potentially expansive professional journey.

We developed what we called a "sound spectrum" — a colour system that moved from the warm tones of the stone to slightly cooler shades of blue, with accent colours taken from traditional Sicilian ceramics and textiles. The palette was subdued enough to blend with Italian architecture during the day, yet vibrant enough to suit the visual demands of electronic music culture.

We had to keep last year’s logo due to the legalisation of the festival itself but it is abstract enough and can work in different moods. Simple enough to work on a fabric wristband, elegant enough to be recognised when carved into stone [which we might actually do for future permanent signage].

We took our own arka Sans font and adapted its forms to the tasks that this particular project required of us. The font should be interesting, so that you would want to look at it; it should be adapted to many tasks and medias: from small Instagram signs to banners where the inscriptions will be half a meter high. And it has to be perfectly made on a technical level, so that the thickness of the characters, proportions, and kerning are accurate
We edited most of the glyphs so that the mood of the font was more "fluid" and rhythmic. The glyphs -BCDGJOQSU- became vertically asymmetrical, so that their bottom is wider than the top, because of this they hold on to the baseline more clearly. And we also changed the rounded forms of the glyphs -CDGOQS- by 8%, now they look more like a drop of water, even if it is not visible in the text.

Social media for music festivals is typically a fire hose of content — artist announcements, lineup reveals, behind-the-scenes footage, and an endless stream of "ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?" posts. For the Ortigia Music Festival, we needed a digital presence that could cut through the noise of other festivals while honouring both the electronic music scene and the historical setting.
The main focus was on the font and the main information [and usually secondary] inscriptions, be it an artist, a location name, or a schedule. This helped to clearly communicate the main information of the festival in the tight deadlines we had to work in. Hand-drawn background textures as support for the main identity were used only as support for the media and never as the primary graphics. This helped to create a multi-layered graphic even in cases where the texture almost merges with the background.

Stories are a much faster format, even compared to short videos on TikTok and Reels on Instagram. In this regard, they must be understandable and visually clean, but at the same time bright and catchy, so that a person wants to stop and look at each individual story. We made dozens of hand-drawn letterings "Sold Out!", "90% Sold Out!", "10% Left!", "20% Left!", "HALF LEFT", etc. to highlight the most important information. In essence, we make people stop, forcibly tear them out of the usual rhythm of scrolling stories and make them look closely at the graphics, read the text, and understand what is written in the lettering.

Italian summers are not as pleasant as you may think. The heat doesn’t just warm you up, it changes. Colours change. Materials behave differently. Human patience works differently. Any visual identity designed for a Mediterranean summer festival needs to take these environmental factors into account.
We tested physical materials in conditions that simulate summer. Fabric dyes, printed graphics, fabrics, LEDs, etc. were tested for colour burn and fastness under intense sunlight, for adhesion, for stability in high temperatures. For us this wasn’t just a technical test, it was cultural respect.
The design system was designed with the understanding that it actually improves in harsh summer conditions. Warm colours became more vibrant under the bright sun. The dark blue background of the street signs created a stronger contrast against the bright white walls of the houses in the sun. The contrast of colours, typography, and backgrounds, which can seem harsh in northern Europe, provided the necessary readability in the bright Sicilian summer sun.