Parola Amore

Pino Tovaglia was born in Milan in 1923. At the age of 14 he began working as a textile designer: thus began his exploration into the world of visual communication. In 1944 he attended the High School of Art at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, where he had Usellini and Carrà as teachers and became the assistant of the last one at the age of 19. After his first work experiences, Tovaglia embarked on a freelance career and, between 1945 and 1956, worked for Finmeccanica, taking care of an ad campaign that would confer him a mention on Graphis. In 1957 with Giulio Confalonieri, Ilio Negri and Michele Provinciali he founded the CNTP studio, a grand experiment that would be short-lived. Two years later he joined the Exibition Design research group with Coppola, Confalonieri, Grignani and Munari. From 1967 to 1970 he was art director of Pirelli; he was also in charge of the image of companies and publishing groups such as Ottagono, Alfa Romeo, Regione Lombardia (with Munari, Noorda and Sambonet), Fai, Fini, Touring Club, and of advertising campaigns for various companies. In 1968 he was president of the Art Directors' Club. His design journey continues between art and graphics with the three-dimensional design project AMORE, an experiment in typographic research, "based on the deep, non-linear reading of the letters" that make up the word A-M-O-R-E. A sculpture of LOVE is permanently displayed at the entrance to the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg. He died on November 30, 1977 at the age of 53, leaving behind the enormous contribution of his rigorous visual research.