Leonardo Sonnoli collaborates together with Sara Fanelli and George Hardie on the design of the fourth annual If You Could Collaborate exhibition.

Hardie explains here the reason for the collaboration:
“In 2003 Leonardo Sonnoli, the Italian typographer,  took me out for shopping in Rimini. We discovered an ancient stationery shop, with a box of huge rubber number stamps.  Leonardo asked me whether the owner had the matching letters.  The proprietor explained, apologetically, that because there are 26 letters in the alphabet, he had never felt that he could afford to stock letters. He just deals with numbers, which are cheaper because there are only ten. On the same day we bought some vintage exercise books for Sara Fanelli.
Fanelli, Hardie and Sonnoli now are working together in order to come up, not with the usual 26 letter consequential alphabet, but the bargain version. ‘ Cheaper because there are only Ten’.”

If You Could Collaborate is a self initiated project by London-based art directors Will Hudson and Alex Bec.
The contributors have been challenged to produce something a little unexpected, by working with a partner from any discipline, profession or background. There is no brief to answer, or format to honour.
The exhibition will present the work produced by all 33 teams at the A Foundation Gallery, Rochelle School in London. The work ranges from classic framed pieces, to more ambitious, experimental sculpture, film and installation. The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue. 
15 — 23 January 2010, 12–6pm
(open late on 21 January, 12–9pm)
A Foundation Gallery at Rochelle School, London E2 7ES.

From Nov 6 to Dec 14 2009, at Parsons The New School for Design in New York, there has been the exhibition/installation “Control:Print.
Considering the Future of Ink on Paper
Exploring the Intersection of Design, Craft and Technology”, curated by Lucille Tenazas following the exhibition at the RCA in London.

Leonardo Sonnoli has been one of the designers and artists invited to interpret the topic. The result has been a large size poster printed live during the exhibition.Remotely participating designers include Bruno Monguzzi (Italy/Switzerland) and Catherine Zask (France) who contributed by sending their poster design files for output on the large format printer as a performative exhibition piece.The color plotter faced the street (located on the corner of 13th Street and 5th Avenue in Greenwich Village).

The Saba Cultural and Artistic Institute, under supervision of Iranian Academy of Arts with collaboration of Iranian Graphic Designers Society (IGDS) organized ” The 3rd International Graphic Biennial of the Islamic World”.
The biennial consists of 4 categories: Posters, Book covers, Logotypes, Poster on Palestine. 2235 works have been received from 37 countries in which 447 works have been selected for the final jury and the exhibition, at the end of November.

Leonardo Sonnoli took part at the jury who gave the first prize for the poster section at the surprising Shahrzad Changalvaee (see poster abow).

In the cover section Saed Meshki confirmed his great known ability.
The jury for the Poster on Palestine has been the more discussed but at the same time more interesting.

2009″ Taiwan International Poster and CI Design Award” was sponsored by the Department of Commerce, MOEA, endorsed by ICOGRADA and JAGDA. More than 1,750 design works were submitted from 41 different countries and regions.
The competition is divided into the Taiwan International Poster Design Award and the Taiwan International CI Design Award.
Stefan Sagmeister got the Grand Prix for his ButtonFly poster for the Levi’s and Leonardo Sonnoli the ICOGRADA Excellence Award for the identity of the Napoli Teatro Festival Italia developed in the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
In the Corporate Identity section, the communication designed for the contemporary art gallery Cardi Black Box by Leonardo Sonnoli, won the Bronze medal.

Leonardo Sonnoli got the third prize at the 16th Biennial Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition at Colorado State University, Fort Collins (USA).
The poster awarded is titled “15″ and has been designed in occasion of the Sonnoli’s exhibition at the RISD, Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence.
The exhibition is open Oct. 3 through Dec. 22 2009 in the University Art Museum at the University Center for the Arts.
The Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition was founded in 1979 at Colorado State and highlights excellence in poster design from leading and emerging graphic designers from around the globe. The 16th edition is featuring works of 82 artists from 28 countries.
The german Uwe Loesch got the first prize and the swiss Ralph Schraivogel the second.

For its 10th anniversary the italian edition of the famous men’s magazine GQ, will be issued in ten different covers.
The editor, Michele Lupi, asked the solution to 10 celebrated authors:

- Marian Bantjes
- Chip Kidd
- Experimental JetSet
- Alex Trochut
- Louise Fili
- Matteo Bologna / Mucca Design
- Milton Glaser
- Ken Barber (House Industries)
- Neville Brody
- Leonardo Sonnoli (cover in the pict)

Unit Editions has launched the book Studio Culture: The Secret Life of the Graphic Design Studio. It provides a unique glimpse into the inner workings of 28 leading graphic design studios.
In a series of penetrating interviews, the mechanics of building and maintaining a vibrant studio culture are laid bare. Among the 28 studios: Doyle Partners (US) – Stephen Doyle
Experimental Jetset (NL), Fuel (UK), Lehni-Trub (CH), Nakajima Design (JP), Pentagram (US) – Paula Scher, Practise (UK) – James Goggin, Research Studios (UK) – Neville Brody
ShaughnessyWorks (UK) – Adrian Shaughnessy, Spin (UK) – Tony Brook, Tassinari/Vetta (IT) – Leonardo Sonnoli, Walker Arts Center (US) – Andrew Blauvelt
The launch has been done at the beautiful venue of the Haunch of Venison in London, on the 22 Sept. during the London design week
Foreword by Ben Bos, Introduction by Adrian Shaughnessy, Design by Spin. See more at www.uniteditions.com

in the pict, L/R: George Hardie, Tony Brook, Leonardo Sonnoli

The essay “You: The Updated Owner’s Manual” by William Saletan, published on the New York Times Book Review in this first week of August 2009, explore the relationship between the new technologies and our body explaining how biotechnology is ushering in changes that sound freakish today but will soon seem utterly normal.
The initial letter of the article, designed by Leonardo Sonnoli, shows an echogram of a “t”. An “illuminated” letter combining in itself the body, the technology and the future.

From June 26 to July 24, 2009, at the Tassinari/Vetta oce in Trieste, 16, via Rossini, there will be the first exhibition in Italy of Paula Scher’s posters and Paul Cox’s illustrations on posters and books, curated by Leonardo Sonnoli.

Opening on June 26at 7.30 pm.

A poster designed by Leonardo Sonnoli will be available for free.
The exhibition has been organized in collaboration with Isia Urbino and AGI-Alliance Graphique Internationale.

info: tel +39 040 3498206
posta@tassinarivetta.it

On 10th of June 2009, Leonardo Sonnoli has been invited to hold a lecture
on the Futurism Heritage in the Contemporary Typography
and Graphic Design at the Bezalel University in Jerusalem, Israel.

Starting from the first Marinetti Manifesto, issued 100 years ago,
the lecture explores the mains seminal experiences that influenced the nowadays typographic concept.

see also:
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1093046.html