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Marela is the brand identity developed in a ten-days workshop in Monesiglio (Cuneo- IT) organised by Banca del Fare in collaboration with MONO STUDIO and Laboratorio Zanna Dura.
The workshop consisted in the development of the brand identity of the Civic library dedicated to Maria Tarditi and situated in Monesiglio in the old factory that housed the town’s spinning mill: a final step of a long process of architectural redevelopment applied in different buildings of the town.
The identity is the result of a work with other six Graphic Design and Architecture students, Chiara Loi, Marta Dorin, Sara Biancifiori, Nora Grollero, Elena Carta e Federica Santoro, supported by the team of Banca del Fare, Ilaria Bossa from MONO STUDIO and Alice Lotti, graphic designer specialised on editorial design and wall painting.
The workshop included a final presentation of the results to the citizens of Monesiglio and a one-day screen printing workshop with Laboratorio Zanna Dura engaging with the young citizens of the town.
The project started with an immersion in the context of Monesiglio, visiting and studying the places and landscapes of the town and surroundings, but also understanding the history of the small town tailored in the silk production, chatting and interviewing the old and young citizens, discovering the origins of the spinning mall and the history of Maria Tarditi, her works, her books and stories related to the Piedmontese folklore.
The research ended up in a list of keywords that helped the definition of the name of the library.
After the development of the logo and the brand identity, the team got involved in sharing the results to the citizens, culminating the dialogue with the civic community through a printing workshop, with Laboratorio Zanna Dura, where citizens and designer printed the logo on Canvas bags.
The name of the brand takes up the two main concepts that identity the project.
Marela means skein silk in Piedmontese dialect.
Marela is also a name which remembers by assonance Marì, the nickname of Maria Tarditi.
Besides the traditional elements of the brand identity the team included also all the items relevant for the library itself, such as Library cards, Bookmarks, Way finding elements, Letterheards and Internal notices, Identification badges, Calendars for weekly activities, “Ideas, Suggestion and Complaints” box (requested from the librarians as a way to increase the dialogue, collaboration and growth with the citizens who will use the service), Cataloging book system, Posters, Playbills and flyers.
Alice Lotti also contributed teaching how to design a geometrical artwork, resembling the pattern developed, to apply on the stained glass windows of the library.
