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Sensitive to the cultural references of the times, with a range of different experiences under his belt, Massimo Osti intervenes on clothes as he does the environment, on the urban landscape as he does fabric, he grows passionate about politics and ecology. That Massimo is considered an “anomalous fashion designer” or simply “designer” as he personally liked to define himself, becomes clear to everybody when, in 1989, Piaggio asks him to redesign new models of the Vespa motor scooter for them. He likes to go beyond fashion and lend his abilities to other fields, sometimes for professional reasons, sometimes out of friendship. He designs safety backpacks for the Ministry of Transport, objects which schoolchildren should use while riding scooters. For his friends he designs the covers of albums and books, posters for films and theatre performances, he creates the logo for the first “free radio” in Italy, Radiocittà. He loves to involve the artists he admires in his work, he generously supports their projects. He mixes life, friends, passions and work, this is his method for feeling as though he is participating in the world that surrounds him and the culture of his times.
LOGO DESIGN The ideation of a new line is the result of a very clearly articulated creative process. The point of departure is often an apparently fortuitous intuition, a creative urgency born from an inspiration which is at times casual, at others the result of a long period of research, which then takes on its form through a complex process which mixes aesthetic sensibility with an understanding of systems of communication, developed by Massimo during his youthful experience in advertising, and the market. For him the creation of a brand begins with the desire to create a product with a strong identity, which is unlike anything else available on the market. When convinced of the validity of his idea he researches and personally chooses the new name, designs the logo and creates a marketing strategy: the identity of the product, innovation and communication are always developed hand in hand. Forced to change the name of his Chester Perry brand, he adopts an acronym and initially continues with the same logo with the new brand name inserted into the same life buoy design. Later a British sailor, with arms crossed, becomes the new protagonist of the brand, smiling, dependable and informal. Inspiration comes from one of the books of military uniforms which Massimo collects for the library in his studio. 3
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