Graphic designer, architect, artist and photographer Franco Grignani (1908–1999) was a pioneering figure of mid 20th century Italian design. This talk will focus on his expressive and experimental use of type and graphics in advertising design from the late 1940s thru the 1970s. His work for companies such as Dompé Farmaceutici, Pure Virgin Wool, Pirelli, Pubblicità in Italia and the significant Milan printer Alfieri & Lacroix, is a bold and conscious effort to reject Swiss Constructivism, what he referred to as a “typographical straightjacket” in favor of a more artistic, experimental approach to typography, visual forms and the rules of perception. His distinctive graphic language explores speed, technology and modernity using fragmented and distorted type, optical effects, tension, altered geometry and abstract photography – a visual treat featuring a collection of rarely seen work.