The Birth Of The Nuova Simonelli Monogram. Design With Innovation And Tradition.
For more than 85 years, Nuova Simonelli has been writing important pages in the history of espresso coffee machines. Ever since its founding, the cornerstone of its key point of its production has always been easy-to-use technology. It’s a brand that has managed to conquer the bars of chains, roasters, restaurants and hotels in more than 125 countries of the world exactly because of the attention to that technological innovation for an outstanding result in the cup – simply and quickly.
Original drawing paper of logo design by Carlo Viglino in 1975
The brand came into being in 1936 under the name of Simonelli, then to become Nuova Simonelli in 1972. “When we acquired the trademark, we chose to keep ‘Simonelli’ as a sign of the success of that initial period. Nuova Simonelli is therefore a brand that is both connected to tradition – and thus recalls the name of the founder (Simonelli) and that looks to the future (Nuova [New]) – remembers Nando Ottavi, Chairman of Simonelli Group, the company that owns the trademark. “In the first years we pursued continuity, then the logo was created in 1975, when the first real Nuova Simonelli machine was presented to the market, the ISX. The design of the machine was so innovative that the industrial designer Carlo Viglino suggested that we rebranded for the launch of the ISX – explains Ottavi. “In fact, when we took over the company, we concentrated all our energy on the development of a technical and sales network that would make us able to face the new markets, along with machines that were more innovative, easier to use and which had polished design”.
“The further into the Seventies we went, the more we entered into the Postmodernism where graphic designers opened the path of symbolism. That’s where I started with the design of what for fifty years has been the Nuova Simonelli logo” – recounts Carlo Viglino, the industrial designer who branded the design of the Nuova Simonelli coffee machines. “I started with the initials, an N and an S, positioned inside a grid, one following the other. I used this to design the frame, the bone structure and hence the thickness, without adding embellishments or decorations. Then, in line with the principal trends of the time, I superimposed the two letters, highlighting some negative spaces to make them emerge more, and slightly softening the corners. The final result was thus a monogram, i.e., two joined and superimposed letters, to form a single graphic sign that represented the brand. The monogram also underlines the combination of new innovative vision of the present owner (NUOVA) and tradition (SIMONELLI). Within the symbol, some people also see two arrows that are expanding like a prophetic sign of a brand that would grow strongly and that would make its name throughout the world – continues Viglino.
“For the logotype, I chose a font that was extremely legible, clean, simple and recognisable – just like Nuova Simonelli machines”.
The monogram and the logo have always branded all Nuova Simonelli machines. Small updates were made in the early 90s, but without distorting the original structure, when the red colour and the payoff were introduced.
Other updates were also made for the launch of the first Aurelia series Aurelia in 2003, when the monogram was slightly tilted and lightened, highlighting only the external lines. In the logotype, the word “Simonelli” was given more emphasis and highlighted in red.
Between the first and the second decades of the 21st century, further updates were made that saw the return of the monogram to its original position, with a new payoff.
