MOLESKINE® presents Unleash Your Genius at MILANO DESIGN WEEK 2025

Handwriting—an act of creative expression and thoughtful reflection that deeply engages the brain—is the essence of Moleskine’s event at the upcoming Milan Design Week.

Renowned for its iconic notebooks, the brand presents an experiential installation project, inviting visitors on a captivating journey to discover and unleash the genius that lies within each of us.

At BASE, via Bergognone 34 in Milan.

Numerous scientific studies highlight how handwriting profoundly activates deep cognitive functions, enhances memory, sharpens concentration, and and fosters both emotional and mental well-being. In an increasingly digital world, the blank page emerges as a sanctuary for self-discovery, personal expression, and authentic human connection—a timeless space where thoughts crystallize into tangible form through the simplicity and power of the handwritten mark.

Through Unleash Your Genius, an immersive installation for Milan Design Week 2025, Moleskine® celebrates this essential link between creativity, handwriting, and innovation. A long-standing advocate for contemporary creativity, the brand has elevated the notebook once favored by artists and writers into a contemporary cultural icon.

Exploring the landscape of imagination

“We are thrilled to take part in Milan Design Week with this experiential installation. Moleskine celebrates human genius and the enduring power of pen and paper, The installation will be accompanied by a series of workshops focused on paper and the importance of continuing to write and draw by hand,” states Christophe Archaimbault, CEO of Moleskine. At BASE in Milan, visitors will embark on a dynamic exploration of creative expression—discovering the boundless energy behind sketches, drawings, calligraphy, and visual storytelling across analog, digital, and three-dimensional media.

Tony Pignatelli’s origami brain

Commanding the center stage is Tony Pignatelli’s breathtaking macro-origami sculpture crafted from Moleskine paper. This masterful representation of the human brain stands as a testament to the infinite potential of the human mind, embodying the profound connection between the physical act of writing and our capacity to imagine, learn, and innovate.

Surrounding this centerpiece, visitors are welcomed into an open creative laboratory where paper becomes a canvas for unlimited expression, awaiting to be transformed by ideas, marks, shapes, and words.

The wall of shared creativity

A striking wall composed entirely of Moleskine notebooks will evolve into a living, breathing mosaic of human creativity. This dynamic installation grows daily as visitors contribute their thoughts, sketches, and expressions, creating a collective dialogue about creativity, memory, and identity. Each turned page brings new transformation, as the installation continuously renews itself in an endless stream of analogic artistic expression and shared ideas.

Experiential Workshops

Throughout the event, an intensive program* of immersive activities invites visitors to bridge the analog and digital divide. These hands-on experiences reveal the transformative power of handwriting and drawing as gateway tools to enhanced thinking and conscious creation. Led by master artists and calligraphers, each workshop becomes a journey of discovery, where participants explore diverse writing techniques, lettering artistry, and paper crafting. Day by day, these collective experiences weave together into a rich tapestry of shared narrative and creative expression.

The magic of analog-to-digital transformation comes alive through demonstrations of the Moleskine Smart Writing System and Smart Pen. This innovative technology seamlessly captures every stroke made on paper and brings it to life in the digital realm. Through Bluetooth® technology and the invisible Ncode embedded within the Smart Notebook, Smart Cahier Journal, and Smart Planner, handwritten content flows effortlessly into the Moleskine Notes app. Here, ideas can be refined, preserved, and shared while maintaining the natural rhythm of creative flow. It’s a perfect harmony where digital technology doesn’t replace paper but rather amplifies its possibilities, becoming an invaluable creative companion.

Bespoke experiences

Within a carefully curated pop-up space, visitors can elevate their Moleskine pieces through refined personalization that celebrates the beauty of craftsmanship and individual expression. Exclusively for Milan Design Week, the pop-up showcases a coveted limited edition: a thoughtfully crafted creative kit that embodies the essence of Unleash Your Genius. Each kit pairs a specially designed notebook with a precision pen, enhanced with exclusive details that transform every page into an unexplored territory and every mark into a genuine expression of thought.

A dialogue for our times

Unleash Your Genius at Milan Design Week emerges as a profound response to our contemporary yearnings. It stands as Moleskine’s tribute to the deeply personal act of handwriting – a tactile, immersive experience that dissolves the barriers between ourselves, our ideas, and our intuitions. In this space, thought and gesture become one. The Moleskine notebook continues to embody a sacred personal realm where time expands and authentic expression flows freely, unfiltered and true. Even as it embraces the most advanced digital innovations, it remains a sanctuary of creative freedom – a space to be explored, experienced, and shared.

Where & When:
BASE Milano
Via Bergognone 34
Tortona District
Milan
Metro: M2 – Porta Genova
April 7-13 2025
Opening Time: 10 am – 8 pm

Moleskine®

Moleskine® was created as a brand in 1997, bringing back to life the nameless black notebooks used by writers and artists like Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin that had long gone out of print. Today, the Moleskine brand encompasses a family of objects that enhance productivity and creativity including notebooks, diaries, and planners, journals, bags, writing instruments, reading accessories, publishing and digital tools. The Moleskine brand is a worldwide presence thanks to over 50 Moleskine Stores.

The home office in Milan, Italy includes wholly owned subsidiaries, Moleskine America, Inc. (established in 2008), Moleskine Germany (2013), Moleskine APAC Ltd (2018) which includes Japan, and Moleskine China. (2019)

moleskine.com