
In just over two weeks, Salone del Mobile.Milano will open its doors for the 60th time. To celebrate and commemorate this 60th anniversary, Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile.Milano and the Board of Directors commissioned the multi-award-winning Italian illustrator and author, Emiliano Ponzi, to create a series of campaign posters – each one representing one decade of the exhibition’s history from the 1960s to the 2000s. The resulting collection comprises six posters celebrating the anniversary of the trade fair and cleverly illustrating its relationship with the city of Milan and how customs have evolved from 1961 to today.
The plan for unveiling the works – to introduce a new poster at the beginning of each month from January, quietly underscores the fact that Salone has been moved from its traditional dates in April to June 7th to June 12th this year. The move is perfectly understandable given that the 2021 edition was delayed from April to September due to the pandemic. An April date this year would have meant less than five months between the two; obviously not enough time for the exhibitors or the anticipated audience.
With his commission to create this year’s poster series, Emiliano Ponzi is following in the footsteps of illustrious predecessors such as Massimo Vignelli, Pierluigi Cerri, Guido Scarabottolo and Lorenzo Marini.
Famous for his essential, precise style and his quasi-metaphysical atmospheres, Ponzi’s signature is unmistakable in the works. In designing the posters, Ponzi chose to focus on an emotive rather than an informational approach, teasing out a common theme in terms of style and language that runs through each of the six illustrations. This allows them to work together to form a harmonious collection.
First, Ponzi elected to stay within a narrow color range for all six illustrations: the signature Salone del Mobile.Milano red and black, as well as white and gradations of these colors. He also works the number 60 into each design, commemorating the 60th edition of the fair. Finally, his inclusion of Milanese landmarks in each illustration highlights the strong relationship between the trade fair and its host city.
These posters break the mold of traditional publicity-campaign design by including augmented reality via QR code technology. When equipped with the requisite Salone del Mobile.Milano App the viewer uses their smartphone to scan the QR Code found at the bottom of each poster. Within a moment the illustration is transformed from a static, two-dimensional image into a moving illustration. To digitally transform 2D images into an animation Ponzi collaborated with Alkanoids, a Milanese studio specializing in 2D/3D animation, motion graphics and filmmaking. The resulting experience adds more fun than you might expect, so download the App using the QR Code nearby and see what we mean.
Upon the release of the first poster in January this year, Ponzi said, “Happy and honored to celebrate the @isaloniofficial 60th anniversary Edition with six original illustrations dedicated to the love for design and the city of Milano. The first one representing the 1960s was presented today.”

Discussing the second poster, meant to convey the spirit of the 1970s, Ponzi wrote, “I imagined Corso Sempione in Milano: a tram that arrives from the Arco della Pace and stops almost in the foreground. From the illuminated intersection on the right, two kids arrive running to be able to get on board before the tram restarts. There are more or less explicit elements that help to clarify the historical moment in which we find ourselves: the use of black and white, the cars lined up next to the tram, the clothing and the attitude of the two figures that refers us to an imaginary seventies. Through the animation of the poster in its augmented reality version, the hippie aspect is further amplified into a “flower power” meaning, through the great work of Alkanoids.”

The third poster representing the 1980s was unveiled in March this year. At the time, Ponzi wrote, “I wanted to convey the energy and mood of what is called ‘La Milano da bere,’ that time in Italian history during the 80s where a certain way of living was made of fashion parties, aperitifs, people attending cool clubs and a general magical vibe surrounding the city of Milano.”

In April, Ponzi unveiled the fourth poster in the series, depicting Salone del Mobile’s journey through the 1990s. By the 90s, the fair was very well-established in the community, having enjoyed steady growth and success. In 1998, the inception of SaloneSatellite, conceived and curated by Marva Griffin Wilshire, provided a space for young professionals to exhibit their projects and for established companies to scout for fresh talent and get a glimpse into the future of the industry.

The 90s poster features an illustration of La Scala, one of Milan’s most iconic architectural symbols and a Mecca to opera goers. Ponzi chose La Scala as the focus of the design to emphasize the strong relationship between Salone and the city of Milan, highlighting one of the most famous of Milan’s cultural productions and the spirit of creativity and openness to the exchange of ideas for which Milan is famous.
On May 19th, just weeks before Salone del Mobile.Milano opens its doors for the 60th time, Ponzi unveiled the fifth illustration commemorating the Saloni of the 2000s. Although it is the most recent decade covered in Ponzi’s series of posters, it is far from the least memorable: the fair rang in the new millennium with Milan in a Van, an exhibition dedicated to Salone at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum – the first trade fair in history to host an exhibit in the renowned museum.

However, the artistic centerpiece of the 2000s-inspired poster is the Rho Fairgrounds, which opened for the 45th edition of Salone del Mobile.Milano in 2006. Designed by architect Massimiliano Fuksas, the Rho fairgrounds were designed and constructed with cutting-edge technological criteria in mind. The “Fiera Rho” is both functional and welcoming – an intentional nod to the first axiom of design, the seamless integration of aesthetics and function.
The final poster, which has yet to be unveiled, will focus on Salone’s interpretation of sustainability, one of the trade fair’s key priorities in the past and in the future.