Salone del Mobile's Vintage Poster Art.

Domingo Antonio Robledo is a man with a very cool name. Don’t you think? But believe it or not, that is actually not why I invited him to guest post on Yellowtrace. Crazy, I know. Domingo is a journalist, a photographer, video producer, and a seriously sharp dresser. He is also an editor of (inside) – read more about that here. I probably haven’t told you guys, but Mr Robledo ‘hunted me down’ to do some freelance writing for (inside), which actually makes him my editor. So I thought it would be fun to turn the tables and have him contribute and pitch a story to me for a change. Ha! And he came back with not just one, but two. Overachiever or just too damn generous? Either way, I am super grateful.- x dana

I’ve always been a fan of good graphic design in its classic/vintage poster-art form. So, to little surprise, I was pleased to see my old colleagues at dwell.com feature a little visual treat for us in proffering these old posters of Salone Internazionale del Mobile dating back (almost) the complete 50-year history of the trade show’s propaganda. (I believe they sourced the lovely idea from Prodesign — the Kiwi pub). Anyway, these are just four of my favourites (including works by Camillo Pizzigoni (the first commissioned artist), Studio Becheroni-Marotta, Mario Vignelli and Alberto Longhi, among others). Of course, I have to admit (though its quite obvious), I’m totally guilty of loving all late mid-century graphic design treatments, especially that of Italian mid-century design. I also think I wouldn’t be alone in saying that things just got lame after the mid ’70s… No? Andiamo, Cosmit! Bring back the good tradition of proper-ganda, please.

Nevertheless, we should definitely wish Salone del Mobile a happy 50th birthday! Always good to be in Milano for this particular week.

– Domingo Antonio Robledo.