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The origin of the "Brand"

When today we talk about "brand" our first thoughts go to the products we consume and the companies that produce them.


We know the communicative power of this tool and its importance in identifying ideas and intellectual properties so well that some brands have become synonymous in everyday language with the product they represent.



But the first real trademarks have much older roots than the industrial revolution, when the printers and publishers of the Renaissance began to use them in their works to make the author indubitable and fight counterfeiting.


page decorated with monograms
Presentation of the Renaissance Marks by A. Novarese in his educational bookAlfabeta

Print is therefore the first major vehicle through which the concept of the brand as a visual acronym spreads, exerting enormous appeal as a dedoratory element: like noble coats of arms it gives a clear personal distinction.

With this spirit, in the mid-1950s Fonderia Nebiolo published a collection of 180 ready-made brands designed specifically for its typographer clientele: it was prepared by Alessandro Butti, predecessor and teacher of Aldo Novarese as director of the Artistic Studio, which uses Nebiolo characters and friezes in graceful monograms with combinations that are still never taken for granted today.



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