I’ve admired the bold yet economical lecture posters that Rocco Piscatello has designed for FIT’s (Fashion Institute of Technology’s) long-running visiting lecture series. They recall an early Modernist time yet are very contemporary. Today we celebrate ten years of Rocco’s work with a few images and a few words.
When did you start designing these posters for the FIT Visiting Artist Program?During the summer of 2001. Ten years ago.
So we’ve stumbled on an anniversary. Bravo! You’ve developed quite a design personality. What influences your design style?My influences range from Swiss/International Style Typography to Asian art.
Which poster or posters do you feel is the most successful given your aesthetic brief?I am constantly re-arranging the posters in my studio. Currently, I have them displayed in a row of ten with one secretly placed behind. Out in front in no particular order are; Helfand, Sagmeister, Gibson, Scher, Chermayeff, Matsomoto, Glaser, Rock, and Carson. I hope the one I am working on now for the Fall of 2011 will send another one of these to the back.
Black and white is your palette. But a few are in red or orange. Why?Color is an element that I incorporate very sparingly. I use it when an opportunity arises to communicate an additional meaning without using any additional space in the composition. For my latest poster, Gibson, I used glow-in-the-dark ink over the arrow found in the G letter form. It’s the same concept. Overall, the posters are mainly black and white for reasons of cost rather than aesthetics.
