Honoring and protecting Italy's greatest treasure: its elderly

Italy, until recently, was the country hardest hit by Covid-19. Its losses have been huge, but the group most tragically diminished by the virus, here, has been the elderly. In many cases, those that didn’t survive Coronavirus had survived World War II. They knew about hardship.

For all Italians, this loss is tantamount to losing a living link to the traditions that you live every day. And for a pasta company that prides itself on upholding the culinary code of those traditions, it’s a cause you have to fight for. The best way— the only way right now— to protect them is to remain on lockdown, even as we see some improvements. Thus was born the campaign, #aCasaPerLoro (Stay Home for Them).

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“For showing us the value of what matters most... for listening instead of lecturing... for teaching us how much salt to throw in the pot and when to tear up the recipes... for living through hardships we can’t imagine with the strength to keep looking forward... for being our best example in times like these, we can only say, “Thank you.” And we ask everyone to stay at home to keep you safe.”

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This campaign was pulled together in little over a week with the generous collaboration and contribution of the Rummo family, editor Vilma Conte, director Roberto Badò who supervised production and shot the original brand material which provided much of the footage used here, D.P. Alessio Viola and his daughters who contributed from home, executive producer Emiliano Merzagora of Altamarea Films and his daughter and father who also contributed from home, Nicoletta Gatti and her mother Adriana Badò who contributed from home, and Flavio Ibba for the music. Much gratitude also to PopEye Studio for the beautiful work on social media. THANK YOU, everyone!

Pasta Rummo has also contributed ventilators, iPads, many tons of pasta and financial support during this time of crisis. I am so proud and pleased to work with them. You can follow their Instagram and Facebook pages for more information.

Social media in collaboration with PopEye Studio.

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Social media in collaboration with PopEye Studio.

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"Endure is what we do" for Wieden & Kennedy, March 2020

Back in March, just as the coronavirus was really heating up in Italy, Wieden & Kennedy/Portland asked me to work on a project related to the situation. I can’t say who it was for (NDAs being what they are). The work was well received until the client got scared of it, so the agency is using it on its own.

Walking my dog at night, which I was still allowed to do, I realized that every lit window gave me hope. I knew that behind every yellow light glowing in the dark was the story of a person or a family soldiering on inside their own space, fighting this damn virus. It gave me hope and a sense of solidarity, knowing tha just such a light was also glowing from mine as well. A network of light. All of us tucked away, starving the beast.

Wieden laid it out as you see above for an American audience. I’d like to see everyone adapt it with their own neighborhood. Here’s mine:

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Introducing @there_for_paper: for the love of what we see

I remember playing outside while my Mom was getting dinner ready, studying bugs and branches and bushes halfway between flowering and Fall. Or lying on my stomach contemplating the fairy dust that filtered through shafts of light. Or staring with ridiculous adoration at my very first “real” piece of jewelry given to me by an eccentric aunt. A ring with 7 opals, in a row, across the top of the band. I lost that ring when I was 11, and never got over it. I loved it. I’d spent hours looking into each of those seven stones, watching them shimmer and shift with — what seemed like — Life. I spent even more hours trying to find the ring, between every blade of grass in our yard. Looking very closely.

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I’ve always liked to do that—to put my nose right up to the object of interest. Add in the fact that i’m near-sighted (very), and you’ve got a person who believes she can understand the meaning of just about anything if she just peers at it with enough intensity. Of course I don’t understand the tiniest fraction of what I'd like to, but while I’m looking, I’m falling in love with my material world. With each freckle, dimple, imperfection, lint-speck and particle.

So it’s with joy that I undertake a new project with illustrator (and fellow near-sighted observer), Anne Smith, to reveal and revel in those things that are right in front of our eyes. She’ll be doing what she does brilliantly, making art, and I’ll be giving words to our extended game of I Spy. You can find us at work on our Instagram page, @there_for_paper. I hope you’ll follow us for the duration of our experiment. Rumor has it we may, someday, be taking requests. See you there! Charlotte

There are no shortcuts.

After more than a year of selling-in, production and micro-tuning, the Pasta Rummo institutional campaign is finally hitting the Italian airwaves. While there are several aspects of the spot that I would have preferred to maintain as-shot, as-edited, as intended (this is always the case, isn’t it?), I’m happy with the results. This is the reality of our freelance world. We work not only to serve the master of what we believe to be right, but also the master of who pays the bills and who feels, maybe more deeply than we do, that our work speaks for them personally.

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““My grandfather used to say: “Time is the most precious ingredient.” I think about this every day. We accuse it of flying, when we’re the ones always running. But everything takes time. And the good things need even more. That’s why we work every day with care and precise method giving time with generosity to a love we share: Pasta. My grandfather was right. When it comes to the things that matter, there are no shortcuts.”

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This is particularly true in a case such as this one, where the spot tells the story of the Italian family that has been making Rummo Pasta since 1846. Despite the fact that they are a moderately sized company, making a run for it against Barilla, Voiello and Garofalo, nothing sees the light of day without being minutely studied by the members of the family who also happen to run the company. Modern realities and best practices are, in the end, less important to them than the same painstaking approach they have toward making pasta.

The product, in this case, is a spot shot by director Roberto Badò together with a bespoke group of talented Italian professionals on location in southern Italy, capturing the reality that surrounds the role of pasta in Italian life. Authentically Mediterranean to its core, the spot is an honest portrayal of this deeply loved food, and a study of the notion that every true pleasure in life requires both time in the making and time in the enjoying. Even as time is fleeting and the events of our life rush by before we can commit them to memory, there are still no shortcuts when it comes to living well. That was true for generations past. And it’s true for us today. No changes there.

My sincere thanks to an amazing crew and a determined client, all of whom did everything in their power to bring this to life. (Client: Rummo, Spa, Presidente/A.D.: Cosimo Rummo, Direttore Generale Estero: Antonio Rummo, Direttore Generale: Guido Veronese, Marketing Manager: Amanda Biasi, Senior Product Manager: Daniele Proietti, Marketing Assistant and all-around Make-It-Happen Pixie: Alessandra Cataffo, Concept e Creative Director: yours truly, Charlotte Moore, Creative Team: Roberto Badò, Charlotte Moore, Giovanni Grauso & Mattia Bergonzi (Taxfree Film), Regia/Director: Roberto Badò, Second Unit: Taxfree Films, DP and accidental spiritual guru: Alessio Viola, Focus Puller: Maurizio Ianello, Data Mgr: Marco Angelloni, Art Buyer: Francesca Manuele, Production Mgr: Marina Bello, Production Coordinator: Francesco Cetta, Montaggio/Editing: The Truly Magical Vilma Conte, Colorist: Luca Parma/Corte 11, Post: Taxfree Film, Music: Flavio Ibba/Red Rose Production, Sound Design: Agostino Landi/Circle, Voice: Luca Ward.

Renaissance Rehab: It's a New Day

Another side project is the development together with director Roberto Badò of a brand of rehabilitated one-of-a-kind furniture, Renaissance Rehab. These are family heirlooms given new life with respect to a circular economy using rare, out-of-catalog fabrics by Italian textile house, Rubelli. The intuitive pairings of fabric and heirloom are the work of Milanese interior designer Nicoletta Gatti.

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Name, logo design, art direction. Photography: director Roberto Badò.

The project includes logo development (above, Charlotte Moore) and a series of editorial images aimed at the design press. The response has been overwhelming to the first series (pictured here, photography director Roberto Badò) and also in the second series which I’ll share a bit later. Abitare, Elle Decor, Corriere della Sera and many others have featured the chairs which are part of the “Sedute Esaurite” Collection (chairs of various style and vintage).

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Designed to help

Thrilled to have helped Harvest Moon launch their special edition coconut milk yoghurt, Dark Berry, to raise money for Hamburg's Dunkelziffer, e.V., an organization dedicated to the fight against sexual abuse aimed at children. 

Working with design firm, Irving & Co., we came up with the image of the giant, guardian bear, brilliantly illustrated by Akira Kusaka to represent Dunkelziffer, which means "dark figure" in German—a good dark figure, in this case.

Sales of the yoghurt are beginning now, throughout Germany. For each pot sold, 1 euro will be donated to Dunkelziffer's incredibly important cause. 

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Package concept, postcard, in-store. Design: Irving & Co.

InstaMoon: Harvest Moon goes Social

"Moon Journal No. 3:  Tonight I rise full in homage to all blooming things. They call me the Full Flower Moon. I am also called the Milk Moon—so white is my light. But you can say “Coconut Milk Moon” if you prefer. Tradition is wonderful, but it needs refreshing now and then."

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Just starting with a crafted Instagram campaign for Harvest Moon which will last roughly until the end of the 2017. Think of it as "In which the Man in the Harvest Moon keeps a journal about ingredients, full moon cycles, deliciousness and the Universe at Large." You are, of course, welcome/invited/encouraged to follow.

Return of the Harvest Moon

The Harvest Moon returns, this time with a Man in it. A kind, thoughtful, loving old soul who ponders his coconut groves and makes all things (organic yogurts and juices) delicious. We (my client Harvest Moon, Irving & Co. illustrator Anne Smith, and I) spent last quarter developing our lovely Moon, who is currently enjoying his first public exposure on the streets of Hamburg, Germany.  He says:

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"One of my finest coconuts in every pot."

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Work on next steps begins in earnest in Hamburg on Thursday. We look forward to our Moon's future appearances. And I specifically look forward to developing his story, his tales, his point of view. May he grow ever fuller.

p.s. Applause to Harvest Moon for having the conviction and courage to illustrate the product and not insert a photographic image.

Another moon in the sky

A few weeks ago, I blogged about my German organic juice client, Harvest Moon. And funnily, this week, I have another Moon in the sky. As I mentioned in my very first post, I like to do projects for friends. This was a website redesign for a long-time friend and multi-talented woman, Suzi Bittles, who cast and produced the Nike women's fitness campaign I did with another luminary, writer Janet Champ.

A couple years ago, Suzi asked me to design a logo for her production company, King Moon. I was happy to help out, particularly as she had a compelling personal story behind the name she'd chosen. That story is hers to share not mine, but it intrigued and moved me.

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What I didn't realize at the time was that Suzi still had her own logo (a calligraphic design which she had used as a producer, a stylist and a casting specialist) and that she would have, in the future, a third logo for a new brainchild, The Modern Salon series. So when the time came to redesign her website, there were some issues which needed clarifying first. How to order the brands? Which to keep, which to lose? How to coherently explain the richness of her experience and the multiplicity of her professional offerings?

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The solution we agreed upon was to house everything under King Moon and to dissolve Suzi Bittles as a separate entity. The Modern Salon series would maintain its own logo, but as each Salon is an elaborate production in its own right, they too would fall under King Moon. I decided to carry over the Tiffany blue which she had used predominantly in her original Salon/King Moon website as the link and section divider color.

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To make the order of things clear, I designed an easily navigable, single scroll website that contains biographic information, archival samples and current work within stacked sections with a logical flow. You get to know Suzi in as much depth as you care to without ever losing your place in the overall graphic story.

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Even though this was a relatively small project, it was, as I pointed out in my first post, very much like larger, thornier brand challenges. You often inherit creative realities you can't and/or shouldn't change, and you have to work around those while, at the same time, arriving at a cohesive solution.

And of course, before I sign off: Suzi is great at what she does. Look her up.

Website Development: Imaginary Lines   Creative Direction: yours truly.

Time for a B&W comeback?

I remember when it became almost impossible to convince clients to use black and white. It's so "old fashioned" they'd say. "People don't like it / can't relate to it / don't see themselves in it." "It's not," they'd say as if it was the most damning characteristic of all, "realistic." I begged to differ then, and I still do today.

Surrounded by mirrors of realism and hyper-realism (internet, TV, news) we are steeped in a reality that has far outstayed its 15 minutes of fame. It's over-rated, verging on boring. Isn't the point, when we are trying to make a difference in a world of parity, to imbue surface reality with an underlying feeling, rather than flogging another high-definition, full-color product? Isn't it our job to give people something else?

I predict a return to the world of nuance, abstraction, narrative and mystery—the black and white realm where connecting your own dots is far more powerful than having everything spelled out for you. Where feeling and emotion are valued above the marketer's cynical view that a human's greatest accomplishment is purchase.

We talk about building relationships and telling stories, but we do it with a technicolor toolbox of very common assumptions. Reality is numbing. Let's take it someplace more true, and less real.

On the rise: Harvest Moon

I've had the recent pleasure of working with Julian Roberts of London-based design company, Irving & Co., and Florian Jung, head of Harvest Moon, a young German company that produces wonderful organic fruit juices, coconut-milk yogurts and soy shakes. An exciting brand with a great product and a beautiful ethos. Keep your eyes open for it.

Lovely illustration: Anne Smith  Design/Concept: Irving & Co.  Copy/Copy stragegy: Charlotte Moore

Small projects

The beauty of freelancing is the "free" part. If you don't let it stress you out, that time spent unemployed (in the not-getting-paid sense of the word) is a great time to tackle other projects of importance to you. I like to do creative projects for friends. Logos. Websites. Illustrations. Strictly speaking, I'm not a designer, but it keeps me happy and busy, and just like any other larger job, it's a chance to learn, explore and make mistakes. The objective is still the same: you're solving a problem and attempting to make a client/friend happy.

Above are exploratory bits of a small project I did for a friend of mine who is a talented culinary writer, food events planner and interview moderator. I had two other directions for her, but she loved the warmth of this color palette and the clean representation of the spoons and knives. It spoke to her.

Below are some explorations I did for a creative director/writer—again, a friend of mine—in Milan. His direction was "type writing, blue note album covers...oh, and I'm a storyteller" which he is. I followed those directions with the following "sketches". His favorite, in the end, was the simplest of all. The proposal, in black and white, with contact info on one side and a piece of a story on the back. The idea is to print a series featuring different narratives. It's always interesting to me to see where feedback leads me, and then to see where gut instincts lead my client in their choice, in other words, to discover which parts of their own feedback were the most salient in the end.

The thing is, you never know where small projects will end up or what they'll lead to. This simple die-cut invitation that I did with a friend (Sissy Whittington) for another friend's bachelorette party with a lingerie theme ended up in Communication Arts' design annual. What started as a favor ended up with a bit more clout. It was done out of friendship, and with a good deal of freedom, but we would never have anticipated that outcome.

Above: closed invitation, Below: inside open invitation