06 Nov The Enzo Mari lessons
As for many designers, Mari was a teacher for us. His lessons influenced our approach to the project. IFU © – Instructions for use, active format from 2012 to 2016, is the result of Mari’s teaching.
The story of IFU © – Instruction For Use stems from an lucky meeting between Dora Binnella, a marketing professional and retail design expert linked to large-scale distribution, and Giulio Patrizi, creative director of the studio. An encounter that turns first into a professional collaboration, then into a great friendship.
The project pursued the same intent as Enzo Mari’s essays on self-design, namely the desire to spread the Culture of the Project. Knowing to know how to do and become conscious consumers. IFU was an act of democratization of the project, a space of visibility for young designers and in some cases it brought the hobbyist closer to Design.
IFU © – Instruction For Use proposed DIY design projects. Simple paper instructions and a video tutorial explain and accompany the user in the purchase of materials, tools and in the construction phase. The IFU © instructions are developed in 15 steps and illustrate how to create the product conceived by the designer; a video tutorial helps the user in the implementation of the project by facilitating the understanding of the steps described in the pap
To clearly tell the project we have developed a system of icons that spoke to everyone, experts and non-DIY. Icons understandable and clear by definition, simple. All the necessary tools are told by monochromatic illustrations; signs that both the adult and the child can understand. For IFU, the clarity of the message is everything!
In the same way we had to tell the skills necessary to carry out the projects, so we developed some fun icons, such as the format. This is how the time needed is measured through the representation of animals, the snail which is slow and therefore requires a lot of time for each activity, the hare that runs and jumps quickly represents a quick project to implement. In the same way we have told who can carry out a project, at what cost and with what difficulty.
IFU was one of the projects that gave us a lot of satisfaction and media attention. There were many newspapers that talked about IFU and our business. Many designers met and involved. Many design schools have welcomed us with dedicated workshops and projects. For this I would like to thank Enzo Mari for his teaching.
