Tell us about yourself: Name, age, location, current professional status
Hello! I am Lorenzo Bigatti. I am 31 years old and I am currently based in London. I am an Italian communication designer working as a freelancer. I collaborate with design studios and work for a range of different clients and organizations.
What are the (design or general) topics you’re most passionate about? I am all about editorial design; the smell of freshly printed paper gives me the same pleasure as the smell of a nice cup of coffee in the morning. The whole printing process is extremely fascinating and it’s one of the rare moments in which I deal with the materiality of objects, contrary to my profession, which is mostly digital. I also have a growing collection of books and magazines. I put the same passion in naming my plants and taking care of them.
Tell us about a project that got you excited lately.
During one of the many lockdowns, I founded a collaborative magazine called NOIA (the name means boredom in Italian). It all started almost intuitively as a reaction to the difficult time we were collectively facing. The idea of creating a creative platform that would foster collaboration and invite different people to work around a topic turned out to be fun and engaging.
From day one, the team expanded and we printed a first issue called Radical Actions . Now we’re working on the second issue, out in October. We’ve already collaborated with over 150 artists from all over the world and we’re extremely grateful to all the people who believed in us and supported the project! I think this is a good example of how an idea can transform into a project and create a community around it.
©Michela Pedranti & Ivana Sfredda Courtesy of HanselGrotesque
Tell us about a collaborative project you worked on in the past.
In 2020, I worked with Dominika and Megan, two good friends of mine and talented designers, on a project called Rhizome.
It all started as a critical design project about complexity and how to create tools to analyze, organize and explore intricate topics. We ended up creating a prototype website where the users could create customized ways of navigating the uncharted territories of our contemporary world, create connections between topics and form clusters of information/data that they can store and explore later. It was a very difficult project but we had a lot of fun doing it.
How was (or is) your first year after school?
Well, I graduated in 2019. I took a bit of time to travel and have fun before going back to work and then the world decided to go upside down and COVID-19 blocked everything. So I must say, it wasn’t the smoothest transition I was expecting it to be. I started working as a freelancer during the pandemic and I had to learn how to find new clients and work remotely. I guess many shared my struggle and for sure it wasn’t easy. But things are going much better now .
What's the best advice you've received (and from whom)?
“Don’t be afraid to scrap things up and re-start a project.” Sometimes it takes longer to try to perfect something that is not working rather than being brave enough to start again and make something better.
That’s the advice a professor of mine gave to me and my group one week before the final exam. We worked for 6 months on that project and the very last week we basically started an entire part from square one. We had a very intense week but by the end of it, our project was much more solid and interesting than before.
What do you look for in your first (or next) job?
Mostly, I am looking for clients or collaborators who share a similar set of values as me, are passionate about what they do and want to make things the right way rather than the easy and quick way. I really value the concept over the trend and that’s something I am also looking for when I search for a job.
©Ivana Sfredda Courtesy of HanselGrotesque
Which projects did you decide to put in your portfolio? What was your selection process?
Let’s start by saying that I change my portfolio quite often and I have different portfolios for different situations. In a way, portfolios are like outfits, you need to find the appropriate one for each situation. As a general rule, I always put in the portfolio the projects I recognize myself in. Even if it wasn’t “successful” or the client didn’t like it. I believe it is crucial to be honest and true to oneself. To sum up my portfolio experience, it’s forever a work in progress.
What are you working on (personally or professionally) these days?
I started collaborating with a studio in London and that now takes most of my work time. I am also working on NOIA, the magazine I mentioned, and that’s basically another full-time job. I am planning to find new and exciting collaborations and mix my skills with other professions to create more and more cross-disciplinary projects.
What is the most exciting step when you start a new project?
When everything starts to work as a system and falls into place, after a long conceptualization phase, that’s the most satisfying moment. The fun part is also, of course, the initial phase when you drop wild ideas and see how they could potentially work.
What book had the biggest impact on you, and why?
If I need to choose one, probably I would say Uncorporate Identity by Metahaven. The design of the book is as fascinating as the content. The book analyzes the concept of national identities, design, geopolitics and information networks. To mention a couple of books more, I’ve been lately very impressed and inspired by New Dark Age by James Bridle and CAPSLOCK by Ruben Pater.
As a Wix Playground Academy alum from WPA Europe 2021, what couldn’t you have done without?
Surely the experience at the Playground helped me to further improve my UX/UI skills and knowledge. I’ve met a lovely network of people and we had cool and incredible tutors. It also helped me survive the January 2021 lockdown, create a cool website and drink some wine with the WPA alumni passing through London!
Image cover ©Emidio Battipaglia Courtesy of NOIA magazine
