Now in its nineth consecutive year, the BCBF Visual Identity Workshop gives a young artist chosen from among those selected for the Illustrators Exhibition an opportunity to develop the visual universe for the next Bologna Children’s Book Fair in co-production with Chialab Design, the design practice entrusted with the trade show’s visual identity.
This is the story of how the Chialab working group guided Bruno de Almeida towards the creation of what was to be the Bologna Children’s Book Fair visual identity for 2025.
It all starts after the closure of the BCBF, in this case, the 2024 edition. We take a short break before closely reviewing the event, listing what worked, but also what didn’t, so as to avoid making the same mistake(s) again. But above all, we define the mood of the next (2025) edition.
Our focus for next year is colour, movement, invention, and action.
We wait until January 2024 for the international jury to select 78 illustrators from the thousands of works submitted for the Illustrators Exhibition. Our choice of who will illustrate the 2025 BCBF will be made from the 390 winning illustrations.
NB: The selection rules are changing! Learn more
Colour, movement, invention, and action. Action, movement, invention, and colour. Movement, invention, colour, and action. This was our mantra as we browsed through the 390 illustrations. Our attention was drawn to four panels with the colours we sought, and the sinuous forms and movement of the drawings. The figures speak of Brazilian gambiarra, the art of finding ingenious solutions with scant resources. Investigating the author's portfolio we discover installations of chickens, dancing masks, and propitiatory processions...
Our choice. His name is Bruno de Almeida. A Brazilian, Bruno lives in Portugal and is 29 years old. We submitted our proposal to the BCBF staff, who agreed with our decision and contacted him. Bruno accepted! In June, he flew to Bologna to work with us at our customary Visual identity Workshop (VIW).
After landing, Bruno’s welcome to Bologna was a dinner with tagliatelle pasta. When he arrived at Chialab the next morning, he told us how he was struck by the sinuous shape of the strips of long pasta and the way they mingled with the sauce in a circular dance - a visual suggestion and gastronomic design that would come into their own during the group work!
The Visual Identity Workshop (VIW) lasts three days and has three objectives: to acquaint the artist with BCBF’s requirements, identify a leading idea, and evaluate its applicability.
Day 1 saw three micro-workshops, attended online by all BCBF communications staff. We started by presenting the results of previous editions since 2017, the year the Book Fair started telling its own story through illustrations. We described the BCBF world in detail, the workings and communication effort behind the Exhibition and the different areas, brands, attention points, formats, schedules, and typography.
The second workshop was based on a game of ‘What if’, answering questions like ‘what if BCBF were a flower, a vehicle, a food, a colour, a garment, a tool etc.?’ with drawings or words.
The third session involved writing 250 characters containing the words ‘children's content’. We set aside: jam session / cosy planet / glue / shake / sculptor / new shapes. By the end of the day, the walls were covered with different words and views, shared ideas and prompts that would spark ideas to be followed through.
Day 2 was crucial to tackling a multiple, fractal, germinative image. We explained to Bruno that we were not looking for a single, framed image but an illustration that was open and multiple, could be expanded or condensed; that it had to work with just a few pixels but also cover large walls, could be easily and understandably cropped, but could also accommodate text – lots of text. Every feature and detail had to convey a meaning that was as powerful as the complete picture. In fact, this has always been the VIW's greatest challenge: producing a generous image that can be adapted to diverse contexts, as well as illustrate and sit comfortably alongside over three thousand book-fair features.
Unfazed by this tall order, Bruno took up his pen and started writing, not drawing. He explained that he puts his thoughts down on paper as it helps him see things clearly and understand what needs to be drawn. He told us about his childhood, his passion for plants, country life, and caravans. His grey pencil started drawing curved, snaking, undulating lines... Tagliatelle? We didn't understand, but asked no questions, letting him go with his idea.
Day 3. Bruno arrived in the morning with more snaking lines that had now become necks, arms, legs, flowers, tree trunks and roots, feathers and bird's nests. It was hard to discern where the figures began and ended, but especially, what they were. Bruno had shaken everything up, creating a tangle of figures that intersected top and bottom, inside and out. They intrigued us. They spoke of BCBF’s cosmopolitan soul that strikes all visitors. Before he left, we cut out strips of paper (tagliatelle?) that we connected together in an attempt to create an overall composition. Time was up. As Bruno prepared to return to Porto he presented us with a Sansevieria Trifasciata, or Snake Plant, saying we could develop his drawings as we liked.
The weeks following the VIW led to a conclusion. Bruno created things of beauty, colouring the figures of the cosmos he had created: an ecosystem where everything and everyone is interconnected. We then searched for a tagline that would make his images literally ‘dance’ with BCBF visitors, moving to the same rhythm and creative choreographic patterns that together evoke Shape and Share and SHOUT Children's Content. They are an explicit invitation to let yourself go to the contagious, cosmopolitan dancing energy that pervades the exhibitions, stands, meetings, initiatives, illustrations, books, and games. Enjoy!
The VIW was attended by: Bruno de Almeida, Alex Weste, Jessica Cantoni, Michele Tomasini, Antonio D'Elisis, Francesco Perlini, Beppe Chia
Interested in previous VIWs? Click here.
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