The economic and industrial revival in Italy following World War II owes much to the culture of design, the culture of combining aesthetic care with ingenuity to manufacture increasingly attractive products.
This intense relationship left an accurate, but restrictive association in the collective imagination, namely that design is a discipline devoted to the creation of beautiful objects.
As I say, there is nothing wrong with this, however it is a claim that profoundly limits the true meaning and real contribution of design.
In 2019, even in my daily professional experience, creative activity must embrace and stimulate all the senses and involve the end user in a unique comprehensive experience, to the extent that in my studio we increasingly talk about “experience design”.
Product design remains the focus, but it is inserted within a more wide-reaching vision that is conscious of what today’s consumers want, namely an experience, a story they can share, a coherent and unexpected sensory and cultural embrace.
The coffee industry is particularly sensitive to this opportunity: without making a particular effort, it is a world that spontaneously and decisively reaches our senses of smell, taste, hearing and sight.
Coffee is a drink that tells a story, that takes you on a journey in which it originates in plantations, is fortified across the oceans and ends up in a warm cup sipped among the skyscrapers of Manhattan or watching the waves of Bondi Beach.
Consequently, design must be understood as the conductor of this rich journey which encapsulates the different manifestations of this experience in the coffee machines, bar designs, customer service and storytelling of the various brands.
Design is an empathetic discipline that starts with a sincere and deep understanding of user requirements and translates them into both physical and intangible experiences, while good design manages to create ecosystems of sensory and functional stimuli within which the user feels enveloped, seduced and enriched.
Consequently, MUMAC is a perfect representation of a physical, sensory and experiential “coffee design” project and this creative trend will only go from strength to strength in the future.
Valerio Cometti, a mechanical engineer and designer, founded V12 Design in 2005. Together with his team, he supports successful Italian and international companies on a complete creative journey: from the design of innovative products to the creation of successful brands, the development of original services and creative direction with a Design Thinking approach. He has collaborated with Gruppo Cimbali since 2008: he has designed numerous coffee machines for the LaCimbali, Faema and Casadio brands and also co-designed MUMAC.
