Designer Brando Corradini finds freedom in his personal work

Creating work that constantly straddles the line between the structured and the chaotic, Italian graphic designer Brando Corradini’s practice spans publications, posters, apparel design, typefaces and art direction. Although graduating with a visual communication degree at the Rome University of Fine Arts, he considers himself an artist above anything else. “In what I do and what I am I always want to be free, far from any rules,” Brando tells It’s Nice That.

“At the beginning of my career, I was inspired, above all, by two designers: Benoît Bodhuin and Mirko Borsche he says, with the latter being intimately close with the streetwear and fashion world, designing the logos for Highsnobiety, The Face magazine and Balenciaga. Brando himself is becoming involved in this world, recently opening the streetwear brand NoMade Clothing in collaboration with architect Damiano Primiceri, describing it as an environmentally friendly brand “born from the combination of creativity, sophisticated graphic systems and innovative 3D printing.”

Speaking about his practice, he tells us about the structured approach he turns to when commencing his projects. “When I start a project, I always start from the cage or grid composed of margins and columns,” he says. “I tend to create it then destroy it. In this way of working, I combine and search for various typefaces, looking for rare and particular ones that leads me to creating new typefaces.” Some results from this approach is the Mhtirogla, a pixel-inspired typeface that also shows signs of textural distortion, and the angular Lil Thug typeface that features a striking diamond circumpunct.

“Regarding my personal projects, they are almost always research and experimentation projects. I choose a topic, research the content, and most of this work happens in the editorial field,” Brando says. For him, there is a clear division between his commercial and personal projects, preferring the freedom of creativity he receives with the latter. “In fact, very often I’m told: ‘they don’t seem to be made by the same staff, it seems that you have a double personality’,” he says.

Brando talks us through one project, Phillip Windly Kim, commissioned by the creative director of New York-based design studio Sundae School. For an exhibition at the Sylvia Wald & Po Gallery, he was tasked with the theme: “What are you doing at 4:20pm?” Receiving a relatively open brief for this project, he decided to use a combination of 3D techniques, along with a few of his own typefaces for the project: the aforementioned Lil Thug and the Shawty typeface. “At the centre of the poster is the image of a bubble that ideally represents myself, when I create and isolate myself from the surrounding world,” Brando says.

“My wish is to make something that you don’t see around,” Brando says. From embarking on his own brand to his experimental posters – using digital elements without making it purely about the 3D elements – Brando seems to still be experimenting with the tools that are available to him. He jokes: “It’s about always improving myself to be remembered and recognised all over the world, and maybe have a page on Wikipedia.”