Claudia Morgagni: Woman, Graphic Designer, Teacher

Abstract

Historical research on visual communication design, both at the Italian and international levels, has revealed a landscape primarily populated by significant male figures who have contributed to the development and evolution of the design discipline. However, when examined more closely, this landscape reveals the absence of many equally important female figures, often overlooked and understudied. If we look at the so-called golden age of Italian graphic design, very few female figures have emerged from the 50s to the early 70s. Those are regarded more as exceptions than as the result of contextualized and intentional historical research. Claudia Morgagni’s (1928–2002) figure is emblematic and unique: an audacious, modern, determined woman who defied established norms. She intertwined her professional life with that of an artist, educator, mother, and woman in constant pursuit of new linguistic expressions, never content with those embraced and appreciated by clients. In her projects, she gradually reduced iconographic elements, whether photographs or illustrations, shifting her focus towards a more dry, abstract, rigorous, and concise language. She expressed herself through perfectly defined geometric forms in contours and colors. As they moved within the “broken up” composition space, these forms overlapped and combined, building dynamic geometric relationships and giving rise to configurations of extreme formal elegance and conceptual synthesis.