Designed by agency Pentagram, the rebrand was launched today (29 March) and includes a fresh, homogeneous name and image for the group’s self-adhesive materials division.

Group companies Arconvert, Ritrama, which was acquired in 2019, and Industrial Papelera Venus, which was acquired late last year, have now been rolled under the unifying brand Fedrigoni Self-Adhesives.

Led by Pentagram partner Harry Pearce, the design team was asked to create a global identity for Fedrigoni and to rationalise its current sub-brands, including recent acquisitions.

Fedrigoni recently released its Paper Box, a sample box designed by London studio Graphic Thought Facility (GTF). The design of the box features the word 'Fedrigoni' in upper case, set in GTF’s redrawn version of Italian designer Aldo Novarese's 1968 font Forma.

Pentagram’s design team said it recognised the impact of GTF’s application of Fedrigoni’s wordmark in Forma and saw its potential to represent the Fedrigoni brand as a whole.

As a result, the team decided to change the existing Fedrigoni logotype, which was set in the French typeface Peignot, to a redrawn version using Forma.

Pentagram said it “perfectly signifies Fedrigoni’s new global identity: strong, bold and confident, and celebrating its strong Italian heritage”.

Pentagram worked with design consultant Federico Gaggio to align Fedrigoni’s brand architecture, which now encompasses the main Fedrigoni Group brand, its Paper – including B2B and B2C brands – and Self-Adhesive units, and Distribution.

While certain sub-brands, such as Fabriano, have retained their original identity, the brands which form part of the self-adhesives division now share the same design hallmarks as the main Fedrigoni brand.

The new branding also incorporates a refined version of Fedrigoni’s shield, featuring the traditional ladder motif and the date the company was founded.

Fedrigoni UK director Simon Pilkington said: “Fedrigoni has always worked alongside people with innovative ideas for paper and self-adhesive materials, and elevating creative excellence is our primary mission.

“Our ladder icon, a symbol of the city of Verona, represents our dedication to helping creatives across the world maximise and elevate their work. Retaining this important symbol, we tasked Pentagram with building a unified global image for the Fedrigoni Group and creating a distinctive and recognisable brand for UK and international audiences alike.”

Described by Pentagram as “sophisticated and modern”, the new identity is primarily monochrome, with a black and white palette supported by cool greys. The self-adhesive product brands such as Arconvert and Ritrama, however, each have a unique colour assigned to them.

Pearce said: “Fedrigoni has always embodied quality, craftsmanship and creative excellence. We created this striking new identity to reaffirm the paper company’s global presence and its commitment to design and creativity, referencing its rich Italian heritage while looking firmly to the future.”

Fedrigoni’s new branding is now live across its websites and the business is implementing new signage and corporate stationery.

Separately, updating Printweek on the UK business, Pilkington said that like the majority of companies within the industry, it was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Fedrigoni UK has been quite active in the market to keep in contact with the customers as much as possible, quite often to try and help, and in some ways lend an ear because there are various difficulties that people have experienced,” he said.

“But this last lockdown has been a little bit different; business has been able to cope better with the restrictions in place and so the activity levels have been higher than they were in April, May and June – there’s quite a big difference from that lockdown to this one.

“And then in the last couple of weeks in particular, as new unlock dates have approached, we’ve definitely seen increases in activity across the various sections of our business, and I think those are the green shoots of people getting organised for when they come out of whatever their unlock date is going to be.”

Founded in Italy in 1888, Fedrigoni’s products are used widely for everything from printing and publishing to labels, bookbinding and packaging. The business employs 4,000 staff globally and distributes to more than 130 countries.