When Davide Mosconi was approached by Auge Communication founders Giorgio Natale and Federica Ariagno in 2016, he was met with a seemingly wild idea. The pair asked Mosconi to help found a partner brand and packaging agency, which would be known as Auge Design. Mosconi recounts the conversation, saying, ‘One day, they came to me with this bizarre idea: “How about we launch a packaging agency aiming to be the top design firm in Italy?” This proposal seemed outlandish, especially since I had never tackled a packaging project in my design career up to that moment!’
Since that day, Mosconi has fully embraced this challenge and never looked back. As a partner and Executive Creative Director on the Auge Design team, Mosconi helped grow the group from two people to twenty and they have now expanded to two different locations in Florence and Milan. The agency says it has a ‘why not?’ approach to design – thriving on pushing boundaries with courage and passion. They also support this with careful thinking and strategy when taking on projects. ‘The strength of this approach lies in the seamless collaboration between our three companies: Auge Design, Auge Communication, and Auge Strategy,’ says Mosconi. ‘While each operates independently, we frequently come together for projects, breaking down departmental barriers.’
Examples of this collaboration include projects such as the global relaunch for international sweet biscuit manufacturer Bahlsen. Founded in Germany in 1889, Bahlsen wanted to collaborate with Auge Design to revolutionise its brand – moving it forward with a defined personality. The agency focused on the iconic blue signature, making it the largest element on the packaging, with an image of the biscuits as the focal point. They also used a multi-colour background system to help build a complex architecture of four different ranges that include 80 different products.
Another Auge client that satisfies a sweet tooth is Italian gelato brand Sammontana, whose name translates to ‘Italian summer’. When approaching this package design, Auge Design leaned into the different artisanal tastes of the ice cream that the company has to offer, thinking of each flavour as ‘a groovy beat’. And this is where Sammontana Gruvi comes into play, Mosconi explains: ‘The logo design, the typography, the art direction of the photography, they all express the idea of movement and the exuberance of the ice cream and its contrasts.’
When asked about paper selection for their work, Mosconi shared a packaging project for Pasta Tirrena by Marchesi Frescobaldi which uses Materica Acqua. He says: ‘We needed a paper that could capture the pasta’s texture and elevate the packaging with a premium feel.’
Most recently, Auge Design received the 2023 Best Design Agency at the Pentawards, among other prestigious accolades, and the studio is now the agency behind the Pentawards visual identity for the 2024 competition.