This research will describe the life, work, influences and lasting legacy of Carlo Frassinelli (1896-1983), a curiously undocumented, but highly influential exponent of Italian Futurism.

Frassinelli, a printer, typographer and publisher from Torino, was the leading protagonist of the Italian ‘graphic revolution’ who, though deeply bound to his technical education as a printer, constantly strived to develop an avant-garde theory on typography. There is no substantive work on Frassinelli (either in Italian or English), but this research – part biography, part critical analysis - will contextualise the man and his work against the wider European typographic movement of the period.

The Library at the Typographic Hub has long possessed a copy of Trattato di architettura tipografica (Carlo Frassinelli,1941, Torino), which describes all the technical and aesthetic elements necessary to obtain clarity and effectiveness in the creation of typography. The book is the only one of its kind in Italian. Early investigations show Frassinelli to be a prime mover in the Italian Futurist Movement, and an influential character in both the pre- and post-war Italian graphic revolution, yet there are scant writings on his life, work or influence. Italian typographic commentators unanimously agree Frassinelli to be an important figure in typographic history, one that needs contextualizing against the background not only of pre-war Modernism and the Bauhaus, but also the post-war typographic shift from craft to technology.

Carlo Frassinelli was the leader of Italy’s typographic revolution, he was influenced by the ideas of Italian Futurists such as Marinetti and Ungaretti and the New Typography of Jan Tschichold. Frassinelli’s emphasis was on providing choice from a new wealth of typographic material available from rich and varied sources, produced by modern methods, at competitive rates: for this he must be viewed as a pioneer.

With the passing of time it is now pertinent to review an era in Italian typographic history that has been long over-looked.