Enzo Mari, The see-saw

The publisher Corraini printed in 2001 a book by the italian designer Enzo Mari, called See-saw (in italian, L’altalena).

One of the most interesting things in Corraini’s catalogue is the attention not only to contemporary illustrations and design but also to the “older” projects. This one was presented by Danese (the same of many works by Bruno Munari) in 1961 and it was composed by excellent xylographies. In 1980 the same publisher printed this book.

The characters are like wooden animals which try to find a balance in a see-saw. There are only two colors: grey-black and brown, with the texture that imitates the original effects of xylography tecnique.

And finally you find out that is an accordion foldered book… So you can see all the evolution as a little cartoon, following that investigation about serial perception that Mari was realizing in 60′s. It is really interesting to see the connections between objects design and children’s books…

You can visit the Danese website and find out more objects by Mari and many designers that were and are working with the italian company.