12/03/2026
“Nella vita tirò tardi” (“In Life He Stayed Up Late”) is a book created in memory of Gianfranco Marabelli, former President of DDB Italy and a multi-award-winning creative at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, as well as an iconic figure in the history of Italian advertising, who passed away in 2022.
Published in an exclusive and limited edition of only 300 copies and presented to the public on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Italian Art Directors Club , the book retraces Marabelli’s life through the memories and stories of those who knew him.
Conceived from an idea by Enrico Bonomini, Elena and Laura Marabelli, Francesco Fallisi, and Alessandro Avi, the book is divided into eight thematic chapters, it is conceived as a sort of scrapbook in which words, photographs, drawings, colors and campaigns coexist and interact, blended together by the stylistic obsessions so dear to the celebrated art director: his beautiful handwriting and the overlays of tracing paper on which he loved to jot down corrections; serif typefaces and the use of bright colors—particularly red and blue—which also characterized his outfits; halftone screens, dyed-in-the-mass colored boards, and spontaneous sketches. And, of course, his unmistakable moustache, which he wore throughout his life.
Credits:
Client: Famiglia Marabelli & Art Directors Club Italiano
Executive Creative Directors/ Art Directors: Federica Bello,
Creative Directors: Enrico Bonomini, Francesco Fallisi
Graphic Designers: Francesco Fallisi, Francesco Mussini
Book Designer: Federica Bello
Illustrator: Francesco Mussini
Typographer Ganfranco “Script”:
Print: Marco Salemi @ Stepback Industries s.r.l.Casestudy
Photo & Video casestudy: Andrea Corbellini