Mauro Porcini on Art and Design as Tools Against Fear During COVID-19

In an interview with Artribune, Mauro Porcini, Chief Design Officer at PepsiCo, discusses how visual art and creativity helped combat fear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Porcini launched the hashtag #designagainstthevirus to collect design responses to the crisis. He explains that images serve to create attention, generate sharing, and add poetic form to health messages. Italian illustrators such as Riccardo Guasco, Gianluca Costantini, Ale Giorgini, and Simone Massoni spontaneously documented new domestic dynamics. The collective Lettera40 launched a crowdfunding campaign to support hospitals in the hardest-hit regions, using illustrated letters as a metaphor for individuals united in community. The magazine Collateral started an Instagram series "Art is resistance," featuring live sessions with artists whose works are auctioned online. Emiliano Ponzi initiated Covid Uncovered to benefit the Italian Red Cross, with nude models wearing various masks while artists painted them live from their homes. Porcini, based in the US, notes that distance provides a broader perspective and allows comparison across countries. He sees this moment as a potential renaissance of values, unity, love, and resilience, with visual representation helping to make invisible dangers less frightening.