The Design Cut: Laura Traldi and Paolo Casicci Launch Strategic Design Agency

Laura Traldi and Paolo Casicci, both experienced journalists for Italian and international publications, have launched The Design Cut, a Rome-Milan agency offering strategic consulting and content production for the design sector. The agency's name is inspired by The New York Times' 'The Cut,' emphasizing authority, selection, and quality. They aim to help brands communicate their real added value with clear, transparent language, avoiding self-referential jargon. Traldi and Casicci see themselves as 'connectors of dots,' linking companies and designers through storytelling. They stress that in the age of disintermediation, brands must communicate with authenticity, generosity, and courage, acting as publishers of themselves and engaging communities. The agency has worked with PdiPigna, helping the 180-year-old stationery brand enter the adult stationery market with a 'slow writing' concept, and Abet Laminati, introducing the payoff 'the design choice' and a research project called Super Superfici, presented in early 2021 for Memphis's 40th anniversary. Both partners also teach: Traldi at NABA in Milan (Design for Circular Economy), Casicci at ISIA, Sapienza, and Quasar in Rome. They recommend publications like Inventario, Fast Company, Wired, and Rivista Studio, and note Netflix's influence on design storytelling through quality content. Their dream project is a magazine about design intelligence without the word 'design' ever appearing.