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Creative contributions by during his work placement with a global brand agency have earned the company and its client a coveted international award.

The Graphic Design student was working as a junior designer at KISKA in Austria, when his team’s collaboration with Campagnolo, an Italian manufacturer of high-end bicycle components, carbon wheels for road bikes.

The international design competition rewards innovations in product, communication and concept design, and Alessandro played a key part in Campagnolo’s branding campaign, from being involved in the storyboarding phase to creating the 2D animation that revealed the logo.

“I never expected to play such a big role in such a big project, and I feel really proud,” said the 23-year-old from Italy. “Winning the award would not have been possible without the whole team. It truly shows what can be accomplished when creativity is nurtured within a culture of collaboration.”

After his six-month design internship at KISKA, Alessandro was asked to stay on as a junior designer for three more months, building on his responsibilities including typography development, motion design and video editing.

Alessandro created a new typeface for SomeBrightSpark 

He said: “I’m lucky I had a good relationship with my line manager, also the creative director, who delegated entire design directions to me, not just small jobs. It made me feel excited and want to make the most of my placement. I feel like I was really able to shine.”

DMU’s Careers Team supported Alessandro during his search for a suitable placement, which involved applying to more than 50 companies and dealing with many rejections.

“The rejections were hard, but they actually helped me to do things differently. When I found the KISKA internship, I knew I needed to make myself stand out more,” he said.

“I tailored my portfolio to them, featuring a fully functioning variable font showing ‘Hello KISKA’. It was from a typography project I worked on for my industry brief module, and they really liked that.”

Despite having already moved from Italy to England for his degree, the most challenging part of Alessandro’s work placement was relocating to Austria.

A new brand and bottle designed and concepted for Chivas Regal by Alessandro 

He said: “Moving to a new country always brings a mix of feelings which are difficult to describe. I felt overly confident at first, underestimating the new language and cultural differences. What made it easier and more enjoyable was to be working in such a diverse environment, as the agency welcomes creatives from 35 different nationalities.

“This whole experience will definitely help with my future and I’m already approaching my last year at DMU more professionally, with a more defined idea of what role I want to play in the work I create. I’m fascinated by designs that have a remarkable impact on communities.”

One of those projects is a creative platform called GAGA, which shines a spotlight on emerging talents from DMU’s Game Art, Animation and Graphic Design courses, providing professional development opportunities.

“I’ve already pitched my idea to my tutors and I’m beyond excited to get started. It will be a collaborative space where students can connect and express their creativity.

It promotes representation and is a place where prospective students can learn more about studying at DMU,” he said.

“I’m extremely grateful for all the amazing opportunities that DMU has provided me, so this is my way of giving back. I’m a big believer in leaving something in a better place than you found it.”

The inspiration behind creating GAGA came from completing DMU’s Art and Design Foundation Diploma in 2020, before Alessandro moved on to his degree.

He said: “I really liked sharing a space with students with a range of interests, from animation to fashion design, so I’ve always wanted to find a way to bring different disciplines together like this.

“DMU’s Art and Design Foundation Diploma is the best thing that happened to me after I moved to England. It made the transition to a new country so much easier and I felt like I belonged because I was in the same boat as all of my coursemates, a lot of whom I’m still friends with now.”

Connect with Alessandro .