{"id":30924,"date":"2026-07-02T09:26:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T07:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.valcucine.com\/magazine\/?p=30924"},"modified":"2026-07-02T09:26:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T07:26:57","slug":"the-language-of-pictograms-timeless-signs-universal-archetypes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.valcucine.com\/magazine\/en\/2026\/07\/the-language-of-pictograms-timeless-signs-universal-archetypes\/","title":{"rendered":"The language of pictograms: timeless signs, universal archetypes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since ancient times, people have felt the need to leave a mark in order to tell their own stories. This is how cave paintings came into being. Over time, they were distilled into small symbols and figures defined by an essential, immediate line: pictograms.<\/p>\n

Archetypes of primordial communication, pictograms represent an object directly and convey its meaning without the need for words. Through their ability to synthesise and communicate instantly, they form a universal language capable of transcending cultures, languages and time.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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\u201cIf you draw a fish, everyone understands that it is a fish.\u201d It is in this simplicity that Gabriele Centazzo<\/strong> recognises the power of the pictogram: an essential, shared language that speaks directly to the imagination.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Among the books that most influenced Gabriele Centazzo\u2019s thinking is Gaston Bachelard\u2019s The Poetics of Reverie<\/em>. From this comes the reference to a child\u2019s gaze as a privileged form of knowledge and imagination. Just as when a child is asked to draw a person, the pictogram reduces reality to its essence through a few instantly recognisable strokes, capable of evoking universal images and meanings.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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The time machine, Valcucine headquarter<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Inlaid works by Alfredo De Santis<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Introduced into Valcucine\u2019s communication in the early 1980s, pictograms became one of the company\u2019s most distinctive identity elements. Together with Alfredo De Santis, one of the leading figures in Italian graphic design in the second half of the twentieth century, Gabriele Centazzo developed a coherent and recognisable visual system that would go on to define the brand\u2019s image over the years.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Fabula<\/em>, design by Gabriele Centazzo<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Over time, this language has not remained confined to visual communication. It has also found expression in the product itself, becoming part of Valcucine\u2019s design vocabulary.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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SineTempore<\/em>, design by Gabriele Centazzo<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Even today, Valcucine\u2019s pictograms continue to live on across the brand\u2019s graphic design and communication, reinterpreted over time yet always faithful to their original nature: timeless signs, capable of expressing ideas, values and emotions with the immediacy of a universal language.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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