The design and prototypes that entered the first exclusive collections of Design Center were first created towards the end of the '80s.

They are home & office accessories that combine the passion for a design that enhances the expressive power of the materials with essential form, quality and high craftsmanship.

The collections are created by Nino Basso designer, former art director of the Accessories and Jewellery Division at  the international brand Gucci  in Florence, who leads the small artisan activity until  Cristina Colonnello, graphic designer  and photographer by training, creative  by inclination, joined Design Center 1991. 

After a start  focused mainly  on furnishings, Cristina Colonnello  expanded her work experience and extended her activity in the area of corporate immage promotion and  communication, which is identified with the  Design Center, per comunicare brand.

At the same time, she continues her close collaboration with  Nino Basso.
With constant sensivity for cultural research and experimentation, she creates works between art and design and enriches the collections of small numbered series and unique pieces, which stand out in the Design Center 1991 brand. 

Ecletic designer,  Nino Basso  returned a few years ago to live in Spilimbergo, the nice Mosaic City, halfway between Venice  and Trieste.

His hystory in the world of design began in the  1970s in Milan, where he  attended the Polytechnich School of Industrial Design and worked in the Norbert Linke graphic design studio. 

Towards the end of the 70s he was in Florence, and his arrival  at Guccio Gucci, an international brand in the fashion and furnishing accessories sector, was particularly important. For several years he worked there as art director of the Accessories and Jewellery Division. 
Here, Nino Basso focused on the indissoluble bond that  unites objects with the high Tuscan craftsmanshio of metal and leather  working and opens up to  new curiosities and interests. 

He designed and creates jewellery accessories and home  accessories and after patient research and trials he recovers many secrets of the fashinating  shagreen leather  - also known as galuchat - in vogue in the furniture of the art deco period , which involved him  in the experimentation and creation of new lines of home and office accessories. 

In the second half of the 80s he chose to enter the market with  his own brand and opened Design Center, a small artisan business in which he fully expresses his great creativity appreciated by an international clientele, which he headed until 1991 when his granddaughter Cristina Colonnello began working there. 

A pause in his industrial design then followed, which saw him partecipating with a group of professionals in the project of the  ATR500 electric train,  among other things. 

At the same time, he continued his close collaboration with Design Center. 
With constant sensitivity for cultural research and experimentation, he creates works between art and design and enriches the collections of small numbered series and unique pieces, which stand out in the Design Center 1991 brand.

He travels to learn about the cultural traditions of various countries and continues to cultivate his artistic vocation for research and experimentation.

He ranges from design to sculpture, photography and painting, looking for the revealing signs of his character in shapes, colours and details. 

Boutiques

Al Balanzone, Bologna 

Becker & Musicò, Roma 

Bertrand  Contemporain Decoration, Paris 

Carmond, Kuala Lumpur

De Wan, Torino 
Maher SA, Lausanne 
Marcello Serra, Roma 
Marton Cartoleria, Treviso 
Pimar I Papiri, Palermo
Santini, Livorno
...