The partnership between Antonio Colomboni and Baci Perugina fully falls into the category of collaborations aimed at deeply intervening in its symbolic codes.
Beyond aesthetics to rewrite an Italian classic: from the cartiglio to the human relationship, a new idea of product, from consumer good to socio-cultural device.
This is not an isolated operation, but a continuous collaboration that develops over time and through various occasions – Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Christmas – building a true evolutionary path. A path in which the product is not simply “decorated,” but progressively transformed into a language capable of adapting to contemporaneity.
Valentine’s Day: when the cartiglio becomes an image
One of the most significant moments of this collaboration coincides with the special 2024 edition of Valentine’s Day in which Baci Perugina introduces a radical break from its century-old tradition.
For the first time, after more than a century, the cartigli – always characterized by author phrases – completely give up words to make room for the image. The illustrations by Antonio Colomboni take the place of the text and transform the message into a visual system made of symbols: eyes in love, stars, mouths, letters, natural elements.
This choice is not only aesthetic, but deeply connected to the contemporary context. In an everyday life that is increasingly fast and saturated with stimuli, the image becomes an immediate language, capable of crossing cultures and generations without the need for translation. The cartouche therefore ceases to be a quote to read and becomes an open, interpretable space, in which everyone can project their own meaning.
It is a subtle but decisive shift: Baci Perugina no longer communicates a defined message, but builds a freer and more personal emotional experience.
“For the Baci scrolls, I chose a universal concept of love, a feeling that goes beyond a couple’s relationship and extends from family to friends to one’s pets,” declares the illustrator Antonio Colomboni. “Working on this project for me was like entering history: Baci has always conveyed emotions through the phrases of its scrolls, and being able to insert my drawings in their place makes me feel part of the revolution. Drawings that explosively and colorfully compose the Baci packages.”
The sensory evolution: “Feel the Love”
In subsequent developments, this research does not stop at the visual level but expands towards a broader dimension. With the special 2025 edition “Senti l’Amore”, the brand introduces for the first time listening as an integral part of the experience.
Inside the cartouches, next to the illustrations by Antonio Colomboni, there is a QR Code that allows you to listen to the author’s phrases. The iconic gesture of unwrapping a Bacio is thus enriched with a new level: not only reading or watching, but also listening.
The images anticipate the sound content, creating a relationship between visual and auditory that makes the experience more engaging and shareable. The cartouche becomes a threshold between physical and digitale, between object and content, marking the entry of the product into a fully phygital dimension.
It is no longer just a small message to keep, but a moment to live and potentially to share with others.
The Connection Box: the product as a space of relationship
The most interesting transition, even from a social perspective, arrives with the 2026 edition “Connection Box”. Here the cartouche undergoes a further transformation: instead of phrases or images, questions appear. Questions designed to stimulate dialogue, to break the ice, to lead people to share their stories.
The idea stems from a current and shared insight: today we are increasingly digitally connected, but less and less accustomed to truly sharing ourselves. According to recent research (Institute for Family Studies 2023), 51% of Italians claim not to have a close friend, while 64% of dating users do not know how to start a conversation; young people, on the other hand, spend 40% less time with friends compared to twenty years ago. We live among messages, notifications, and calls, but we find it increasingly difficult to create deep bonds.
In this context, Baci Perugina uses its most iconic gesture, unwrapping a chocolate, to create a space for real connection. One question leads to another, a Bacio opens a conversation, and the simple act of consumption transforms into a shared experience of discovery and mutual understanding.
The graphics of Antonio Colomboni, with their pop, ironic, and immediate language, contribute to making this edition not only functional but also visually distinctive, a true collector’s item.
In this case, the product definitively stops being a simple consumer good and becomes a relational device, capable of impacting contemporary social dynamics.
“The Connection Box was born from the desire to encourage people to carve out a quality space to talk to each other” – says Chiara Richiedei, Marketing Manager Baci Perugina.
Easter: with the surprise of the author, art enters the product
If Valentine’s Day represents the ground for experimentation on language, Easter becomes the moment when the artistic intervention expands to the entire product system.
The Baci Perugina eggs designed by Antonio Colomboni are not limited to new packaging, but build a coherent imagery inspired by spring. The graphics tell of an explosion of colors, emotions, and vitality, in which the characters transform into natural elements, flowers, and landscapes.
Particularly interesting is the way in which this vision extends also within the product. Even the surprises, in fact, of the illustrated magnets, are signed by the artist, becoming real “windows on spring,” prolonging the experience beyond the act of unwrapping.
This creates a continuity between exterior and interior, between packaging and content, which strengthens the visual identity and makes the object more memorable. Art is no longer applied, but integrated at every level of the experience.
“Baci continues its path of innovation, proving once again to be a brand in step with the times, capable of continually reinventing itself and conveying positive emotions” – states Chiara Richiedei, Marketing Manager Baci Perugina.
Christmas: the gift as a cultural object
Even in the Christmas context, this fruitful collaboration found expressive and communicative space. Here the artistic intervention does not break the code, but strengthens and expands it while remaining more faithful to tradition.
Christmas is the time of giving par excellence, and precisely for this reason, packaging takes on an even more central role. The illustrations by Antonio Colomboni transform the Baci Perugina packages into visually recognizable objects, capable of integrating into the domestic and social rituals associated with the holidays.
The product is no longer just something to give as a gift, but it becomes part of the gift itself, an object that carries with it an aesthetic and an authorial imagery. In this sense, the artist’s work helps to strengthen the symbolic value of the brand, making it more contemporary without betraying its historical identity.
A collaboration that becomes language
Observed as a whole, the collaboration between Antonio Colomboni and Baci Perugina shows a clear trajectory: from the image to multisensoriality, up to the relationship.
It is not about applying art to the product in an exclusively decorative way, but rather about using the artistic language and the peculiarities of an authorial vision to redefine the way in which the product itself communicates, engages, and connects people.
In a saturated and highly competitive market, this type of approach demonstrates how the integration between art and business can generate value not only in aesthetic terms, but also cultural, social, and relational.
The result is a product that not only remains recognizable and collectible, but also manages to stay relevant over time, adapting to the changes in society and its languages.
Media artist active since 2013, with over 80 exhibitions worldwide. His works are part of the catalogue of Heure Exquise!, distributor of the audiovisual collections of the Musée du Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay. He has been
selected for major events and exhibitions, including the XVI Videoart Yearbook curated by art critic Renato Barilli, the Collettiva Giovani Artisti (Young Artists Collective) of the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa and The Wrong Biennale, winning numerous awards and recognitions over the years.
His artistic research has also been included in the book “L’arte del XXI secolo. Temi, linguaggi, artisti” (21st Century Art: Themes, Languages, Artists) by Viviana Vannucci, lecturer and international curator.
Alongside his artistic activity, he works as an art director in the field of multimedia communication. Moving between art and communication, he coined the term “Artivator” to define a new
role for the artist: cultural activator for brands, territories and realities outside the art system. He is also the author of the literary manifesto of Metaluddismo, published in the aperiodical Il Foglio Clandestino.
