Innovation and technology at the service of design

Italia Independent offers designer eyewear and communication services. It was founded in 2007 through the inspiration and the entrepreneurial creativity of Lapo Elkann, Andrea Tessitore and Giovanni Accongiagioco.

In less than ten years, Italia Independent has established itself in international and national markets thanks to an innovative spirit, out-of-the-box thinking and original designs.

Italia Independent was the first company to use carbon fibers, a velvet finish and thermochromic pigments (I-Thermic) in eyewear. It has also followed innovative business strategies combining eyewear, communication, lifestyle and co-branding projects.

In 2014, the Torino company was recognized by the MIT Technology Review Italia as one of the ten most innovative Italian companies in the category “smart and disruptive.”

Innovation is an essential for Italia Independent, even when talking about product catalogs, as Caterina Ghezzi, the company’s marketing manager, tells us:

“Communication has always been a core issue for us, and it is our priority to innovate in every area. So we were looking for a solution that would update the process of catalog creation. After an online search, we found the cloud-based database publishing service Pagination, which is now a market leader in database publishing solutions.”

“For Pagination, the opportunity to collaborate with Italia Independent is very rewarding from many points of view,” explains Luca Reginato, Pagination project manager.

“First of all, it’s great because Lapo Elkann’s brand represents excellence in eyewear and communication, and it is a young company that wants to change the world with its ideas, exactly like us. Moreover, Italia Independent believes in research, experimentation and thinking out of the box, the same concepts we use in our products. Finally, working with a creative, innovative and design-oriented company has been a great challenge. And we met that challenge, thanks to the efficiency and originality of our solutions.”

Caterina Ghezzi goes on: “Before using Pagination, catalog creation was the job of our graphic department, which put the document together manually page by page. Aesthetically, this was an acceptable solution, because it allowed for creativity and personalization. But it was inefficient. Document processing took a long time and used a lot of manpower. Our graphic design department didn’t have much time to work on other projects. We wanted to use our people and resources more efficiently and productively. Pagination helped us do that.”

“From the beginning, the professionality and the preparation of their team impressed us. They followed us step by step, from document set-up to assistance during the pagination process. They explained every feature of the service, and they illustrated everything with very instructive live demos.”

“Their proactive and prepared approach has been one of the major factors in our choice—combined, of course, with the originality and the efficiency of their solution.”

“Their always-available service allowed us to move quickly with no problems from a handmade catalog to an automated one. With Pagination’s solution, we have a more efficient workflow that has saved us time and money and has given more freedom to our graphic design department. Now our graphic designers can work on other projects that were shelved before.”

“And we got all of this without giving up the customization of our catalog. Our project documents are always very personalized and created just as we imagine them. Thanks to Pagination, they are tailor-made and automated at the same time.”

“In conclusion, we are very satisfied with our collaboration with Pagination. We have been able to transform a weakness into a strength and to transform our catalog in an instrument that reflects our philosophy: a perfect synthesis of innovation and technology at the service of design.”