Carlo Picone
Creative Director & Founder of plasma®
Carlo Picone is a Creative Director working across branding, visual communication, and digital production for design-driven and industrial brands. His work focuses on transforming creative vision into structured systems that support positioning, commercial clarity, and long-term brand value.
Who is Carlo Picone
Carlo Picone is a designer and Creative Director with over fifteen years of experience across industrial design, visual communication, and brand strategy. His work is defined by a multidisciplinary approach that integrates design, technology, and art direction, supporting innovation for Italian and international brands.
After graduating with honors in Industrial Design at the University of Luigi Vanvitelli, he began his career collaborating with Fiat Group S.p.A. through Elasis, developing virtual environments for automotive prototype testing. He later served as Head of the Technical Department at a leading Corian® design and manufacturing laboratory, where he collaborated with Karim Rashid on industrial products for global markets.
In 2012, Carlo Picone founded Plasma, a creative studio specialising in branding, visual communication, and digital experiences. In 2020, he launched EvoRoom, a pioneering virtual exhibition system awarded the ADI Ceramics Award at CERSAIE 2021.
His art direction project Black Label for Relax Design was selected for the ADI Design Index and nominated for the Compasso d’Oro ADI. His work in packaging design received a Pentawards for the Solaro Gin project, while a collaboration between Karim Rashid and Relax Design was awarded the German Design Award in 2023.
Carlo Picone is a member of the Art Directors Club Italiano (ADCI) and collaborates with the University of Luigi Vanvitelli through educational and mentoring programmes. Today, through Plasma, he leads projects in creative direction, industrial design, and brand strategy, developing communication systems that align creative vision with market strategy.
Creative Direction & Brand Positioning
Carlo Picone operates as Creative Director with a strong focus on brand positioning and long-term coherence.
This area of expertise involves defining a clear strategic framework within which creative decisions can operate consistently across time, channels, and markets.
Brand identity is approached as a structured system rather than a stylistic exercise, ensuring that visual language, tone of voice, and communication assets align with business objectives and market expectations.
The result is a positioning that remains recognisable, adaptable, and credible across different contexts.
Branding & Editorial Systems
Branding and editorial tools are developed as operational instruments designed for real commercial use.
Catalogues, brochures, and brand materials are conceived to support sales networks, international distribution, and decision-making processes rather than serving purely promotional purposes.
Carlo Picone’s approach focuses on clarity, hierarchy, and usability, allowing complex product ranges and collections to be communicated effectively.
Each editorial system is designed to remain coherent over time, adaptable to updates, and aligned with the brand’s overall communication strategy.
Image, Video & CGI Production
Visual production is directed with a strong emphasis on material quality, design intent, and narrative clarity.
Photography, video, and CGI are developed under a unified creative direction to ensure consistency across all visual outputs.
Rather than producing isolated visuals, this area focuses on building visual systems that can be deployed across trade fairs, digital platforms, advertising campaigns, and editorial contexts.
The objective is to create assets that enhance perception, support positioning, and communicate value with precision.
Digital Environments & Virtual Showrooms
Digital environments are conceived as structured spaces for communication and presentation.
Virtual showrooms and interactive tools are designed to help brands present complex products and collections in a clear, navigable, and engaging way.
Carlo Picone’s work in this area bridges design, storytelling, and technology, ensuring that digital experiences remain aligned with brand identity while offering practical value for sales teams, clients, and international partners.
Trade Fairs & International Support
Trade fairs and international markets require communication tools that function under real operational conditions.
This area focuses on developing visual and editorial assets designed to perform effectively in exhibition spaces, meetings with agents, and export-driven scenarios.
The work supports brands in maintaining clarity, consistency, and impact within high-pressure commercial environments, where communication must be immediate, structured, and aligned with strategic objectives.
Strategic Content Systems & Communication Architecture
Rather than producing isolated content, Carlo Picone develops structured communication architectures.
This involves defining content hierarchies, visual rules, and usage scenarios that ensure consistency across catalogues, digital platforms, trade fairs, and sales tools.
By treating communication as a system, this approach enables brands to scale their content over time, reduce fragmentation, and maintain coherence across markets and channels.
The result is a communication structure that supports long-term growth and organisational alignment.
METHOD
A system-based approach
Carlo Picone approaches design and communication as structured systems rather than isolated creative outputs.
Each project is developed within a clear strategic framework, where identity, content, and tools are designed to work together coherently over time.
The method is based on clarity, hierarchy, and usability, ensuring that creative decisions are always aligned with business objectives and real operational needs.
From strategy to execution
The process begins with strategic analysis: understanding the brand’s positioning, market context, and commercial goals.
This phase defines the principles that guide all subsequent creative and production decisions.
From this foundation, creative direction translates strategy into tangible outputs—visual identities, editorial systems, digital environments, and content assets—ensuring continuity between vision and execution.
Coherence across touchpoints
Consistency is a critical component of the method.
Communication assets are designed to remain coherent across multiple touchpoints, including trade fairs, sales tools, digital platforms, and international markets.
Rather than adapting content reactively, the method establishes rules and structures that allow brands to communicate with clarity while remaining flexible across different contexts and channels.
Design as an operational tool
In Carlo Picone’s approach, design is not conceived as a purely expressive exercise.
Its primary function is to organise complexity, support decision-making, and facilitate communication within real business environments.
Every output—whether visual, editorial, or digital—is evaluated according to its effectiveness, usability, and ability to support commercial and organisational processes.
Long-term value over short-term assets
The method prioritises long-term value over short-lived solutions.
Projects are designed to evolve, adapt, and scale over time, reducing fragmentation and avoiding the need for continuous reinvention.
This approach enables companies to build durable communication systems that strengthen brand identity, improve internal alignment, and support sustainable growth across markets.
A collaborative and structured process
Collaboration plays a central role within a clearly defined structure.
Carlo Picone works closely with management, marketing teams, and technical partners to ensure that creative direction remains aligned with strategic intent and operational realities.
As founder of plasma®, he operates at the intersection of strategy, creative direction, and production, maintaining direct oversight of projects while ensuring consistency and quality across all stages.
Measurement and continuous refinement
Measurement and validation are embedded within the method.
Communication systems and creative assets are reviewed over time to assess clarity, effectiveness, and consistency across different operational contexts. Feedback from real use—across sales activities, trade fairs, and digital platforms—is used to refine structures and tools, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives.
This process allows communication systems to remain effective, adaptable, and coherent as brands evolve.
Over the years, Carlo Picone has collaborated with companies and teams operating in design, manufacturing, wellness, and contract, supporting long-term communication and brand development processes.
See more on plasma® official website.
Get in Touch
For collaboration requests, strategic consultations, or project-related inquiries, Carlo Picone can be contacted directly.
Discussions typically focus on brand positioning, communication systems, and long-term design strategies for companies operating in design, manufacturing, and international markets.