Beyond aesthetics to rewrite an Italian classic: from the love note to human connection, a new idea of product, from consumer good to socio-cultural device

In the relationship between art and business, there are collaborations that simply refresh a product’s image and others that engage more deeply with its symbolic codes. The partnership between Antonio Colomboni and #BaciPerugina clearly belongs to this second category.

It is not an isolated operation, but an ongoing collaboration that develops over time and across different occasions - Valentine’s Day, Easter and Christmas - building a true evolutionary path. A path in which the product is not merely “decorated”, but progressively transformed into a language capable of adapting to contemporaneity.

*Antonio Colomboni x Baci Perugina, Easter special edition, courtesy of Antonio Colomboni and Baci Perugina*

Valentine’s Day: when the love note becomes image

One of the most significant moments of this collaboration coincides with the 2024 Valentine’s Day special edition, in which Baci Perugina introduces a radical break from its century-old tradition.

For the first time, after more than a century, the love notes - long characterized by literary quotes - completely abandon words, replacing them with images. Antonio Colomboni’s illustrations replace the text and transform the message into a visual system made of symbols: lovestruck eyes, stars, mouths, letters, natural elements.

This choice is not merely aesthetic, but deeply connected to the contemporary context. In an everyday life that is increasingly fast-paced and saturated with stimuli, the image becomes an immediate language, capable of crossing cultures and generations without the need for translation. The love note thus ceases to be a quotation to read and becomes an open space, interpretable, where each person 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 Baci’s love notes, I chose a universal concept of love, a feeling that goes beyond a romantic relationship and extends from family members to friends, all the way to our pets”, says illustrator Antonio Colomboni. “Working on this project felt like stepping into history: Baci has always conveyed emotions through the phrases in its love notes, and being able to replace them with my drawings makes me feel part of a revolution. Drawings that, in an explosive and colorful way, compose the Baci packaging”.

“Working on this project felt like stepping into history: Baci has always conveyed emotions through the phrases in its love notes, and being able to replace them with my drawings makes me feel part of a revolution.”

The sensory evolution: “Senti l’Amore”

In its subsequent developments, this research does not stop at the visual level but expands into a broader dimension. With the 2025 special edition “Senti l’Amore”, the brand introduces listening as an integral part of the experience for the first time.

Inside the love notes, alongside Antonio Colomboni’s illustrations, a QR code appears, allowing users to listen to the literary quotes. The iconic gesture of unwrapping a Bacio is thus enriched with a new layer: not only reading or looking, but also listening.

The images anticipate the audio content, creating a relationship between visual and auditory that makes the experience more engaging and shareable. The love note becomes a threshold between physical and digital, between object and content, marking the product’s entry into a fully #phygital dimension.

It is no longer just a small message to keep, but a moment to experience and potentially share with others.

*Antonio Colomboni x Baci Perugina, Valentine's Day 2024 special edition, courtesy of Antonio Colomboni and Baci Perugina*

The Connection Box: the product as a space for relationships

The most interesting step, also from a social perspective, comes with the 2026 edition “Connection Box”. Here, the love note undergoes a further transformation: instead of phrases or images, questions appear. Questions designed to stimulate dialogue, to break the ice, to encourage people to open up.

The idea stems from a current and widely 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 say they do not have a close friend, while 64% of dating app users do not know how to start a conversation; young people, meanwhile, spend 40% less time with friends compared to twenty years ago. We live among messages, notifications, and calls, yet we find it increasingly difficult to create deep connections.

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, one Bacio opens a conversation, and simple consumption turns into a shared experience of discovery and mutual understanding. Antonio Colomboni’s graphics, with their pop, ironic, and immediate language, help make this edition not only functional but also visually distinctive, a true collectible object.

In this case, the product definitively ceases to be a simple consumer good and becomes a relational device, capable of influencing contemporary social dynamics.

“The Connection Box was born from the desire to encourage people to carve out meaningful time to talk to each other”, says Chiara Richiedei, Marketing Manager of Baci Perugina.

*Antonio Colomboni x Baci Perugina, Valentine's Day special edition 2026, courtesy of Antonio Colomboni and Baci Perugina*

Easter: with the artist’s surprise, art enters the product

If Valentine’s Day represents the ground for experimentation on language, Easter becomes the moment in which the artistic intervention expands to the entire product system.

The Baci Perugina eggs designed by Antonio Colomboni do not merely introduce new packaging, but build a coherent imaginary inspired by spring. The graphics tell a story of an explosion of colors, emotions, and vitality, in which characters transform into natural elements, flowers, and landscapes.

Particularly interesting is the way this vision extends inside the product as well. The surprises - illustrated magnets - are also designed by the artist, becoming true “windows onto spring”, extending the experience beyond the act of unwrapping. A continuity is thus created between exterior and interior, between packaging and content, strengthening the visual identity and making 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 continuously reinventing itself and conveying positive emotions”, says Chiara Richiedei, Marketing Manager of Baci Perugina.

Christmas: the gift as a cultural object

Also within the Christmas context, this fruitful collaboration has 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 quintessential moment of gifting, and for this reason packaging takes on an even more central role. Antonio Colomboni’s illustrations transform 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, but becomes itself part of the gift, an object that carries with it an authorial aesthetic and imaginary. In this sense, the artist’s work contributes to strengthening the symbolic value of the brand, making it more contemporary without betraying its historical identity.

A collaboration that becomes language

Viewed as a whole, the collaboration between Antonio Colomboni and Baci Perugina reveals a clear trajectory: from image to multisensoriality, to relationship.

It is not about applying art to the product in a purely decorative way, but rather about using artistic language and the distinctive qualities of an authorial vision to redefine how 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 is not limited to being recognizable and collectible, but that manages to remain relevant over time, adapting to changes in society and its languages.

Article by Enrico Dedin

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 16th Videoart Yearbook curated by art critic Renato Barilli, the Collettiva Giovani Artisti of the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, and The Wrong Biennale, receiving numerous awards and recognitions over the years. His artistic research has also been included in the volume “L’arte del XXI secolo. Temi, linguaggi, artisti” by Viviana Vannucci, professor and international curator. Alongside his artistic practice, he works as an Art Director in the field of multimedia communication. Operating at the intersection of art and communication, he coined the term “Artivator” to define a new role of the artist: a cultural activator for brands, territories, and entities outside the art system. He is also the author of the literary manifesto of Metaluddism, published in the aperiodical Il Foglio Clandestino.

ANTONIO COLOMBONI x BACI PERUGINA: THE EVOLUTION OF A MADE IN ITALY ICON