Bound to Tradition
Domenico Simioni and his two sons from Grafiche SIZ in Verona
produce high-run commercial products with the same outstanding
skill as exclusive book projects or applications for famous museums
and luxury labels. Italy's first Speedmaster XL 162 plays a
decisive role in the process.
It's raining. The sky over Verona has been showing its dark side for three days now. Domenico Simioni is looking out the window, hands folded behind his back. Then, without a word, the 69-year-old turns around and sits down at his desk on the first floor of his print shop, Grafiche SIZ, located in the city's industrial area. When asked if the bad weather is normal for this time of year, he takes a sip of espresso. Then he answers, "It's fall. Rain is normal. And really bad weather looks a lot different!"
The print shop manager knows what he's talking about when it comes to bad weather. He knows what it's like when it's raining cats and dogs and shows no signs of stopping. That's what it was like in 1963, he says. Domenico was 23 years old at the time. He had just thrown in the towel as a teacher at a school for graphic design, rented a garage and founded his own print shop. With a used Heidelberg platen press, he took on his first jobs. Within just a short time his order book was full. A business partner was added and along-side him a second printing press. Then the rain came. The water collected on the low ground where the garage stood. It moved higher and higher. Finding its way through all the door cracks, it flowed into the print shop. "We mopped almost nonstop for two days and nights but nothing helped," Domenico remembers, "All the furniture was ruined and had to be replaced." During that time, he learned something important, "It's a nice feeling to stand on your own two feet - but only as long as they're dry. And the chances of that are a lot better when you're at the top instead of the bottom."
Growth through strategic acquisitions
Domenico drew the right consequences from this lesson. His ascent over more than 55 years in the print media industry is impressive - even when both his sons have been helping him since 1991: Massimo (41) as Chief Executive Officer and Nicola (37) as Director of Marketing and Sales.
And so the garage of old has become an international holding company with 107 employees. Some 74 people work in the print shop Grafiche SIZ, the leading branch and also the production location for the SIZ group on the outskirts of Verona. Just a few steps away, across from the large format pressroom, is another production hall which houses the bookbinding business and also provides additional space for the entire postpress department. The holding has a sales office and its own magazine publisher, both in New York, as well as another former print shop with good connections to clients from the Vatican and other church-related organizations. In addition, there's the Stamperia Valdonega, whose book editions are prized by collectors all over the world. The business, rich in tradition, was founded by the famous typographer and book designer Giovanni Mardersteig and was also added to the SIZ group in 2007.
You can download the complete article on the top right-hand side.
It's raining. The sky over Verona has been showing its dark side for three days now. Domenico Simioni is looking out the window, hands folded behind his back. Then, without a word, the 69-year-old turns around and sits down at his desk on the first floor of his print shop, Grafiche SIZ, located in the city's industrial area. When asked if the bad weather is normal for this time of year, he takes a sip of espresso. Then he answers, "It's fall. Rain is normal. And really bad weather looks a lot different!"
The print shop manager knows what he's talking about when it comes to bad weather. He knows what it's like when it's raining cats and dogs and shows no signs of stopping. That's what it was like in 1963, he says. Domenico was 23 years old at the time. He had just thrown in the towel as a teacher at a school for graphic design, rented a garage and founded his own print shop. With a used Heidelberg platen press, he took on his first jobs. Within just a short time his order book was full. A business partner was added and along-side him a second printing press. Then the rain came. The water collected on the low ground where the garage stood. It moved higher and higher. Finding its way through all the door cracks, it flowed into the print shop. "We mopped almost nonstop for two days and nights but nothing helped," Domenico remembers, "All the furniture was ruined and had to be replaced." During that time, he learned something important, "It's a nice feeling to stand on your own two feet - but only as long as they're dry. And the chances of that are a lot better when you're at the top instead of the bottom."
Growth through strategic acquisitions
Domenico drew the right consequences from this lesson. His ascent over more than 55 years in the print media industry is impressive - even when both his sons have been helping him since 1991: Massimo (41) as Chief Executive Officer and Nicola (37) as Director of Marketing and Sales.
And so the garage of old has become an international holding company with 107 employees. Some 74 people work in the print shop Grafiche SIZ, the leading branch and also the production location for the SIZ group on the outskirts of Verona. Just a few steps away, across from the large format pressroom, is another production hall which houses the bookbinding business and also provides additional space for the entire postpress department. The holding has a sales office and its own magazine publisher, both in New York, as well as another former print shop with good connections to clients from the Vatican and other church-related organizations. In addition, there's the Stamperia Valdonega, whose book editions are prized by collectors all over the world. The business, rich in tradition, was founded by the famous typographer and book designer Giovanni Mardersteig and was also added to the SIZ group in 2007.
You can download the complete article on the top right-hand side.
