A year on, Piero Gratton's work lives on in the AS Roma archive

He was a pivotal figure both for Roma, whose visual identity he completely redesigned with the Pouchain jerseys, and the world of graphics and Italian TV. The volume and value of his work are immense and left a mark on more than one era of TV and advertising.

Today Gratton's work lives on in the AS Roma archive because his family decided to donate it to the club. Almost 1200 items – theme-song transparencies, animations, sketches and films – are stored here.

His legacy is preserved with the same love and care that Gratton always showed for his work and for Roma, to ensure his memory lasts forever, as it deserves to be.

Below are a few examples of his work.

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For Christmas 1979, Piero Gratton designed this folding Christmas card. The envelope is red with a gold Lupetto and 'AS Roma' wordmark is written in gold letters.

On the inside are portraits by Alfonso Artioli of the Roma players from the 1979-80 season on a white background, with the Lupetto logo at the bottom, the year (1979) in red and Auguri (Merry Christmas) in italics.

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The Euros will be held in Rome this year, as they were in 1980, when Piero Gratton designed the official mascot: a Pinocchio with a ball under his right arm (although copyright reasons meant it never actualy saw the light of day - replaced by a flower), a hat with 'Europa 80' written on it and a nose in the colours of the Italy flag.

Among the material donated by the family is a typography print produced for a news conference held in Rome on 10 October 1979 with CONI president Franco Carraro and UEFA president Artemio Franchi. On the back, the choice of a “fresh, easygoing and very Italian” image is explained.

The archive also contains a wooden model of Pinocchio with a 'Europa 80' hat and a drawing of the mascot's head in coloured pens on paper – probably the first draft – with a coloured, striped nose and the words '1980 European Championship' beneath it.

Piero Gratton also designed another symbol for the tournament: a flower representing a ball with 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons. The black pentagons are surrounded by purple, red and orange lines, turning the ball into a flower with two green leaves beneath it. The back of the card explains the choice of the flower: “a symbol of our Mediterranean country”. The back also features a series of drawings showing a ball progressively becoming a flower.

In the gallery above we've included another sketch which depicts the UEFA logo being used for a TV programme, a poster and a pennant.

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Four years later, Piero Gratton worked with UEFA for the 1984 Euros in France. Our archive includes a set of seven stickers with the UEFA 84 logo, also designed by Gratton, with the France flag and the rooster Peno, the official mascot for the tournament.

A coloured print on card shows the UEFA logo with the upper stripes forming a red, white and blue flag. On the side are the Pantone numbers for the blue (286 C) and red (200 C).

Among the sketches Gratton produced for the tournament is a black-and-white print for a plaque of the official trophy. Here the trophy looks like a Greek-style amphora. Beneath it is the UEFA logo designed by Gratton.

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Il torneo scolastico "Roma Junior Club" ha segnato la storia della Società e proprio dall'incontro con l'organizzatore, il dirigente Gilberto Viti, iniziò il rapporto tra la Roma e Piero Gratton. Tra il materiale donato dalla famiglia e conservato a Trigoria, spicca qui la locandina della tredicesima edizione del torneo, disputata nel 1978, su cui è raffigurata la silhouette di un calciatore che esulta tratteggiata con la tecnica utilizzata più volte da Gratton.

Segue un opuscolo pieghevole, con quattro pagine di testo con copertina a colori, con il regolamento tecnico della quattordicesima edizione disputata nel 1979 e i "naming rights" affidati allo sponsor CIT (Compagnia Italiana Turismo). Anche qui la copertina riflette lo stile di Gratton, riprendendo uno dei temi grafici a lui più cari, la stilizzazione delle figure di calciatori ottenuta tramite una distorsioni di immagini originali.

Di grande valore simbolico la tessera di socio del Roma Junior Club, valida per la stagione 1979-80, non compilata, che riporta sul dorso la firma di Dino Viola, nella sua prima stagione da presidente.

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As in so many things, Piero Gratton was ahead of his time for the Roma mascot too – something which came to light thanks to the family's donation.

Among Gratton's collection of material is a folder with 'AS Roma – Mascotte' written on it. Inside are two sketches dating back to 1979 with two characters wearing Pouchain jerseys: one is called Romolo, just like Roma's current mascot, and the other is called Trigoria. Another sketch shows Remo with Romolo. There is also a photograph of two prototype dolls of Romolo and Trigoria.

Finally, we find an extract from a storyboard – which can be dated around 1980 – for an AS Roma theme song featuring Romolo and Trigoria for La Uomo TV, a Rome-based television channel at the time.

The first scene is black, the second shows the pair about to pull open a curtain, the third reveals the word “PRESENTING” behind the curtain and the last is the title of a match that could be presented in the programme.

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Pencils: the tools of the trade.

Preserved in the AS Roma archive with the same care that Piero Gratton kept them for years. Three images show a collection of 139 drawing pencils of different makes, colours and materials which belonged to Piero Gratton and were used at unknown times during the Roma and RAI graphic artist's career.

Uomo Roma a tutto tondo, Piero Gratton ha messo la sua firma anche nel periodo della ricostituzione della Polisportiva, tra il 1986 e il 1987. L'archivio custodisce i suoi lavori per la Roma Baseball, con la carta intestata con logo disegnato in testa al centro del foglio con un giocatore di baseball in rosso e una striscia orizzontale di colore giallo e un gagliardetto con stampa a colori e metallo che riproduce il marchio prodotto da Gratton.

Sul fronte troviamo il giocatore di baseball dentro la corona di stelle giallorosse. Sotto troviamo il marchio in nero "as roma baseball". Sul retro troviamo la riproduzione dei colori della bandiera italiana.

Da gustare tutte le prove di stampa per realizzare l'immagine della sezione baseball, con 5 versioni del marchio. Nella seconda pagina abbiamo le due immagini dei gicatori di baseball con i colori pantone corrispondenti: Pantone Red 032U e Pantone 151U. In basso a sinistra della prima pagina abbiamo il copy del marchio: 1987 in corso di registrazione.

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Piero Gratton has been gone for a year but his work will remain, helping to keep his memory alive.