Milano is a fabulous place to do a “design intensive” exploration, and I’ve stepped up my voracious visual consumption of the rich details around me. What a place to study typography, graphics, signage and advertising! Everything captures my mind.

Even a toothpaste ad.

“The green has all our respect, the red is the passion we put into it,
but it’s the white of your smile that’s our true mission.”

No, not all Italian packaging has such a retro, stereotype look. One finds the usual Crest, Colgate and Sensodyne on the grocery shelves, but with Italian swapped for English. That must be why “Pasta del Capitano” seemed like such a throwback, and stopped me while rushing for the subway car.