About the artist:

Franco Grignani was an Italian architect, graphic designer and artist. He is best known for black and white graphics, particularly the Woolmark logo, which was voted 'Best Logo of all Time' by Creative Review Magazine in 2011.

Grignani was born in Pieve Porto Morone, Italy. He studied architecture in Turin between 1929 and 1933. Early on, he began experimenting with photography, and became interested in optic and visual phenomena. He played a part in Italy's second Futurist and Constructivist movements. Subsequently, his work was more closely associated with Kinetic Art and Op Art. Based on theories of perception, particularly the psychology of form, using his knowledge of architecture, he created more than 14000 experimental works. He remains a powerful influence in the world of graphic design. In Italy, he is considered a master of optical graphic design.

Grignani's best-known work is the Woolmark logo, applied to more than five billion products worldwide. In 1963 the International Wool Secretariat (now Australian Wool Innovation) launched an international competition for a visual design that would represent new standards of quality and help build consumer confidence. There is some doubt as to whether the winning design was by Grignani himself, as he later claimed; he was a member of the jury and could not use his own name, and is thought to have used the pseudonym "Francesco Saroglia". His daughters claimed, after his death, that the entry had been submitted on his behalf by a Mr. Spiriti, an owner of an advertising agency, who had asked him to provide some sample sketches. Shortly afterwards, the artist was invited to participate as a juror and was amazed to see his own drawing among the entries. His daughter stated that he tried voting against it as the winning design because he was embarrassed. His sketchbook of Monday 4 April that year reveal a page of precise sketches for the Woolmark logo, including the winning entry, and this page was exhibited in a show of Franco Grignani's work in 1995 at the Aiap Gallery in Milan.

The Woolmark Company commented that the logo "has helped reinvent the global perception of wool as a natural, contemporary and glamorous fibre". The flexible and elegant form, similar to a Möbius strip, is cited as portraying the quality of wool and expressing its softness and purity in a uniquely memorable image.