The collaboration with the Municipality of Noto to develop visitor services for MUCIAN – the Civic Archaeological Museum of Noto – began while restoration work was still in progress on the spaces that would host the museum. In its first phase, the project focused only on designing the tactile route.
Work on the museum’s brand identity started during a laser-scanner survey of one of the Castelluccio tomb doors, preserved at the “Paolo Orsi” Regional Archaeological Museum in Syracuse. This artifact, displayed in Noto only as a 3D replica, was not just the key element of the tactile route, but also a central reference point for the entire exhibition narrative.
Following the strong curatorial guidance of the project manager (RUP), the decision was made to base the museum’s visual identity on the decorative language of the Castelluccio culture, whose archaeological area is the closest to Noto and whose most distinctive graphic motif is the spiral.
The starting point was the decoration of tomb door no. 31, which was deconstructed and reinterpreted into an original, stylised mark. The new design preserves the link to the Castelluccio culture both in its lines and in its colour palette, inspired by traditional ceramics: yellow-orange and red.
The spiral elements then became the visual thread running through all the museum’s communication materials, from multilingual brochures to postcards and bookmarks.
The museum floor plan, colour-coded by historical period, was later integrated into the user interface of the augmented reality app, ensuring continuity of the visual identity across digital and printed media and strengthening the integrated physical–digital experience for visitors.
Riccardo Bonina
Marica Martorana
Antonella Musumeci