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Insigna yesterday
Our story begins in Milan in 1948. After the devastation of two world wars, people found renewed confidence and rolled up their sleeves. Rubble was cleared; construction sites opened. Cranes and scaffolding dotted the city centre and suburbs. Major industries resumed production. An entire network of small businesses sprung up, fuelled by inventiveness and determination. In commerce, both large and small enterprises needed to stand out and be seen.
Francesco Ferrari, who started out as an electrician, was not one to stand idly by and watch. In the Via Ripamonti area, he founded Nuovo Neon, an artisanal factory specialising in illuminated signs. The first neon lamps had been patented in France in 1915, and before long, the world had embraced full-blown neon mania. Producing illuminated signs required exceptional craftsmanship, as the glass tubes had to be blown and shaped into letters by hand. Things took off quickly and the company soon earned a solid reputation and place in the market.
In just a few years, post-war recovery turned into an economic boom. Italy opened up to models from more advanced economies and in 1957, the first modern supermarket opened in Milan. The company thrived and scaled up, expanding from local business to nationwide enterprise. A perfect metaphor for this growing prosperity was the facade of Palazzo Carminati in Milan’s Piazza Duomo, which was covered in neon signs. Towering above them all was the famous Kores girl, the model secretary typing away on her machine—an icon of Milan’s economic miracle.
In the 1980s, the founder’s son, Flavio Ferrari, took the reins and ushered in a new era, starting with the name Insigna. Flavio restructured the production processes, commercial division, and service network. Prestigious clients followed, such as Aprilia, Ducati, Fiat, Iveco, Saab, and Volvo, alongside major banking groups, insurance companies, and large-scale retailers. By the 1990s, LED technology—first discovered in 1962—had gradually replaced traditional neon tubes. The world was changing. Over time, sign production ceased to be the company’s main focus. Design, expertise, visual identity, and the ability to interpret client needs became increasingly important, but a deep knowledge of manufacturing processes remains embedded in Insigna’s DNA to this day.