Chocolate paper
for unique comic art
The very special comic cards by Stefano Tamiazzo.
Text:
Alexander Kuhlmann
Photography:
© Stefano Tamiazzo
den 15 maj 2020
En dag, efter att ha ätit VIVANI:s choklad "Fine Dark Marzipan", tar Stefano Tamiazzo kartonginsatsen från omslagets insida och börjar spontant rita en skiss från sin serietidningsserie "Cynocephales" ("Huvudhundkrigarna") på den...
Today, these sketches are a popular collector’s item and a nice marketing tool for the Italian comic designer from Padua, who distributes the cards to selected persons on events worldwide. Each card is a unique piece, still drawn by hand on VIVANI’s cardboard inlays. Stefano’s fans love the “strange cards” and collect as many as they can get.
We talked with Stefano about these extraordinary artworks… and of course about his lust for chocolate.
[on the left, Tamiazzo drawed a self-portrait, exclusively for VIVANI, showing him as one of his head dog warriors]
VIVANI (VIVANI)
Stefano, please tell us something about yourself. What exactly do you do and how long have you been artistically active?
Stefano Tamiazzo
I am 51 years old, I was born and live in Padua in Italy. I am a well-known failed marathon runner as a hobby, I like the blues enormously but above all, I write and draw comics. I am certainly a privileged person because I turned a passion into my profession. I started as a comic book author in the mid-90s, making my debut in the United States for a San Francisco publisher: Viz Communications, still in the fax era (sigh ...) I was one of the winner of the prestigious "Shikisho award" in Japan and finally landed in the French market in the early 2000 where I still work today. My comics have been published in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Italy, USA, Canada, Japan and Holland. I’m also the art director of Scuola Internazionale di Comics -Padova and I teach a class dedicated to the “Graphic Novel” at the Padova University.
VIVANI (VIVANI)
How did you come up with the idea of creating unique comic art works from the cardboard of our chocolates?
Stefano
My wife was eating a Vivani mint chocolate bar and I was looking very interested. She told me “the chocolate is mine, you can keep the cardboard!” So, if life gives you cardboards...
VIVANI (VIVANI)
Tell us more about the cards. What do you use them for?
Stefano
I am drawing and writing a five volume series called "Cynocéphales”, the story of a group of warriors with dog's head who lives during the end of the 20th century. I designed the head of one of these warriors on the cardboard as a game, and chocolate bar after chocolate bar I found myself with about more than twenty nice cards. I shared that on my Facebook and Instagram profile and my followers reacted with enthusiasm, so they became a promo tool that I’m currently using for book festivals all around Europe.
VIVANI (VIVANI)
What significance does chocolate have in your life?
Stefano
I don’t smoke, I eat chocolate. You cannot make a beautiful cake with cigarettes.
VIVANI (VIVANI)
You and your wife are big fans of VIVANI’s "Marzipan Amaretto" chocolate. How many bars do you eat per month?
Stefano
About five or six bars per month, but we also love the "Dark Peppermint" bar, "Creamy Caramel, "Kids" and "White Nougat Crisp".
VIVANI (VIVANI)
What kind of chocolate flavour are you missing in the VIVANI range?
Stefano
Matcha tea or pistachio would be interesting. What about cremino?
VIVANI (VIVANI)
What would it be like to draw a comic completely out of cocoa colours?
Stefano
Nothing could be simpler for me. In my personal color chart the "warm colors of the earth" are my favorites.
VIVANI (VIVANI)
Would something like that be conceivable for you?
Stefano
Of course yes. Not so long ago I used to draw my quick watercolor sketches using coffee (real coffee drink) instead of pigments. I’m always open to test!
