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From 1998 to 2013 at Fabrica, the Benetton communications innovation lab directed by Oliviero Toscani, he guided numerous multidisciplinary teams of artists, designers and technologists dedicating to new forms of creativity and communication related to emerging technologies as Head and Creative Director of the Visual Communication Department.
He directed social impact projects addressing the universal topics of violence and child injury prevention, road safety, organ and blood donation, climate change related diseases, anti tobacco and anti alcohol culture, disability barrier awareness, AIDS and mental illness stigma reduction, and human rights advocacy. These projects were commissioned by UNWHO, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDCP, UNICRI, The World Bank, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Witness, Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, Teachers Without Borders, International Council of Nurses, Nippon Foundation, Japanese Welfare Ministry, Instituto Terra, AVIS, INAIL.
In these years he was advisor for United Nations World Health Organization and Design 21-Social Design Network.
He also directed commercial and cultural projects for United Colors of Benetton, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Porsche, Cult TV-Fox International, Alessi, Killer Loop, Playlife, ArteFiera Bologna, Palazzo Ducale di Urbino, Palazzo Te Mantova, Istituto Luce, BBM art collective, Piaggio, Vespa, Nikon, Juventus FC, Banca Sella, Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia, Comune di Venezia, The New Yorker Magazine, D&AD, Domus Magazine, The International Council of Communication Design, Walrus Magazine, Flash Art Magazine, Design Issues-MIT Press Journal, Edizioni San Paolo, Famiglia Cristiana, Electa, Internazionale, Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica.
In 2008 his team was awarded the Graphis Platinum G Advertising Award for the UNWHO-UNICEF Global Child Injury Prevention campaign. From 2010 to 2012 three Good Design Awards were received for the UNWHO campaigns Climate Change Hurts, Decade of Road Safety, and Disabling Barriers.
Projects under his direction have been featured in major international media and dedicated exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou Paris, La Triennale Milan, Red October Moscow, Shanghai Art Museum, Shiodomeitalia Creative Centre Tokyo, GGG Gallery Tokyo, DDD Gallery Osaka, ZeroOne Design Centre Seoul, MAK Vienna, MACRO Rome, Chaumont International Design Festival.
Co-curator of the FutureDesignEd 2017 Symposium of the University of Bologna.
From 2014 to 2016 he was President of the Content and Design Committee of the Philatelic and Numismatic Bureau of the Republic of San Marino.
In 2012 he was on the board of directors of IDA (International Design Alliance).
From 2007 to 2012 he served on the board of directors of ICOGRADA (renamed Ico-D, International Council of Design) as Vice President and was Chair of the education activities. From 2009 to 2012 he was founding editorial director of Iridescent, the ICOGRADA Journal of Design Research and was also co-editor of the ICOGRADA Design Education Manifesto 2011, which had the objective to conceive and share the council’s vision of the future of design education.
In 2007 Taschen dedicated to his work a section of the book Contemporary Graphic Design.
Vulpinari was editor for Phaidon’s first edition of Area: 100 Graphic Designers.
He contributed to Becoming a Graphic Designer for Wiley and The Education of a Graphic Designer for Allworth Press edited by Steven Heller.
He has been invited to offer inspirational talks on innovation in education at the University of the Arts London, Ravensbourne College, and the University of Bologna.
For many years he was Ambassador for the Creative Conscience Awards and for Index: Design to Improve Life Awards.
From 1988 to 1997 Vulpinari worked with Massimo Dolcini at Dolcini Associati, leading Italian agency in communication design for public interest.
He studied Graphic Communication at the Albe Steiner Center in Ravenna and at the Department of Art, Music and Performance of the University of Bologna.