Designing the future
Our mission has always been to imagine the shape of the future, sensing evolution, anticipating change, opening new scenarios and inaugurating new trends. We are an Italian design company and, thanks to our vision, we can proudly say that the future is already here. The future is Icona.
Our services
“Unless you are able to create emotion or interest, you’re failing. In order to create interest, you have to be front-edge of innovation.”
Imagining tomorrow
Thanks to the consolidated experience of the founders in the automotive sector, Icona Design Group was born as a style company specialising in automobile design. The innovative, visionary approach manifests itself from the very first projects with disruptive concept cars, paving the way for trends that are still in progress today. Over time, Icona’s mission evolved to a wider vision and interpretation of design; through the years, Icona’s way of designing has significantly expanded, imagining products, spaces and new concepts for the life and mobility of the future.
Design is born from the ability to visualize the future, and therefore has the seed of innovation in it.
The future in product design and smart mobility
In recent years the company embarked on a path of diversification, with the belief that every object must integrate beauty and functionality. The world is going faster and faster, and solutions for new needs must be created at an ever faster pace: this is how product design meets smart mobility, and how smart mobility integrates into the concept of smart cities. It is all a complex and articulated ecosystem that requires a multidisciplinary approach, as well as an integration between different skills, to become a reality.
Making technology dialogue with man and things requires an increasingly open approach to design, which can no longer be a final aesthetic attribute but must be integrated from the start.
Icona’s experienced and enthusiastic team members show clients a different take on design.
Diverse, Energetic, Efficient
Icona Group has over 130 designers, modellers, engineers and project managers from 20 countries permanently based in Shanghai, Turin, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Wellington. Thanks to our consolidated experience and in-depth know-how, our team can cover the full development of diversified and complex projects. We work in close collaboration with our clients, ensuring efficient project-development and a smooth flow of information at every step of the process.
From Turin to the world
Turin, the cradle of the Italian automotive history, design and craftsmanship, is one of the main automotive capitals in Europe. It is here that some of the most important companies in the market are located. The city also boasts an excellent and very famous university of design and engineering, which deeply influenced the long industry tradition of the city itself. Not surprisingly, in 2008, the forward-thinking Italian city sat at the foot of the Alps was nominated World Design Capital. Spurring from this incredible melting pot of development, industry, culture and historical beauty, Icona Design saw its birth. In 2010, the company was founded with a clear mission: to bring top-notch made in Italy automotive and industrial design to the world. From the design process to engineering; from prototyping up to the manufacturing of one-of-a-kind super-cars: this is Icona.
Shanghai, the door to Asia
Due to the increasing demand coming from China, Icona decides to open a new studio in Shanghai, to provide easy and convenient communication with its Asian clients. A renowned international metropolis drawing more and more attention from all over the world, Shanghai is the largest international city of Asia and the most significant center of finance, culture, fashion and design, not to mention its key role in international trade. In addition to its recent modernisation, Shanghai’s multicultural flair endows it with a unique glamour. Here, one finds the perfect blend of cultures: the modern and the traditional, the western and the oriental. One of the most vibrant and advanced cities in the world today, Shanghai has proven to be the perfect place to open a new hub for our unique design, engineering and prototyping approach. Icona Shanghai is located at the very heart of the city in Pudong, Lujiazui, a truly inspiring place for our large team of designers.
Stars and stripes: welcome to Los Angeles
The European and Asian markets were covered, what was missing was a touch-point in the US. But where exactly? The answer came to us in 2016: Los Angeles, California, felt like the perfect place to be. One of the top ten states for fastest growing companies operating in the field of high-wage services, the Golden State is regarded as a global trendsetter. From popular culture to politics, California is the birthplace of the film industry and the ideals of the 1960s counterculture; over the years, these morphed into the tech universe of the Silicon Valley, bringing forth the rise of the Internet and the personal computer. But, first of all, California is a state rich in creative talents, honouring its status as a global design capital and automotive hub of the American West. Some of them are now part of the Icona Los Angeles Studio team, ready to exceed expectations of local clients.
Tokyo, where tradition meets innovation
Icona’s expansion touched Japan in 2020 with a new office in Tokyo’s stylish and exclusive Ginza neighbourhood. The Japanese capital is not only the country’s leading center of business and finance, but also the largest urban economy in the world by gross domestic product. Situated at the heart of an industrial district, Tokyo is perhaps one of the most extraordinary examples of the result of admixture between tradition and innovation; being such a crucial touchpoint between past and present, we are sure this city will be fertile soil for Icona’s future growth.
