Hystrio festival 2025
mascotte
BEHIND THE SCENE
The Hystrio team, the theatre magazine I have been collaborating with for decades, asked me to create the mascot for Hystrio Theatre Festival, held at the Teatro Elfo in Milan.
I first focused on the idea of flight and on a gaze that feels both luminous and young.
MY IDEA
From there, I studied characters from world folklore, wishing to infuse the mascot with an ancestral strength — the kind that belongs to totems and nature spirits.
I then focused particularly on the character’s eyes and face. After that, I thought about all the beings that fly — birds, butterflies, insects of various kinds — eventually arriving at the idea of a stellar being.
As sometimes happens while I draw, I began to call it by name. Sometimes a part of me recognizes the image I’m working on — in this case, a being — and starts naming it even before it has fully come to life. Stellino… Stellino…
And here it is.
We established the base colors and developed Stellino’s figure. And even though Stellino is a star in itself, he has strong wings. I drew the wings to emphasize the idea of flight, and while continuing to imagine his story in my mind, I pictured him as a comet that never falls.
Hystrio also asked me to record a video in which I talk about this mascot, and as the words flowed, I realized that Stellino really is a star guiding the way to the Festival, while at the same time determining his physical characteristics.
This way, anyone searching for theatre excellence can keep Stellino in sight and find what they are looking for.
Below are the final artworks: the character holds two poses.
In the first image, he is shown flying; in the second, he is seated on the ground, relaxing.
Here are some variations with graphic treatments for the socials, the poster, tote bags, prints that will be the prizes for the Hystrio Festival, and the flyer with all the Festival events.
Graphics by @Neo-studio
