This is one of my favorite Olivetti posters, work of Anna Monika Jost—an almost unknown figure in graphic design who contributed high-quality visual production within Olivetti, UNESCO, and FIAT, among others.

After finishing her studies in Switzerland, she started working at Olivetti as a freelancer for Ballmer, participating in the design of advertising materials, fair stands, and stores. Ballmer's influence is very strong: geometric and mathematical rules, balanced by vivid colors.

Her position was never official, which is why oral history is key in this case study: Olivetti's archives show no record of her work for the company since she was paid by the hour as a consultant in 1966-1967.

The geometric precision, the bold use of color, the way she could make a typewriter or a car feel like pure visual energy—this was world-class work hiding in plain sight.

Jost's story reminds us how much design history has been written by freelancers, women, and uncredited collaborators working in the shadows of great names. Her posters for Olivetti are as striking as any produced by the celebrated in-house designers.

"Design is a tool for civilization. Beauty is not a luxury, but a necessity of the spirit." — Adriano Olivetti Foundation