Raffaele Iannello

Raffaele was born in 1974 in Catania on the East coast of Sicily – a city that has been destroyed several times by earthquakes and still trembles in the shadow of Mount Etna. Perhaps it was being born is a city so close to power of the elements that inspired him to create the Voodoo Knife Block! Raffaele then grew up in the city of Vibo Valentia over the straits on the mainland. Vibo Valentia is famed mainly for its harbour and tuna fish markets. Iannello now lives in both New York and Milan – two of the powerhouse cities of modern design.
Even as a child Raffaele Iannello was interested in objects’ shapes and the internal structures that allowed them to be. It was when plotting a career path that could have led to him become either a pilot or a spaceman that he realised that the fork in the road actually had a third turning – he could his pssion for design into a career too. The result was graduation from Milan, the University of Industrial Design. He studied in the many, varied fields of design from web to furniture, products to interiors.
He has worked with and for major international brands and been creative director for significant Italian media houses. His clients include Chicco, Bulgari and Pioneer – for whom he has helped create brand identities. Raffaele has been art director and even editor for magazines and guides.
His love of play and humour shines through in his design objects. The Voodoo Knife Block has won awards (Good Luck Design Exhibit, Milan 2003) and been named Cool Gift of the Year and it even resides in the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary art! Fine accolades for a knife holder and a credit to the originality of the design.
Some of Raffaele’s more off-the-wall ideas – yes even more off the wall than a dark arts kitchen appliance – include robots for the moon. He is still producing new ideas and designs and releasing them through CSB commodities.