It may not be easy, or simple, to agree with McLuhan's provocative statement, but the Graphics Art Library can justifiably be considered one of the most prestigious sectors of the Olivetti Historical Archives: it contains a large, if incomplete collection of Posters, together with an equally impressive collection of Advertising Campaigns covering Olivetti's product advertising as well as its institutional campaigns, dating back to the earliest years.
What emerges from this rich repository is a tradition of good taste, innovation, refinement and powerful communication. Beginning with the classic work of artists like Wolf Ferrari, Dudovich and Pirovano, gradually moving into the realms of contemporary art, through the work produced under the intelligent leadership of Leonardo Sinisgalli, the unique style and imagination of the prolific Giovanni Pintori and the long series of more recent designers and graphics artists, whose creativity, expressive capabilities, communicative skills and mastery of a wide and varied range of techniques have gradually built up a recognisable Olivetti style.

The collections of images developed to support the initiatives of the Olivetti Cultural Centre are more complex, given the varied range of activities. Posters, handbills, leaflets, programmes and catalogues were produced, both for promotional purposes and as accompanying material for the cultural activities – often of a very high level – planned by the Centre for the population of the Canavese:

• Cinema Cultural Activities

• Canavese Cultural Centre Activities

• Olivetti Cultural Centre and Services

• Music Society

• Olivetti Sports and Recreational Group

These collections illustrate the cultural activities organised by Olivetti for its employees and the local population from 1951 onwards, under the umbrella of the Olivetti Social Services, which, at the time, was probably unique. The broad but organic range of initiatives included a library, events, evening courses, research, publishing, promoted in the belief that a large manufacturer like Olivetti was not just a workplace, a producer of goods, but could also be a social environment, an environment conducive to general cultural growth and interpersonal communication.