Albe Steiner was an Italian designer and partisan. With a style characterised by the constant search for clarity and the absence of formalisms, he was convinced of the need for a relationship between art and politics and became a reference figure for Italian graphic design in the fifties and sixties. Grandson of Giacomo Matteotti, he actively participated in the resistance and after Italy’s Liberation he joined the editorial staff of Il Politecnico as a graphic designer under the direction of Elio Vittorini. He worked for a number of Italian magazines and publishers and from 1950 to 1954 he was the art director of La Rinascente and a promoter of the exhibition that would later give rise to the Compasso d’Oro award. He held courses at the University of Venice, ISIA Urbino and the art academies of Parma, Rome and Florence. He collaborated with cultural organisations and institutions including Rai, Piccolo Teatro, the Milan Triennale and the Venice Biennale. He was a founding member of ADI and a member of AGI and the International Center of Typographic Arts.