What Design Group Italia does

Design Group Italia is an international multidisciplinary design studio headquartered in Milan, founded in 1968 and operating as the creativity, design, and production element of Alkemy S.p.A. (Società Benefit listed on Euronext Star Milan). The studio delivers integrated projects across six core disciplines — brand design, digital product design, service design, product design, engineering, and space design — for global enterprise clients spanning healthcare, industrial manufacturing, consumer goods, food and beverage, hospitality, and utilities. Notable engagements include the Össur Power Knee (Compasso d'Oro 2024), D-Heart smartphone ECG (Compasso d'Oro 2020), Uteco OnyxGo flexo printing system (with patented energy-saving subsystems), ALTO Robotics Node warehouse robot (iF 2025), Amplifon's global visual identity, Blue Lagoon Iceland's Retreat hotel, and multi-decade work for Artsana/Chicco.

The studio generates revenue exclusively through project-based professional services fees negotiated per engagement, sold via direct senior-led client relationships, portfolio showcasing, and industry award recognition. Its go-to-market is sales-led with no disclosed standardized pricing or productized offerings. Underlying capabilities center on a multidisciplinary in-house team combining brand strategy, CMF design, mechanical engineering, HMI design, prototyping, and digital UX/UI work, supplemented by patentable innovations embedded in client products. Marketing relies on the website portfolio, LinkedIn and Instagram presence, Medium thought-leadership content (including AI and sustainability themes), and visibility through Compasso d'Oro, iF Design, Red Dot, and ADI Design Index awards.

Customer segments skew heavily toward large enterprises and global brands with named engagements spanning multiple continents. The studio holds four Compasso d'Oro awards (1979, 1991, 2020, 2024) — Italy's most prestigious industrial design prize — establishing it as one of the country's most decorated design consultancies. It is led by Managing Director Edgardo Angelini, with Martin Franzen as Product Design Director and Chris Miller as Creative Director, and operates within Alkemy BX under Managing Director Federica Busino.

Name

Design Group Italia

Legal name

Alkemy S.p.A.

Website

https://designgroupitalia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Design Group Italia is a Milan-based, multidisciplinary international design studio founded in 1968 and part of Alkemy S.p.A. It delivers integrated brand, product, digital, service, engineering, and space design projects for global enterprise clients across healthcare, industrial, consumer goods, and hospitality sectors, earning four Compasso d'Oro awards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Design Services

NAICS

Industrial Design Services (54142), Interior Design Services (541410), Graphic Design Services (541430), Other Specialized Design Services (54149)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Industrial/Product & Furniture Design (BPAHAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Interior Design Services (BPAHAKAB), Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD)

Keywords

• Industrial design services
• Brand design
• Product design
• Digital product design
• Integrated design consultancy

Headquarters

HQ city

Milano

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Design and Consulting Services: Design Group Italia generates revenue by providing professional design and consulting services to major international brands across multiple industries including healthcare, consumer goods, hospitality, industrial manufacturing, and more. Projects span brand design, digital product design, service design, product design, space design, and engineering. As part of Alkemy S.p.A. (Società Benefit, listed on Euronext Star Milan), revenue flows through project-based engagements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Design Group Italia is an international multidisciplinary design studio that sells professional design services across six integrated expertise areas: brand design, digital product design, service design, product design, engineering, and space design. The studio delivers project-based consulting engagements to enterprise clients, producing brand identities, physical products, digital products, services, industrial machinery interfaces, and spatial experiences. All work is sold as customized design projects rather than packaged products or software.

Product overview

Design Group Italia is a multidisciplinary international design studio headquartered in Milan, operating as part of Alkemy. It does not sell a standalone software or product; rather it offers a portfolio of design services spanning Brand Design, Digital Product Design, Service Design, Product Design, Engineering, and Space Design. Its Integrated Projects practice combines these disciplines into comprehensive engagements for clients across industries including banking, insurance, consumer goods, food & beverage, healthcare, home & living, hospitality, industrial manufacturing, and professional products. The studio is known for award-winning design work on client products such as the Össur Power Knee, Node by ALTO Robotics, D-Heart, Amplifon, GocciaBlu, Sperlari, and Chicco.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• D-Heart device sold over 24,000 units, distributed in 24 countries with app available in 10 languages, serving over 90 million people with cardiovascular diseases.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AlkemycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDesign Group Italia is an integral element of Alkemy (Alkemy BX division), operating as the creativity, design, and production arm of the Alkemy Group. Alkemy S.p.A. is a Società Benefit listed on Euronext Star Milan (ALK), providing digital transformation and innovation services. Federica Busino serves as Managing Director of Alkemy BX, which includes Design Group Italia.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: Global pioneer of human-centered design and multidisciplinary innovation consulting. IDEO offers integrated brand, product, service, and digital design capabilities comparable to Design Group Italia's six-practice model, but at significantly greater scale and geographic reach.
• Method (GlobalLogic): Global design and engineering consultancy now part of GlobalLogic (Hitachi). Directly competes in digital product, service, and brand design for enterprise clients, with deeper technology implementation capabilities via GlobalLogic.
• Accenture Song (formerly Fjord): Accenture's design and experience division bundling Fjord's service design heritage with global delivery scale. Competes for the same large enterprise design transformation mandates, particularly where design must integrate with technology implementation.
• Frog (Capgemini Engineering): Multidisciplinary design and engineering consultancy now part of Capgemini Engineering. Directly competes in industrial design, digital product, and service design for global enterprise clients, with the added backing of a global systems integrator.

Direct peers

• RKS Design: US-based multidisciplinary design consultancy with comparable focus on human-centered product, brand, and experience design. Similar mid-sized positioning with strong emphasis on research-driven design for enterprise clients across healthcare, consumer, and industrial sectors.
• Pentagram: Multidisciplinary design consultancy with partner-led structure serving brand, digital, product, and environmental design. Comparable in offering integrated design services to global enterprise clients, though weighted more heavily toward brand and identity work.
• Pininfarina: Italian design house with a similar heritage pedigree (founded 1930) and Compasso d'Oro recognition. Operates across product, transportation, industrial, and architectural design, with overlapping clientele in industrial manufacturing and premium brand design.
• Ustwo: Independent multidisciplinary digital product and experience studio with studios in London, New York, and other cities. Comparable in combining product, digital, and service design for enterprise clients, though more heavily weighted toward digital product work.
• Giugiaro (GFG Style): Italian industrial design house founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro with similar Compasso d'Oro pedigree. Overlapping focus on transportation, industrial, and consumer product design for global brands, headquartered in Italy.

Regional players

• Designworks (BMW Group): Design consultancy owned by BMW Group with studios in Munich, LA, and Shanghai. Comparable in delivering multidisciplinary product, transportation, and brand design, though captive to BMW for a meaningful share of work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/designgroupitalia
• Instagraminstagram.com/designgroupitalia
• Xx.com/designgroupit
• Facebookfacebook.com/DesignGroupItalia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Design Group Italia