History

Torquato "Toggi" Cibolini

The Doctrine

My art teacher, Mr. Geiser, at the school on Grabenpromenade, recommended that I pursue a career as a draftsman. In a newspaper ad I happened to come across, a men’s clothing company was seeking a window display decorator apprentice with prior experience in drawing and craftsmanship. I applied to the company, Dick, located on Weisenhausplatz in Bern. The decorator Robert Büschi, a former Frey clothing decorator, was impressed not only by my drawings but also by my extracurricular activities in sports and music—and above all by my several years of experience building model airplanes—so I was offered the apprenticeship right away. This turned out to be a stroke of luck for me, as my later professional life would show.

At 15½ years old, I was able to start the three-year apprenticeship immediately after finishing school. The Thursday visits to the School of Applied Arts, with classes taught by the subject instructors Widler and Oberli on color, typography, design, materials, and… introduced me to a whole new kind of school. The early-evening classes—combined with those for graphic designers and potters—in German or art history with Mr. Michel and accounting or bookkeeping with Mr. Weber also introduced me not only to Dimitri (Müller), Alan Bernard, Hene Jordi, Chrigu Beck, and…, existentialist views on life—apart from Nietzsche with his whip—the modern trends in art, literature, music, fashion, and language originated in Paris.

The fact that my mentor, Robert Büschi, went into business for himself and opened his own decoration studio with me as his apprentice in the newly built Wankdorf Stadium showed me just how varied the work of a decorator can be. In addition to clothing stores and hair salons, I was now able—and required—to decorate brand-specific storefronts and display cases.

Traveling by bike, I decorated for beverage companies in various grocery stores, using cardboard motifs designed by graphic artist Leupin for Pepita and Toco, as well as the new Rivella. I built my first trade show booths for Radio Steiner at the Hospes in Bern. Despite years of practice, I never managed to achieve the hand-painted posters and price tags that my mentor demonstrated.

The Decorator

After completing my apprenticeship in the spring of 1956, I immediately found a job at the men’s clothing company Truns in Chur. My sole responsibility as a window dresser was the storefronts at the Truns retail locations, the factory site in St. Gallen, and my own location in Chur. After just six weeks, I was fired—still during my probationary period—because I refused to replace the flowers in the Truns storefronts that had wilted after a week, despite my prior notice. The Thuor family, who owned the business, would not tolerate any dissent.

After a brief trip to Italy, back in Bern, I didn’t find a new job until the fall at the Meier Brothers department store in Biel, which belonged to the Inovatione SA group. Since I had postponed my military service while unemployed and the date was set, I was nevertheless offered a position in October 1956 at a monthly salary of 525 francs—75 francs less than in Chur. However, I was promised half my monthly salary during basic training, which was a luxury at the time. But I had to return to my position under the same terms after basic training. That suited me, because jobs as a decorator were already in high demand at the time, and I was able to agree to the terms. When I returned to work, I found Chrigu Beck, a good acquaintance from my apprenticeship days, on the decoration team; he also commuted daily by train between Bern and Biel.

After completing my probationary period—this time without pay—I continued working on the decoration team, which had since been downsized from over 12 decorators to 4–5 employees due to cost-cutting measures. My monthly salary was still 525.-. The working hours at the department store at that time were: Monday 2:00–4:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 8:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m., Saturday 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., with a 2-hour lunch break each day. Sunday sales at the Braderie (Bielerfest), three during Advent and on St. Stephen’s Day, as well as overtime during seasonal openings, setup and takedown at the Bieler Messe, and outdoor decorations were recorded on the time clock but not compensated. Two weeks of paid vacation was the norm. We were “rewarded” for our work during Advent with a 10.- merchandise voucher, on the grounds that we had missed last year’s Christmas sales target by 3%. We, the decoration team, burned the vouchers in protest in front of the department store, now called Inovatione. My request to raise my monthly salary to 600.- after more than two years was vetoed by management in Lausanne, who approved only 590.-. I’ve had enough of retail, and despite the promise that the Biel branch would make up the missing 10.-, I submitted my resignation effective the end of May 1959.

After my trip to Spain, I took a job at the studio of Heinrich Widler, my former vocational teacher. In addition to various decorative projects for companies in Bern, our main focus was trade show construction. At MUBA, I helped build various booths and, during my nearly two-month stays in Basel, learned all aspects of trade show construction. After two years, the Widler studio was no longer receiving trade show contracts, and I was let go.

The Studio

From 1962 until my supposed trip around the world in 1964, I tried my hand at odd jobs as a decorator, but also as a plumber, carpenter, and as a night shift water treatment operator at the Weiermannshausbad. After returning home early from West Africa in December 1964, I opened my own studio with just a few clients. Since I had plenty of free time but no money, I worked as a freelancer for Hansueli Lienhard—with whom I had attended trade school—decorating shoe store windows for an hourly wage of five francs. At the plumbing shop of Rene Martin on Länggasse—which not only handled plumbing work but also created decorations for the SBB—I met Werni Lorenz, the SBB’s chief decorator. After some time, I was allowed to create decorations for the SBB on my own and assist with their trade show appearances. I specialized in small-batch decorative items, incorporating light and movement into my work. At my first studio on Sodweg—coincidentally just 50 meters from the SBB studio—I set up a small screen-printing corner. After moving to a basement-level space on Tannenweg at the rear of Länggasse, my studio became almost the SBB’s official supplier.

I received some standard decorations for “Helene Rubinstein” perfumes and shoe dye and waterproofing products from the company “Lady Esquirre” through Chrigu Beck, the lead decorator at Herba. These changes and the extra work pushed me to my personal limits and led me to realize: You can’t pay wages with decorations alone, but in trade show and design construction, you’re simply overwhelmed on your own. So I sought out capable employees and an apprentice for my studio, which I had renamed from “Decoration” to “Advertising.” I am proud of the training I provided to Martin Staub (1978–1982), my first apprentice, who had a penchant for extreme sports and is now his own boss with the company Grafic-In. Alex Schroff (1981–1985), the top sailor and now owner of Atelier-13. Evelyne Brändli 1984–1988, my first apprentice and the most sought-after decorative designer, co-owner for years at Crealine. Pippo 1987–1991 and Gianni 1991–1995, the sons who followed in their father’s footsteps, now my successors in Muntelier. Claudia Sisti for a brief stint in 1987, Tanya Stoller 1989–1993, and Debora Eggel for her third and fourth years of apprenticeship in 1993–1994 are further apprentices from my time in Bern.

Pippo and Gianni have taken over the training of the apprentices in Muntelier: Daniel Häni, who completed a shortened carpentry apprenticeship; Marc Ortelli and Tobias Staeheli, who completed their four-year apprenticeships at CIBOLINI REKLAME-ATELIER as decorators; and Larissa Imesch, who trained as a type designer. With the addition of the decorator Toni Wyss, the artist Renä Hauser—now a vocational school teacher—and Phippu Nyfeler, whom Pippo knew from the Stifti and who still works as a freelancer at CIBOLINI AG ADVERTISING STUDIO in Muntelier, Sandro Colombo, formerly of Loebstift, along with several freelancers, the studio has adapted to the new demands of a design studio specializing in trade show and event construction.

From “I” to “We”

In 1987, I converted the sole proprietorship into a corporation (AG). What had started as morning coffee chats about interior design with Werni Lorenz, who had left the SBB, evolved into discussions over a beer with Peter Merz, our new client at the SBB, where we planned and carried out work for various information centers, as well as Bahn2000 and AlpTranist projects. Pesche Merz was promoted from Passenger Transport to the General Directorate and oversaw major SBB projects with information both domestically and abroad, so we also became active internationally for the FOT and the SBB. I had a wonderful and interesting time with many highlights. With the company’s move on July 31, 1997, to our headquarters in Muntelier on Lake Murten, my transition from boss in Bern to senior—though not yet retired—went smoothly. Every day I see for myself that Cibolini AG is moving forward, even if times are significantly more hectic. Pippo and Gianni will handle it; I’m certain of that. A happy “decorator” with a rare and extraordinary 55 years of professional experience. Who would have thought it.