Who We Are
@maple we are designers with high technology and business skills.
Our mission is to produce ideas for processes, services and products, building projects and solutions that are useful, usable, efficient, effective, desirable and sustainable.
We design and work for users and with users, thinking about the satisfaction of their needs and desires always as a goal and never as a means. We are makers, always, in the most serious and concrete sense, far from fashions and classifications: we know how to do, we are happy when we can share experiences and skills.
We are fortunate to work by applying know-how and experience to our passions, and we know that we are privileged for it. Perhaps this is the first reason why we often achieve results that exceed our clients' expectations: the first satisfaction we strive for is our own.
We have some rules, which we have given ourselves freely and consciously, and from which we do not deviate: We do not accept work from just anyone. We do not accept assignments with unclear specifications and objectives, assignments to do work with methods, tools and technologies that we do not think are appropriate for the expected results. We want to be proud of our clients and therefore prefer not to work with customers with a bad reputation, with clients we know to be disrespectful of their employees and their customers or users. If our values are yours, working together will be great and the results will be to everyone's satisfaction.
Maple
Why did we choose "Maple" as our name? Because we were born over a generous helping of maple syrup pancakes.
We could have chosen to call ourselves Sushi, Tamales, Injera, Tandoori, Taboulé or Carbonara. We are curious about food from all parts of the world, starting with our own Italy, open to all kinds of experiences, because of the value of culture and knowledge that food represents. Maple is pronounced [mepol].
Cultures
Many cultures, one human race, dozens of possible futures, endless opportunities to be seized. We know how to look at differences as a strategic resource. Strong in our Mediterranean culture, we like to absorb from the north, south, east and west of the world with curiosity, passion and method. Exploration and discovery are not an extra, but a crucial step in the creative and design process. One must know and be able to understand the existing in order to innovate.
In a globalized and increasingly connected world, it no longer makes sense to design an identical product or service for all users. Knowing how to understand different cultures, with an understanding trained by experience, is a strategic competence that Maple makes available to its customers and partners.
Technology
A technology is all the better the more it allows new things to be done well and familiar things to be done better than before. Where by "better" we mean with less effort, higher productivity, lower costs, greater sustainability and - why not - having fun.
Using technology appeals to us, almost excites us. Of course, it is not the technology itself that excites us but the things that can be achieved with it. In this sense, a nanomeric wood glue fascinates us as much as the latest 12-processor server, 200-gram tablet or desktop 3D printer.
We have always spent a lot of time observing and studying how people use technological tools for their work and leisure, people of all ages and cultural levels. This experience enables us not only to implement technological systems and solutions but also to follow and facilitate their adoption in production settings that require training and support.
Build
Building things has fascinated us since we were little and played with Lego and Meccano. Playing and playing, then studying and experimenting a lot, we also learned to build things made of wood, plastic, metal, paper and bits. We have become very good at building things made of bits because we are passionate about doing it, because moving bits and not atoms allows us to move fast and light, getting in touch with people, places and knowledge easily and efficiently.
Building things can be learned, with study and experience, but the aptitude and passion to break down problems into simple elements and build valuable solutions from them is something you must have inside you all along. It is a challenge with oneself before the entrusted project. A bet with one's skills, with one's creativity, with one's preparation, with the will to succeed.
Experience
We are proud of our more than 30 years of experience. But we are even more proud of the things we have learned to do just a few weeks ago, perhaps together with those in their early twenties today. After all, experience is first and foremost about understanding the value of people.
We are curious by DNA, and it is a curiosity that we have always pushed beyond the boundaries of professional conventions, exploring and experiencing the value of a multidisciplinary team even in contexts in which it might have seemed almost heresy. It is also for this reason that Maple's experience is product and not just the algebraic sum of the skills of each of the professionals who participate in the projects.
Network
We have spent a lifetime-and not in a metaphorical sense-to build our network of relationships. We have done so true to the belief that the value of one's networks lies in the honesty and seriousness of the relationships established and maintained over the years.
In times of Web 2.0, networks of relationships, alliances, and professional communities represent an asset of fundamental value. We have always believed in this and in fact have always sought and valued every opportunity to expand our network, develop solid and lasting relationships with people, companies and professionals with interests close to or complementary to our own.
This network, now composed of hundreds and hundreds of people, some scattered halfway around the world, is one of the strengths of our problem-solving ability and puts us in a position to respond exceptionally promptly and efficiently to extremely heterogeneous needs and demands.
Communicate
We like to communicate and help our clients communicate the best of themselves. We like to build strategies and content that help convey ideas, passion, projects, values, quality and innovation. We have been doing this since Maple was born, using analog and digital media with the same agility and ability to leverage resources down to the last square inch, minute or bit. We know how to speak to precise targets with measurable results and we know how to listen, which is always the best starting point for any effective communication action.
Sustainability
Our idea of sustainability is based on the understanding that we have only one planet and it must be enough for everyone, human, animal and plant. We can all learn to consume intelligently, adopting products and processes that use resources without waste, recycling the recyclable if it is sustainable to do so, without demagogy or extremism. We can observe nature -the result of millions of years of evolution- and take design cues to realize effective solutions to everyday problems.
Environmental and social sustainability is not only a necessity, it can be an exceptional opportunity to design and redesign products and processes according to criteria closer to people. It can start with small actions, even if it is just gaining awareness of our ecological footprint, as individuals, as businesses, as consumers.
We at Maple have not always been so "green" either. We got there bit by bit and often struggling to overcome laziness, because many virtuous behaviors are tiring and bad habits are hard to lose.
Would you like an example? The one in the photo is the paving we constructed in front of our offices. They are blocks of common tuff, bedded on a subgrade of gravel and sand connected with topsoil obtained on site. Between the blocks we sowed some crabgrass, a particularly hardy grass that needs very little maintenance. While it is a hardy pavement, it creates good continuity with the rest of the garden, is permeable to rain, and does not scorch in summer. We could have made an ordinary concrete floor in two days, or tiled it with single-fired tile. We would have spent less in the immediate term, but then we would have had to dispose of rainwater, and in warm weather the floor would reflect heat back to the office windows. Reasoning in terms of total sustainability, the choice we made turned out to be -as designed- much better than the seemingly simpler and cheaper one.