Born in Milan in 1929, Rodolfo Bonetto abandoned a successful career as a jazz drummer to devote himself to the profession of designer. He started up his own business in 1958 and in the years that followed worked in a large number of industrial fields ranging from the designing of tooling machines to clocks, lamps, ski boots, surgical lasers and motorcars. Being self-taught, he was so keenly oriented towards design praxis as to provide an important contribution to the teaching of industrial design at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm and later on at Isia in Rome. He was awarded eight gold compasses, the last of which was for his own professional career. He died in Milan in 1991.