Our design studio and shop in the Vatican are constantly evolving. But discover our story – how Vatican Design began!
We are the newest brand at the Vatican —or, more precisely, to the Vatican’s extraterritorial zone at Borgo Santo Spirito 14. How did we end up with our design studio and shop in such a prestigious location? You could say it happened by chance! But we do not believe in coincidences. “Coincidence is the Holy Spirit’s artistic pseudonym,” and we believe it is thanks to Him that we have found ourselves on Holy Spirit Street. What is more, we are located exactly between the Church of the Holy Spirit and St. Peter’s Basilica—the place associated with the martyrdom of the Apostle to whom Jesus entrusted His Church.
Vatican Design story
But let’s start from the beginning. It is not as though we woke up one morning with the idea of opening a shop in the Vatican together with a small studio where we could create our wonderful rosary designs, religious games, and Bible-inspired products. Although I have to admit that ever since my conversion and my return to the Church, it had been my dream to finally see good design appear in the Vatican.
Why “finally”? Because the days of Michelangelo, Raphael, and Caravaggio are long gone, and the Vatican is seriously lacking graphic designers. Seriously—even Vatican News does not employ visual artists! And the longer we spend in the Vatican, the more strongly we feel that, in order to get a job there, you need connections and, preferably, native-level Italian. Unfortunately, these things often seem to matter more than qualifications. Secondly, the Vatican’s structure is fairly rigid and hierarchical, while a proper design department should really work across all the dicasteries. So how do you actually get into the Vatican?
From World Youth Day to Zona Extraterritoriale Vaticano
For several years, we had already been working on major Church-related projects, including some that were closely connected with the Vatican. One example was World Youth Day Kraków 2016. In fact, that is where my husband and I met—he joined the team as a design specialist and UX designer. We also worked for the national Caritas organization, co-creating the Laudato Si’ project, which explored Pope Francis’s encyclical in depth. It included merchandise, exhibitions, books, graphic materials, and even games.
And it was actually one of Pope Francis’s final decisions to put the two-storey premises at Borgo Santo Spirito 14, located within the Vatican zone, out to tender for lease to external applicants. How did we come across the announcement at exactly the right time? Probably only by a miracle! What matters is that, after several months, we received a positive response from the Vatican. The Holy See accepted our application, and as Vatican Design we were able to move our office and shop into the new location.
Vatican News: New Catholic Designers in Town
What is more, our long-term agreement with the Vatican included something we had not expected: an obligation to care for the visual dimension of the Church. In a sense, we were therefore chosen to create design in the Vatican: VATICAN DESIGN.
So when we say that we design our products, rosaries, religious games, Sistine Chapel souvenirs, and Bible-inspired gifts in the Vatican, this is not simply a marketing strategy. We really do create them in the Vatican, and we have an agreement with the Holy See!
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