The collaboration between IED and Forbes Next Leaders continues: for September, the cover has been created by Chiara Filiasi, an Alumna of the BA Programme in Illustration and Animation at IED Roma.
Forbes Next Leaders: Alumna Chiara Filiasi creates the September cover
Date
23 October 2026
The collaboration between IED and Forbes Next Leaders continues. The magazine explores the transformations of work, innovation and society through the perspective of new generations. The project involves IED students and Alumni in the creation of the magazine’s covers, offering a valuable opportunity to engage with professional editorial briefs and interpret, through visual language, the themes that define our time.
The September issue cover is illustrated by Chiara Filiasi
With the September issue, the collaboration is enriched by a new contribution from Chiara Filiasi, a graduate of the BA in Illustration and Animation at IED Roma in the 2025/26 academic year, who was invited to interpret the theme proposed by the editorial brief through the language of illustration.
In line with the spirit of the project, participating students and Alumni have the opportunity to engage with real professional dynamics, developing original concepts capable of responding to the magazine’s editorial identity and content.
The brief: passing the baton as a driver of change
responsabilità. Attraverso temi che spaziano dall'intelligenza artificiale alla finanza, dalla sostenibilità alla governance, il brief ha chiesto di tradurre in immagine l'idea di un cambiamento che non nasce dalla demolizione di ciò che esiste, dalla rottura con il passato, ma dalla sua reinterpretazione.
Una riflessione sul ruolo delle nuove generazioni, chiamate a raccogliere un'eredità e a riscriverla, mantenendo il sistema in movimento mentre ne immaginano il futuro.
For the September issue, the editorial team of Forbes Next Leaders invited participants to reflect on the concept of “passing the baton”: the moment when a new generation inherits existing systems, organisations and models and transforms them from within, while preserving their continuity. Rather than a contrast between past and future, it represents a process of evolution capable of combining innovation and responsibility.
Through topics ranging from artificial intelligence and finance to sustainability and governance, the brief called on participants to translate into an image the idea of change that emerges not from dismantling what already exists or breaking with the past, but from reinterpreting it.
A reflection on the role of new generations, tasked with inheriting a legacy and reshaping it, keeping the system in motion while imagining its future.
An image that tells the story of progress: the cover Knowledge is Capital
The cover, Knowledge is Capital, visually translates the concept of passing the baton that runs throughout the entire issue of Next Leaders.
The illustration is built around the metaphor of a relay race: a torch passed from hand to hand symbolises the transmission of knowledge, skills and responsibilities across generations.
The act of passing it on does not mark a break, but rather continuity in evolution, where those who receive the baton contribute to transforming and renewing what they have inherited.
In this way, the image conveys the value of knowledge as a shared asset, capable of driving progress through the contribution of each individual.
Il The value of the project
The collaboration between IED and Forbes Next Leaders continues to represent an important opportunity for exchange between education and the professional world. Through the creation of the magazine’s covers, students and Alumni are challenged to engage with real editorial dynamics, transforming complex themes into images capable of narrating the present and interpreting the changes shaping contemporary society.
An experience that enables participants to strengthen their design skills and develop greater professional awareness, while highlighting the talent of new generations of creatives and fostering dialogue between education, publishing and the cultural and creative industries.
View all the Forbes Next Leaders covers, created month by month by IED students and alumni.
Original drawing by Chiara Filiasi
Alumna IED Roma - Bachelor of Arts in Illustration and Animation
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