Matteo De Vettori grew up racing down steep, icy mountain sides, surrounded by the energetic camaraderie of other skiers in the Dolomites and the bright blue skies of the Italian winter. Fueled by the adrenaline of friendly, albeit determined, competition, Matteo taught himself to fall in love with conquering challenges and pushing himself to his next greatest achievement, always chasing the next biggest mountain. At the humbling heights of each rocky, snow capped summit, the professional alpine skier constantly found himself ready for the next adventure.
“Competition for me has always been a challenge with myself, to improve my skills, to achieve greater personal results, not against others, but against myself,” said Matteo.
But despite his passion for the sport, Matteo knew that there were other dreams for him to fulfill. After winning the Junior World Alpine Ski Championship and conquering the ski and sports worlds (and having to recover from far too many injuries in the process), he realized he needed new challenges, this time in a less physically demanding setting. Matteo set out to challenge his brain next: he obtained his Bachelor’s in Economics and recently started his Master’s in Visual Design and Integrated Marketing Communication. Now, he is making a name for himself as a powerful creative force in branding, UX/UI website design, guerilla marketing, and full campaign planning.
“One of the first rules of visual design is that you communicate,” said Matteo. “Things have to look good, but also be functional. I love to use my creativity to build something, to innovate.”
While Matteo has always loved sports, he embraces the new opportunities to use design and marketing to help others fall in love with sports in the same way he has. The professional sportsman takes every opportunity to use design to express himself and make other people feel things as well. Nothing is well-designed unless it fulfills its function as well— in this case, creating an emotional connection with viewers. With a firm belief in the functionality of the beautiful, Matteo is ready to put together the most compelling and original visual works of his design career thus far.
As he has started to rechannel his competitive nature into his more creative endeavors, Matteo has taken on various extracurricular projects to help sports and lifestyle brands tell their stories. He credits his unique background as a sportsman in his all-encompassing understanding of sports marketing. Shining a spotlight on various other brands, he transmits his own personal passion for athleticism and the energetic culture of both team and individual sports.
“You have to learn how to build yourself in a team,” continued Matteo. “Put yourself on the line, then learn from others.”
Although Matteo’s schedule is already busy, he continuously makes time for more of his passions. He is also working on a different side project that combines his affinity for athletics with his business mindset: a guided sports trip startup called Adventoured. It is the perfect way for athletic adventurers and explorers to fall in love with the nature and culture of Italy.
“Success is not the key to being happy, but in my opinion, what makes us happy is being passionate about the things that will make us successful,” philosophizes Matteo. “Nonetheless, I’m a hard worker, I don’t like shortcuts, we’re living in a world that gives us everything in a blink of an eye. For the good things, we must be patient and work hard— for the greater things, it takes even more.”
