An illustrator, painter, and graphic artist, Manzi was a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and artist for Pirelli with original sketches and posters. In the 1950s and 1960s, as the Pirelli group became international, Pirelli chose great European designers, such as Max Huber, Pavel M. Engelmann, Bob Noorda, Albe Steiner e Raymond Savignac. While Italian designers included Bruno Munari, Armando Testa, Riccardo Manzi, Giulio Confalonieri and Pino Tovaglia. Riccardo Manzi also designed covers for the publishing house Feltrinelli and worked as an illustrator for Milanese newspapers. (his cartoons in newspapers are among the nice visual memories of my childhood). Examples of the works of Manzi as a painter, much influenced by Paul Klee, are in the public collections of the City of Milan.