Having almost completed second year high school (scuola media), in 1961 he migrated, aged 12, with his family on the Flaminia[2] to Australia where his father hoped to find better work opportunities for the three surviving sons.

Having passed the first year of civil engineering and being awarded a scholarship he instead enrolled in 1968 in the design diploma at Prahran College, taking photography as an elective.

[5] In 1972 he returned to complete a semester in the Photography diploma with Athol Shmith and Paul Cox Cozzolino moved to Sydney in 1971 and started work as studio design assistant to Ricci Eaton at Monad Marketing.

[6] The pair taught design at Phillip Institute of Technology, Bundoora, under Max Ripper and saved to spend 1974 backpacking, mostly together, in Southeast Asia and Europe.

[7] For the promotion of their distinctively Greek-Australian profile, the group designed giveaways in the form of postcards, gingerbread biscuits in the shape of 'Kevin Pappas', a poster on an Anzac theme, and one to celebrate the Centenary of The Ashes being played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1977.

Cozzolino was photographed in a half-suit of kangaroo legs by Rennie Ellis and after a promotional tour of major cities, the costume made a reappearance on top-rating television.

With savings and the financial and moral support of his wife Sue, Cozzolino devoted himself to a book project he had conceived as a student; to assemble a visual encyclopaedic survey of Australian historic trademarks.

[9] He trawled state and national library collections and trademark registers to index the symbols of a majority of Australian brands, and with the help of volunteer assistants and a partner in advertising copywriter Fysh Rutherford they produced a design which they planned to self-publish.

Only after the team had received viable numbers of pre-orders for hardbacks from mail-outs did Penguin, who had at first rejected the project, make an offer to publish a paperback edition and released Symbols of Australia in 1980,[10] publicising it aggressively.

Through media appearances and in interviews and texts, Cozzolino continues to be consulted for perspectives and commentary on Australian symbols,[35] design,[36] language,[37] and the migrant experience.