The Superconducting Ion Gantry (SIG) project is the contribution from INFN (the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics) to the international SIGRUM project with the aim of exploring new technological solutions for the critical elements of a 430 MeV/u carbon ion gantry. The project includes the design and construction of a cos<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\theta</tex-math></inline-formula> 4 T superconducting dipole demonstrator magnet whose main scope is to prove the feasibility of winding and assembling an accelerator magnet type with a relatively small radius of curvature (1.65 m). In addition to the complexity due to the curvature, the target field ramp rate is 0.4 T/s and the cooling system must not adopt liquid helium. This paper discusses the design activities carried out in the last year on the electromagnetic and thermal domains and reports on the present concepts and infrastructure for the first winding trials.