Before he became one of Latin America’s most prolific filmmakers — with more than 80 movies credited to his production company — Luiz Carlos Barreto was a photographer. For 15 years beginning in the late 1940s, he worked for O Cruzeiro, a Brazilian weekly magazine similar to Life or Look traveling all over Latin America and also working as a correspondent in Europe.

Luiz Carlos Barreto, "Paris", 1953

Mr. Barreto, now 83, was in New York recently for the United States premiere of “Lula, Son of Brazil,” his company’s latest film, directed by his son Fábio. But back home in Brazil, his early photographic work has been getting renewed attention. A book of his photos called “Passagem: A Memória Visual de Luiz Carlos Barreto,” or “Passage: The Visual Memory of Luiz Carlos Barreto,”was published a decade ago.  And his work has been featured in retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, where he has lived since the 1940s, and at the Museum of Art in São Paulo.

His images range from gritty depictions of Brazil’s urban and rural poor, especially from the sertão, or arid backlands of the northeast, Mr. Barreto’s home region, to celebrity portraits: Mr. Barreto covered the first Cannes film festival in 1954 and later shot stars like Marlene Dietrich, Frank Sinatra, Brigitte Bardot, Kim Novak and Sophia Loren. But he also photographed global political figures ranging from Che Guevara and Nikita Khrushchev to Latin American presidents.

via Luiz Carlos Barreto and Tropical Light – NYTimes.com.

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Daytripper by Moon & Bá

Since the launching of its first issue in December 2009, ten-issue comic book limited series Daytripper – published by the DC Comics imprint Vertigo – has been praised by every decent comics critic. The series was collected into a trade paperback in February 2011, going straight into the New York Times Paperback Graphic Books chart at #1. It returned at the same position two weeks later, where it stayed for a week, before dropping to #2 in mid-March. At the end of June, Amazon.com posted their “2011 Best Books of the Year So Far” lists, where Daytripper was featured in its Top 10 Comics and Graphic Novels category. It has also won three of the most important international comics industry awards of the year: the Eisner (“Best Limited Series or Story Arc”), the Harvey (“Best Single Issue or Story”) and the Eagle (“Favourite New Comicbook”).

The authors of both story and art are Brazilian twin brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, 31 years old, no strangers to the international comics industry or awards. Both have worked with top guns of comics and pop culture from Mike Mignola (BPRD: 1947) and Matt Fraction (Casanova) to TV creator and movie writer/director Joss Whedon and alternative rock band My Chemical Romance’s lead singer Gerard Way.

São Paulo_ Daytripper by Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá

At the 2008 Eisner Awards, the six-issue limited series about a disbanded group of superheroes The Umbrella Academy (written by Way with art by Bá) won for “Best Limited Series”, sci-fi adventure Sugarshock (written by Whedon with art by Moon) won for “Best Digital Comic”, and comics anthology “5″ (by Moon & Bá with other comics creators Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos and Rafael Grampá) won for “Best Anthology”. Bá had also been nominated for two 2009 Eisner Awards in the categories “Best Penciller/Inker” and “Best Cover Artist”, and The Deluxe Edition of The Umbrella Academy was nominated for “Best Graphic Album — Reprint”. Horror comics anthology PIXU (Moon, Bá, Cloonan and Lolos) was nominated for the 2009 “Best Anthology” Harvey Award.

Daytripper is currently in its 4th printing and was recently launched in Brazil, where it won an HQMix award. Each issue follows a life-changing day in the life of Brás de Oliva Domingo, an aspiring novelist who writes newspaper obituaries. The story takes place mostly in São Paulo – where the brothers were born and still live – with important events set in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro, as well as small towns in the countryside or by the coast that are so real they seem to have jumped out of romances of Monteiro Lobato or Jorge Amado.

Brazilian countryside portrayed in Daytripper_

Remarkably written and drawn, Daytripper also gives its international audience a rare opportunity to experience the daily aspects of Brazilians lifestyle, habits, beliefs and culture. As a plot, it could have taken place anywhere in the world – as with most masterpieces – , but its natural Brazilian flavor definitely plays an important role in the outcome.

Salvador, Bahia in Daytripper

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• Felipe Taborda’s “Kabum! Mix” poster exhibition in Warsaw featured on Wallpaper.com

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2011 IDA Congress Taipei

Design at the Edges: 2011 IDA Congress will take place from 24-26 October in Taipei  focusing on five keynote speeches – Biotechnology, Economic Development, International Migration, Internet, and Urbanism – in its morning sessions, with afternoons devoted to dozens of presentations on education, design practice, academic research, and multiculturalism, among other themes.  There Brazilians will join the ranks of distinguished professionals and academics from more than 40 countries:

Curator, journalist and writer Adélia Borges will deliver a lecture presenting recent Latin American projects concerning social innovation, with examples that will bring together product, graphic and interior design from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia.

Designer Fred Gelli will be a panellist on the keynote session “Urbanism – Shaping Cities through Urban Design Strategies” alongside colleagues from Finland, UK and USA, also presenting the design of the Olympic Games Rio 2016 branding, developed by his company Tátil Design de Ideias.

Graphic designer and educator Bruno Porto will be a Category Presenter for the 2011 Adobe Design Achievement Awards ceremony – Porto was a member of the jury of the 2010 ADAA – and a correspondent for Brazilian magazine abcDesign, a Media Partner of the IDA Congress and Icograda.

The International Design Alliance (IDA) is a strategic venture between the international organisations representing industrial design, communication design and interior architecture/design. The alliance was created by its founding partners, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) and the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda) in 2003. In 2008, the IDA welcomed the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI) to the alliance as the third partner.

Design at the Edges
_ the edge between the design practices and other fields having a stake in design, including: science, technology, government, business and non-governmental humanitarian organisations;
_ the edge between design disciplines, especially industrial, communication and interior architecture/design-what do they share in common and what sets them apart;
_ ‘cutting edge’ work and ideas in design and in other fields: radically new, controversial, experimental, pushing the boundaries of the discipline.

via 2011 IDA Congress, Taipei and ICOGRADA | Design at the Edges: 2011 IDA Congress.

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Wagner Campelo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Wagner Campelo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – Wagner’s floral patterns and textile designs equally capture the spirit of his culture and his eye for detail.

"Ipanema-Leblon" by Wagner Campelo

"Ipanema-Leblon" by Wagner Campelo

via Coroflot Genius Gallery – Eyes On the Prize – Core77.

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Gilvan Samico, "Criação - Homem e Mulher", 1993

Gilvan José Meira Lins Samico (Recife, Pernambuco, 1928- ). Engraver, painter, draughtsman, lecturer. In 1952, together with other artists, Gilvan Samico founded the Ateliê Coletivo [Collective Studio] of the Sociedade de Arte Moderna do Recife – SAMR [Recife Modern Art Society], conceived by Abelardo da Hora (1924).

Gilvan studied wood engraving with Lívio Abramo (1903 – 1992) in 1957 at the Escola de Artesanato [School of Crafts] of the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo – MAM/SP [São Paulo Museum of Modern Art]. In the following year, he moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he studied engraving with Oswaldo Goeldi (1895 – 1961) at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes – Enba [National School of Fine Arts]. With a great technical mastery, he dedicated himself in his work to textures elaborated with linear rhythms.

In 1965, he settled in Olinda, lecturing in wood engraving at the Universidade Federal da Paraíba – UFPA [Federal University of Paraíba]. In 1968, with the foreign travel prize won at the 17th Salão Nacional de Arte Moderna [National Salon of Modern Art], he spent two years in Europe. In 1971, he was invited by Ariano Suassuna to join the Movimento Armorial [Armorial Movement], directed towards popular Northeastern culture and the literature of the Cordel.

Gilvan Samico

His output is marked by the recovery of the poetry of the Northeast through the Cordel literature and the creative use of wood engravings. His engravings are populated by biblical and other figures deriving from myths and local stories, as well as fantastic and mythical animals. With the presentation of new subject matter, he introduced a formal simplification into his work, reducing the use of colour and textures.

Samico has works in the MoMA in New York and participated twice in the Venice Biennale with an award in one of them.

via Samico, Gilvan (1928- ).

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• Roots: Magalhães, Aloísio (1927)

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Milton Viola "Millôr" Fernandes

Milton Viola Fernandes (Rio de Janeiro RJ 1923). Satirical cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator, writer, poet, playwright, translator. First drawing published in O Jornal, in 1934. At the age of 13, he was hired by the magazine, O Cruzeiro, where he carried out a variety of journalistic tasks: writing captions, pagination and working as office boy. In an attempt to improve his skills, he attended the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios [School of Arts and Crafts] of Rio de Janeiro from 1938 to 1943.

In 1939, after winning a story competition promoted by the magazine, A Cigarra [The Cicada], he was invited by Frederico Chateaubriand to write for the same magazine. He then created the Poste-Escrito [Written Post] section, writing under the pseudonym, Emmanuel Vão Gôgo, which he also used to write a column in the Diário da Noite, subsequently directing A Cigarra for three years. He also directed O Guri [The Kid], a magazine in comic strip format, and O Detetive [The Detective], of crime stories. In 1945, he produced Pif-Paf, the humour section of the magazine, O Cruzeiro, with articles by himself, also written under the pseudonym of Emmanuel Vão Gôgo that were initially illustrated by Péricles (1924 – 1961), and subsequently by himself.

In 1964, having already left O Cruzeiro, Millôr Fernandes edited the magazine Pif-Paf, which only ran for eight issues. From 1964 to 1974, he wrote a weekly column from Portugal for the newspaper, Diário Popular. From 1969 to 1975, he took part in the Rio de Janeiro-based weekly, O Pasquim, together with Jaguar (1932-), Tarso de Castro, Sérgio Cabral (1937), Henfil (1944 – 1988), Paulo Francis (1930 – 1997), Ziraldo (1932-), among others. In addition to his output in the printed media, Millôr has presented TV programmes on TV Itacolomi of Belo Horizonte, and on TV Tupi, of Rio de Janeiro. He writes poems, articles, adaptations and translations for the theatre and screenplays for the cinema, having also published dozens of books.

via Fernandes, Millôr (1923).

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"Asian Graphics Now", by Julius Wiedeman and Bruno Porto

Taschen editor-in-charge Julius Wiedemann and co-author Bruno Porto showcased the upcoming 430 page book “Asian Graphics NOW!” at the German Consulate General in Shanghai, on September 15th 2010. The Pre-launch talk was attended by 120 local (Chinese and foreigners) designers, artists and journalists, and it was translated to Chinese by Ms Karen Xu.

Both Wiedemann and Porto were born and raised in Rio de Janeiro and respectively attended the Marketing and Design courses of Rio’s Faculdade da Cidade in the early 1990s.

Julius Wiedemann, Karen Xu & Bruno Porto by Mowfak Galy

The book is a collaboration between them, Taschen art editor Daniel Siciliano-Bretas (born in Rio de Janeiro, currently living in Köln, Germany) and Japanese design specialist Marcos Sadao Maekawa (born in São Paulo, currently living in Tokyo, Japan), and presents a wide selection of design projects from China (mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao), Japan, Korea, India, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam etc, divided in five sections – Advertising, Branding, Editorial, Non-Commercial and Packaging. It also features articles by Huang Li, editor of Package & Design Magazine, and Wang Min, Design Director of the Beijing Olympics 2008.

The first 100 pages of “Asian Graphics NOW!” can be leafed in http://www.taschen.com/lookinside/04440/index.htm

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• Brazilian illustration festival in China

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'Amor' by Daiana Santana / Ednaira Mendes / Leonardo Dias, from Oi Kabum! Escola de Arte e Tecnologia, Salvador

Brazilian graphic designer Felipe Taborda has curated an exhibition of posters at Warsaw’s Rampa Art Gallery and Poster Museum as part of Poland’s 22nd International Poster Biennale.

Titled ‘Kabum! Mix’, the exhibition is the culmination of a two-year project with the Brazilian Oi Kabum! schools of Art and Technology in Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Salvador and Belo Horizonte, sponsored by Oi Futuro.

The nine posters for 2008 series, produced by the students, in conjunction with French designer, Alain Le Quernec, were exhibited throughout the world to great acclaim. For the 2009 series, the students worked with local tutors and Mexican graphic designer, Alejandro Magallanes, creating posters based on the themes of ‘love’, ‘the future’ and ‘Aids’.

The 2009 posters were spread throughout Rio by Clear Channel, the company who administrates urban advertisement in the city.

via Kabum! Mix poster exhibition, Warsaw – Art – Wallpaper.com – International Design Interiors Fashion Travel.

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NewGraphic #23 and PRO #02

Seems that after publishing the portfolios of illustrator Walter Vasconcelos and graphic designer Kiko Farkas in its bimonthly NewGraphic magazine (20 pages each, in issues #13 – 2007 and #21 – 2009, respectively), the Nanjing Arts Institute decided to make 2010 their ‘Year of Brazil’:

The #23 – April 2010 issue features over 100 projects of books, logos, packages, covers and pages of the famous Gráfica magazine designed by Oswaldo “Miran” Miranda, a “pioneer of Contemporary Graphic Design in Brazil”, as the magazine rightfully calls him in the first of the 20 pages allocated to the renowned Curitiba graphic artist.

In this issue, the publication also initiates a series of six articles that will present portfolios of Brazilian design companies and professionals with different styles and business models. Written and produced by Brazilian designer and educator Bruno Porto, each article will focus a specific theme. The first one, “Pop”, introduces over 80 projects of editorial design studio Laboratório Secreto and design agency Boldº_a design company in another 20 pages. Issue #24 will carry projects by eg.design and Tecnopop addressing “Identity”.

The Nanjing Arts Institute has also designated 42 pages of its new publication PRODESIGN to the Brazilian graphics. Its first two issues feature the illustration works of São Paulo’s (and Barcelona resident) Flavio de Morais and Rio de Janeiro’s Lula Palomanes, as well as the complete projects and texts of the two graphic design exhibitions presented by Bruno Porto in China in 2009, “DINGBATS BRASIL” and “One Year in Posters“. While NewGraphic is published in Chinese only, PRODESIGN is bilingual (Chinese / English). Pages of both publications can be seen in http://www.seecoo.com.cn/

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Lifetime Achievement Prize to Marcello Serpa (from AdWeek)

Marcello Serpa, partner and general creative director, AlmapBBDO, São Paulo, Brazil, was selected by the international Clio Awards as the recipient of its distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for 2008.

“Throughout his career, Marcello Serpa has clearly embodied the tradition of creative leadership, integrity and dedication to great ideas that are the cornerstones of the Clio Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Tony Gulisano, managing director, Clio Awards. “It is our honor to present him with this award.”

Serpa, 45, is widely recognized as a driving force in bringing international acclaim to Latin American advertising. He began his career with a seven-year stint in Germany, first studying visual and graphic arts before doing creative work at agencies GGK and R.G. Wiesmeir. Upon returning to Brazil, he worked in the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo offices of DPZ before joining DM9DDB in 1991. It was there that he made history, becoming the first Latin American to win a Grand Prix at Cannes in the Print and Outdoor category for a 1993 campaign on behalf of Antárctica soft drink.

That same year, Serpa and Jose Luiz Madeira, a senior account manager and strategic planner, both left to become partners at AlmapBBDO. The team helped transform the agency to a new level of creative and strategic excellence, and have since amassed an impressive roster of blue-chip clients including Volkswagen, Pepsi, Inbev, Bayer, Audi Brazil, Mars Brazil, Gatorade, Havaianas, Greenpeace and others.

Serpa is the most awarded creative in the history of the São Paulo Creative Club Yearbook, and been elected as best creative director in Iberian America and Brazil eight times by El Ojo de Iberoamericana. Throughout his 15 years as partner and creative director at AlmapBBDO, the agency was the most awarded agency in the world by the Gunn Report for two years in a row, named agency of the year at Cannes and by Advertising Age, and won 45 Clio statues.

“I was nicely surprised and deeply happy to learn that Clio feels my work and professional life are deserving of such a definitive award,” said Serpa.

He joins a prestigious list of past Clio Lifetime Achievement Award honorees: Bob Isherwood, worldwide creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi; Bob Greenberg, chairman/CEO, chief creative director, R/GA; John Hegarty, chairman/worldwide creative director, Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH); Lee Clow, global director of media arts, TBWA\ Worldwide; Neil French, former worldwide creative director, Ogilvy & Mather and WPP; David Abbott, cofounder, Abbott Mead Vickers, and Tony Kaye, the pioneering director and cinematographer.

via Clio Awards.

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Ziraldo's poster for "Discover the Brazilian Cinema" exhibition

Ziraldo Alves Pinto (Caratinga, Minas Gerais, 1932 – ). Draughtsman, caricaturist, cartoonist, illustrator, journalist and writer. He presented his first drawing at the age of 7 in the newspaper Folha de Minas, in 1939. In 1949, he moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he contributed to the children’s publications Vida Infantil, Vida Juvenil and Sesinho, and began to publish works in the magazine, A Cigarra. In 1952, he entered the Faculty of Law of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais [Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) ] and contributed monthly to the magazine, Era uma Vez.

In 1954, he replaced the caricaturist Borjalo (1925 – 2004) on the daily Folha de Minas and contributed to the magazine Binômio. In 1957, he moved to Rio de Janeiro, and in the following year, began to work on the magazine, O Cruzeiro, where, two years later, he created the character, Pererê. With the success of this character, the company O Cruzeiro began to publish a monthly magazine consisting exclusively of his stories.

In 1963, he began to work for the Jornal do Brasil, and in 1964, for the magazine Pif-Paf, edited by Millôr Fernandes (1923-). In 1967, he edited the Sunday supplement, Cartum JS, of the Jornal dos Sports. In the following year, he gained international recognition and saw his drawings published in foreign magazines. He became a member of the founding team of the magazine, O Pasquim, launched in 1969.

Since then, he has devoted himself to the publication of children’s books, with many titles, most notable among which are Flicts (1969), O Menino Maluquinho [The Crazy Kid] (1980) and O Bichinho da Maçã [The Little Apple Worm] (1982). In 1982, he left the editorial of Pasquim to devote himself mainly to children’s literature. In 1999, he founded the magazines Bundas [Bums] – a parody of the society magazine, Caras and Palavra. In 2002, he began to publish a new magazine called Opasquim21.

via Ziraldo (1932).

Read Also:

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• Discover the Brazilian Cinema
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Rogério Duarte's poster for Glauber Rocha's movie "Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol", 1964

Rogério Duarte started his career as a graphic designer in the 1960s. He had begun his formation in this area by taking the experimental course offered by Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro MAM-RJ (‘Rio de Janeiro’s Modern Arte Museum’).

He worked with Aloísio Magalhães between 1961 and 1962. He was the art director of the Maurício Vilela Laboratory (1963), coordinator of the Visual Arts Department of União Nacional dos Estudades – UNE (‘National Students Union’) and director of the Editora Vozes (‘Vozes Publishing House’) from 1966 to 1968, director of DIA Desenho Industrial Audiovisuais –(‘Audiovisual Industrial Design’) (1972-1975), art director of Designio (1976 – 1978), and art director of Salvador’s City Hall (1985 – 1989).

Rogério is a multi-disciplinary artist. He is a poet, a musician and a graphic artist. He is famous for his collaborations with the musicians of the Tropicália movement, especially Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, his book covers and movie posters. In the latter field, he designed the poster of the movie “Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol” (1965) of Glauber Rocha, one of his most famous works.

Holding convictions that went fervently against the dogmatism of the School of Ulm, Rogério Duarte skillfully joined constructive principles acquired during his studies of design with elements of Brazilian popular culture, making a real visual anthropophagy during the period of military dictatorship in Brazil.

Rogério Duarte also holds two titles of Notório Saber em Artes Gráficas e Desenho Industrial (‘Notorious Knowledge in Graphic Arts and Industrial Design’) awarded by the Universidade de Brasília – UNB [ National University of Brasília] and by the Federal Education Council of MEC.

Currently, Duarte teaches in the School of Communications at UFBA (the Federal University in the state of Bahia).

via :: REDE DESIGN BRASIL ::.

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• Roots: Wollner, Alexandre (1928)
• Roots: Monteiro, Vicente do Rêgo (1899 – 1970)

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Helio Oiticica's "Homage to Mondrian" (Photo by Michael Stravato for The New York Times)

Hélio Oiticica (Rio de Janeiro, 1937 – idem, 1980). Together with his brother, César Oiticica, Hélio began studying painting and drawing with Ivan Serpa at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro – MAM/RJ [Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro], in 1954. In the same year, he wrote his first text on the visual arts, after which, his recording in writing of reflections on art and his output became a habit. He took part in the Grupo Frente [Frente Group] in 1955 and 1956, and in 1959, became a member of the Neoconcrete Group. He abandoned his two-dimensional works and created spatial reliefs, bolides [fireballs/meteors], capes, standards, tents and penetrables.

In 1964, he began to make the so-called Manifestações Ambientais [Environmental Demonstrations]. At the opening of the Opinião 65 [Opinion 65] show, at the MAM/RJ, he protested when entry to the museum was denied to his friends, members of the Mangueira samba school, and he was expelled from the museum, holding a collective demonstration in front of it, in which the Parangolés were worn by his samba school friends. He took part in the Opinião 66 [Opinion 66] and Nova Objetividade Brasileira [New Brazilian Objectivity], presenting the Tropicália environmental demonstration. In 1968, he held the collective demonstration, Apocalipopótese [Apocalypopothesis] on the Aterro do Flamengo [Flamengo Land Reclamation Project], which included his Parangolés and Lygia Pape‘s Ovos [Eggs]. In 1969, at the Whitechapel Gallery, in London, he realised what he called the Whitechapel Experience, presenting the Éden [Eden] project.

For most of the 1970s, he lived in New York, during which period, he was a visiting scholar of the Guggenheim Foundation, taking part in the Information show, at the Museum of Modern Art – MoMA. He returned to Brazil in 1978. After his death, the Projeto Hélio Oiticica [Hélio Oiticica Project] was created in Rio de Janeiro, in 1981, with the aim of preserving, analysing and promoting his work, under the direction of Lygia Pape, Luciano Figueiredo and Waly Salomão.

Between 1992 and 1997, the Projeto HO staged a major retrospective that was presented in the cities of Rotterdam, Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon, Minneapolis and Rio de Janeiro. In 1996, the Secretaria Municipal de Cultura do Rio de Janeiro [Municipal Secretariat of Culture of Rio de Janeiro] established the Centro de Artes Hélio Oiticica [Hélio Oiticica Centre for the Arts], to house the entire collection of the artist and open it to the public.

via Oiticica, Hélio (1937 – 1980).

Read Also:

• Roots: Wollner, Alexandre (1928)
• “Brazil Contemporary” Exhibition opens in Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• Roots: Monteiro, Vicente do Rêgo (1899 – 1970)
• Movements: O Gráfico Amador
• Roots: Duarte, Rogério (1939)

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The real Latin America exists below the sensational headlines about Hugo Chávez, shrinking rainforests and cocaine wars. But walk around Rio de Janeiro or Buenos Aires and you are struck not by a sense of crisis but by a mood – you might even, slightly pretentiously, call it a zeitgeist – that these cities are on the move.

Latin America is too diverse to be pigeonholed. Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador are developing and poor, but much of the continent is very different. Santiago’s skyscraper-filled city center feels like Spain, albeit with the Andes as a backdrop. Different parts of the elegant Argentine capital have the vibe of Milan and Paris. Even the teeming cities of Brazil are nothing like Mumbai or Delhi.

A few days in almost any South American capital is enough to make it clear that renewal is in the air. It’s easy, when talking to business leaders and politicians, to see why the region is emerging, once again, as a player in the outsourcing market. As Latin America was the original destination for American firms looking to outsource in the 1980s, but lost out on cost to China and India, the business has almost come full circle.

But Latin America’s new approach to outsourcing is not the same as the ‘Chindia’ model, as it draws on very different specialist skills.

Brazil, for example, is already a world leader in biofuels, and its deserved reputation for innovation is the result of putting public money into research and coming up with incentives to create demand. The country’s central bank chief, Henrique Meirelles, predicts that the Brazilian economy will grow by 4.5% this year – regardless of the US slowdown – and last year its productivity grew faster than that of the US. [...]

via Design Council | Design Council Magazine | Design Council Magazine issue 4 | The Latin American renaissance.

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• Brazilian lectures at the Taipei 2011 IDA Congress

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Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial (ESDI)

The Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial (ESDI) [Superior School of Industrial Design] was the first school of higher education in industrial design was created in 1963 and is the oldest design college in both Brazil and in South America. Karl Heinz Bergmiller, Alexandre Wollner, Aloísio Magalhães and Goebel Weyne were some of the names involved in the project. Besides these, some important names in world design took part in its conception, such as Max Bill (1908-1994), Tomás Maldonado (1922), Max Bense (1910-1990) and Walter Gropius (1883-1969), who founded and directed Bauhaus for almost 10 years.

The first director of ESDI was Mauricio Roberto, who, at the time, was the president of Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil (Brazil’s Institute of Architects). In the administrative structure of the school, he was a member of the Advisory Council, along with teachers and student representatives.

The school of Ulm was the original model that ESDI followed to form its first teachers. In 1968, the first re-organization in the school’s curriculum occurred, aiming to adapt it to the economic and technological conditions of Brazilian industry, and also to reconsider foreign influence exerted on the school.

The intention of joining technical, scientific, artistic, and cultural knowledge in the perspective of theoretical and practical teaching, together with the fact that the school had been recognized by the State Education Council, made the curriculum adopted by ESDI become the official model to be implemented in other courses of Industrial Design in Brazil.

Since 1975, ESDI has been a part of the Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ- the State University of Rio de Janeiro) and it is located in Lapa, Rio de Janeiro.

via :: REDE DESIGN BRASIL ::.

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Alexandre Wollner

Alexandre Wollner (São Paulo, 1928- ). Graphic designer. Began his studies with the visual design course at the Institute of Contemporary Design (IAC), created at the São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand Museum of Art (Masp), in 1950, where he studied with Lina Bo Bardi (1914-1992), Poty (1924-1998) and Sambonet (1924-1995). Collaborated with Pietro Maria Bardi (1900-1999) in staging the retrospective exhibition of Max Bill (1908-1994), at the Masp, in 1951.

Interested in the Concretist movement, in 1953, he joined the Grupo Ruptura [Rupture Group], presenting his constructivist works at the 2nd São Paulo International Biennial. Also in 1953, he was chosen by Max Bill to study at the Hochschule für Gestaltung [Superior School of Form] in Ulm, Germany, where he remained from 1954 to 1958. Upon returning to Brazil, together with Geraldo de Barros (1923-1998) and others he inaugurated Form-Inform, the first design consultancy in the country.

In 1963, he took part in the structuring and creation of the Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial (ESDI) [Superior School of Industrial Design], in Rio de Janeiro, the first higher level design institution in the country. During the 1960s, he opened his own visual programming office, where he developed logotypes for major companies. He exhibited his projects at the Masp and at the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM/RJ) in 1980, opting for a show that emphasized the process of creation, execution and implementation of visual identity systems. In 1999, the Centre of Communication and Arts of Senac, in São Paulo, held his second individual exhibition.

In 2003, Wollner celebrated 50 years of design with his book Design Visual 50 Anos, and a photography exhibition at the Maria Antônia University Centre, in São Paulo.

via Wollner, Alexandre (1928).

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"Aniki Bobo", by João Cabral de Melo Neto

Aloísio Magalhães, while still attending law school in Recife (the capital of Pernambuco), had already begun to show his fascination with graphic arts by skillfully illustrating a poetry book written by a colleague of his from the university, José Laurenio de Melo.

After graduating, he traveled to Paris to study painting and engraving at the Atelier 17, an important European center of engraving. Once back in Brazil, he met with Gastão de Holanda, a former classmate from the university, who had also been in Paris, studying literature.

Coincidentally, a famous cousin of Magalhães, the renowned Brazilian poet João Cabral de Melo Neto, moved to Recife at that time. This cousin strongly encouraged the two young artists to open their own private print shop, similar to the one he himself had had in Barcelona. It was in that print shop that Cabral de Melo Neto had produced his own books through craftsmanship, while he was in the town occupying the post of consul.

Magalhães and José Laurenio became excited about the idea of setting up a print shop and they sought other former friends from the university who were also involved in literature and graphic arts. Among the main names of those who founded O Gráfico Amador in 1954, it is worth mentioning Ariano Suassuna, José Laurenio, and Orlando da Costa Ferreira.

Brought together by their passion for books and their quests in philosophical and aesthetic issues – which were connected to Modernism, a Brazilian art movement – these individuals produced grand experimental works that combined poetry, illustration, a bold typographical style, an alternative and informal use of paper and elements in relief printing. All these ingredients greatly contributed towards creating a more pleasing relationship between text and image.

O Gráfico Amador was being closely followed by Le Courrier Graphique, from Paris, as well as by the Curwen Press, from London. Additionally, several intellectuals and artists from Pernambuco and people from the artistic milieu also contributed to the magazine.

This undertaking was a key factor in Aloísio Magalhães’ career, for he later became a pioneering figure in the history of Brazilian graphic design. Let us not forget that benchmarks were scarce at that time, especially outside of the region linking Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo. Moreover, Magalhães became a leading pioneer in the history of Brazilian typography, as he was acutely aware of the profound relationships between artistic and industrial production.

O Gráfico Amador revealed itself as being a reference in the scenario of Brazilian culture and it was displayed in an exhibition at the Brazilian National Library, in Rio de Janeiro, in 1959.

The magazine closed its doors in 1961. It had issued altogether 20 publications, including the first edition of the poem Ciclo, by Carlos Drummond de Andrade – a renowned Brazilian poet. Its patrimony was donated to Escola de Belas Artes do Recife (Recife’s Fine Arts College).

via :: REDE DESIGN BRASIL ::.

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1. THE FAVELA CHAIR
Despite its name – the “shantytown chair” – the Campana brothers‘ Favela Chair became a defining piece of Brazilian design with a price tag to match when it was launched in 2003. Reputedly made out of the same wood used to construct shacks in the ramshackle city districts, this design classic sells for just under $4,000.

2. THE HAVAIANA FLIP FLOP
Invented in 1962 the Havaiana, a rubber flip-flop, spent nearly 40 years as an unremarkable but commonplace component of the Brazilian wardrobe. Suddenly at the end of the 1990s the Havaiana took off as an international fashion accessory worn by top models across the globe such as Naomi Campbell. Havaiana’s international sales are said to be doubling each year. In Rio the lowly Havaiana costs around R$10 (£2). In Europe they have been known to fetch around £100.

3. OSCAR NIEMEYER’S CONGRESS BUILDING
Erected at the end of the 1950s, Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer’s Congresso Nacional, the Congress Building in Brazil’s capital Brasília, remains his most celebrated work, often compared to two white flying saucers. Mixing the sweeping convex and concave lines for which he became famous, the building is one of the most recognisable symbols of Brazilian architecture.

4. THE DENTAL FLOSS BIKINI
Known in South America as fio dental or “dental floss”, the Brazilian bikini is also begrudgingly held up as a design classic, widely embraced on the country’s beaches. The dental floss bikini was not always a unanimity, however. In 1961 president Janio Quadros outlawed the tiny fashion item from Rio’s beaches. He lasted just seven months in power.

5. THE TUTTI FRUTTI HAT
Carmen Miranda, Brazil’s most famous singing export, is to this day one of the defining fashion icons to emerge from Brazil. Born in Portugal, “the lady in the tutti-frutti hat”, as she became known, moved to the US in 1939 where her colourful, fruit-laden costumes became a seminal creation, referenced to this day by Brazilian designers.

via Inside Brazil: Brazilian design classics | From the Guardian | The Guardian.

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Vicente do Rego Monteiro, "As Religiosas", 1969

Vicente do Rego Monteiro (Recife, Pernambuco, 1899 – idem, 1970). Painter, sculptor, draughtsman, illustrator, graphic artist. Began his artistic studies in 1908, accompanying his sister, Fedora do Rego Monteiro (1889 – 1975) on courses at the National School of Fine Arts (Enba) in Rio de Janeiro.

In 1911, he travelled with his family to France, where he attended the Academies Colarossi, Julian and de La Grande Chaumière. In 1913, he took part in the Salon des Indépendants, of which he became a member. In Paris, he maintained contact with Amedeo Modigliani (1884 – 1920), Fernand Léger (1881 – 1955), Georges Braque (1882 – 1963), Joán Miró (1893 – 1983), Albert Gleizes (1881 – 1953), Jean Metzinger (1883 – 1956) and Louis Marcoussis (1883 – 1941).

At the start of the First World War (1914-1918), he left France with his family, settling in Rio de Janeiro in 1915. In 1918, he held his first individual exhibition at the Santa Isabel Theatre in Recife, showing his work for the first time two years later, in São Paulo, where he met Di Cavalcanti (1897 – 1976), Anita Malfatti (1889 – 1964), Pedro Alexandrino (1856 – 1942) and Victor Brecheret (1894 – 1955). In 1920, he studied the art of the Marajó culture in the collections of the National Museum of Quinta da Boa Vista. Moved by a passion for dance, in 1921 he staged the spectacle, Lendas, Crenças e Talismãs dos Índios do Amazonas [Legends, Beliefs and Talismans of the Amazonian Indians], at the Trianon Theatre in Rio de Janeiro, which was praised by the poet and critic, Ronald de Carvalho (1893 – 1935). He left for France, leaving behind eight oil paintings and watercolours for exhibition during Semana de Arte Moderna [Modern Art Week] of 1922, in São Paulo.

In 1923, he made drawings of masks and costumes for the ballet, Legendes Indiennes de L’Amazonie [Indian Legends of Amazonia]. He joined the group of artists associated with the gallery and magazine, L’Effort Moderne, of Leonce Rosemberg. He also brought the exhibition A Escola de Paris [The School of Paris] to Brazil, with showings in Recife, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In 1937, he decorated the Chapel of Brazil in the Vatican Pavilion of the International Exhibition of Paris.

In 1946, he founded the publisher, La Presse à Bras, dedicated to the publication of Brazilian and French poetry. From 1941 onwards, he published his first verses, Poemas de Bolso [Pocket Poems], organising and promoting various poetry salons and congresses in France and Brazil. Returning to Brazil, he gave lectures in painting at the School of Fine Arts of the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), in 1957 and 1966.

In 1960, he received the Guillaume Apollinaire Prize for his sonnets, collected in the book, Broussais – La Charité. From 1966 to 1968, he lectured at the Central Institute of the Arts of the University of Brasília (UnB).

via Monteiro, Vicente do Rego (1899 – 1970).

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Think Brazilian design and the first things that spring to mind may well be plastic flip-flops and minuscule beachwear.

But there is more to Brazilian style than Carmen Miranda‘s fruit basket headgear, and a new generation of Brazilian designers, mostly based in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, are pushing the boundaries of South American fashion, art and architecture.

Inspired by themes as diverse as urban disorder, impoverished sugar cane cutters, the Amazon rainforest and even the gothic movement, Brazil’s young designers are charting new territory and winning accolades the world over.

Last year the Brazilian clothing industry made $34.6bn, making it the world’s sixth largest textile producer and responsible for 3.5% of Brazil’s GDP. Some $2.4bn of that revenue came from exports[...]

via Inside Brazil: Brazilian design | From the Guardian | The Guardian.

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