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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• Schools: Escola Superior de Design Industrial (ESDI)
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• Roots: Oiticica, Hélio (1937 – 1980)
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"Aloísio Magalhães", by Mônica Fuchshuber

Aloísio Magalhães took his first steps in the field of graphic design took place while he was still attending law school in Recife. In 1950, during his last year as a student, he made illustrations for a book of poetry, Palhano, written by a friend of his the university, José Laurenio de Melo. Having finished his course, Aloisio headed for Paris, where he intended to study painting and engraving with Stanley Hayter at the Atelier 17 studio, an important European center of engraving.

In 1954, influenced by the renowned Brazilian poet (and his cousin) João Cabral de Melo Neto – he set up, together with some friends, a modest print shop called O Gráfico Amador that, during the eight subsequent years that it was operating, published 27 books, 3 sets of fliers, 2 bulletins and a theater program.

In 1960 Magalhães founded a design office whose name was originally Aloísio Magalhães. In 1976, PVDI became its official name (this original office is still functioning, carrying out projects in the area of visual identity systems and product design).

It is only in 1970 that his office develops its first large design project in Brazil for Petrobras, the giant state-owned Brazilian oil company. The scope of the project ranged from the design of a symbol that would be stamped on oil packaging to the entire system of visual identity that would be displayed both at distribution points and on gas pumps at all of the gas stations run by the company.

In 1976, Brazil’s Central Bank commissioned him once again to render services to the institution (in fact his office had already carried out a few jobs for it in 1967 and 1972). This assignment comprised redesigning Brazil’s units of currency. Thus the project encompassed the task of defining a complex system of creation, including aspects such as selecting the most appropriate graphic motives to be used as well as key decisions regarding the technology to be adopted – amongst the types of technology available at that time. The project, as a whole, aimed to make Brazil self-sufficient in the production of its paper bills and coins.

In 1979, Magalhães takes on the post of administrating the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional – IPHAN (Brazil’s Institute of Historic and Artistic National Patrimony). His ideas regarding the management of this institution had a lot in common with the ones advocated by Mário de Andrade 50 years before. Hence, he proceeded to promote a revolution in the institute’s policies, when compared with the long-lasting, deeply ingrained policies that the IPHAN upheld at the time. His broad vision, which embodied the concept of what a cultural asset should be, and his philosophy that the custody of the shared patrimony should be transferred to the community that is primarily concerned with it, set new and unprecedented paradigms in the handling of the national memory. At that time, Magalhães — taking advantage of his talent as a designer – begins drafting a new layout for the institutional framework connected to the cultural issue in Brazil.

As the outcome of intense political maneuvers and persuasiveness, IPHAN finally becomes a Secretariat directly subordinated to MEC (Brazil’s Ministry of Education and Culture) in January 1980 and soon later the Fundação Nacional Pró-Memória (Pro-Memory National Foundation) is created. Consistent to his efforts to reorganize the infrastructure of state agencies with respect to their form of handling issues related to culture, he takes up the presidency of the Fundação Nacional de Arte (National Art Foundation) and is later invited to become Brazil’s Secretary of Culture.

He dies from a stroke in Padua, Italy, in 1982.

November 5 – Aloísio Magalhães’ date of birth – has become Brazil’s National Designers Day, a homage paid to the contributions he made in the profession.

via :: REDE DESIGN BRASIL ::.

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The Brazilian Association of Graphic Design (ADG) 9th Brazilian Graphic Design Biennial will be exhibited during the 2009 Shanghai International Creative Industry Week from October 15th–21st (9am-5:30pm at 800 Changde Road, Building 3). During the weekend of October 17th/18th there will be English/Chinese/Portuguese (at 11am and 3pm) free guided tours to the exhibition by Brazilian graphic designers.

On Monday October 19th 6-8pm, Raffles Design Institute – Shanghai (Donghua University – RDI Main Building – 1882 West Yan An Road) will host two lectures of the Biennial programme: Taschen Books editor Julius Wiedemann will present a lecture on “Visual Communication & Technology”, followed by Digital Communication Ph.D. Luli Radfahrer, who will talk about innovation in the digital culture in his “Fluid Mechanics: Design in the elastic environment” presentation.

After Shanghai, the exhibition travels to Beijing to be part of the Icograda World Congress, in the 4th Floor Gallery, Building 7 of CAFA – Central Academy of Fine Arts from October 26th–30th. The DINGBATS BRASIL exhibition (which was in Shanghai from May to July 2009) will also be displayed at the same location, before traveling to Hong Kong, Macau and Vietnam.

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