DESIGN BRAZIL 2000+2:
ON THE WAY TO MATURITY?

There is a predominating sensation of optimism after selecting the products for this edition. There is still much that needs maturing, but Brazilian design already gives us reasons to believe in its success.

Winnie Bastian
Brazilian design is very well, thank you. This is the general impression that we, at ARC DESIGN, had after selecting the pieces published in this article.
This climate of optimism is due, principally, to a visible improvement in quality – design and principally physical – of the products. If previously the hurry to launch a product on the market and the lack of economic conditions to develop successive prototypes compromised the final result, today designers appear to have realized that time is needed to arrive at a good product, which is functional, ecologically correct, competitive and also has a formal appeal. Awareness that between the first prototype and the final product there is a long way to be traveled appears to begin to be present.
We also noted, happily, the increasing search for new materials (or known materials, used with more expertise): Corian®, flexible PVC, aluminum, acrylic laminated plastics, among others, began to compete with wood, our old and questionable acquaintance. And even when wood was the chosen material, we can see – happily – that it is being used in a more rational fashion: the structures are lighter and “waste aesthetics” do not predominate.
However, another contrary development counteracts this positive movement. A large part of the design undertaken in Brazil – especially when we talk about the design of objects for the house – is becoming progressively more commercial. A double-edged sword: products that have physical and formal quality, but at the same time, lack any innovation.
For how long wills this “formula” work? While we continue linked to references which comes from abroad, we are fated to be confined to the internal market; the successful export of Brazilian design does not only depend on quality but on the originality of the proposed products …and on their price.
Another fundamental point in developing national design is, in our view, research. Although the designers claim that it is a part of their creative process, this research is normally limited to what is available on the market. Innovation means the introduction of new materials, new technologies, new formal proposals or, even, products that lead to new ways of living.
This refers to a whole system that needs to be developed, in which one fundamental component is the extension of the consumer market. The way is to export and the tool is design. This is a long question, but we can already discern the results of the first joint actions between government agencies and private entities.
While industrial production does not take off, the Brazilian designer attempts the semi-industrial process (when not manual) and plays a double role: that of creator and of businessmen. Creating, promoting, distributing and even selling directly the product itself, he ranges through almost the whole “design system” alone. And in this situation, a correct view of the market is essential: there are designers, for example, who extend their area of activity by brand diversification, serving niches in several markets.
Let us not risk predicting the future, but we see on all sides initiatives beginning, such as those from Sebrae, competitions – the Brazilian House Museum, Masisa, Movelsul – and partnerships between schools and industries. I think we can already be optimistic!