Mapping Brazil - Design: Media and Events

Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo are still where most design events are held. Institutions and producers are gradually coming to understand what a strong appeal design has to the public. The media are starting to put design on the agenda, and culture incentive laws (tax relief) are creating new opportunities for exhibitions, competitions, seminars, festivals and other design-related events.

Design in the Media
Design has never featured in the Brazilian media. For years quality information could only be obtained from the few specialised industry magazines or else from international publications. Recently, this scenario has changed and some mass media vehicles are starting to put the spotlight on design.

Front covers of some style and interiors magazines

Printed Media
Design publications in Brazil can be divided into specialised design magazines and decoration and lifestyle magazines. ARC Design and abcDesign are two specialised magazines that have already become a reference for market professionals. The former, edited by Maria Helena Estrada, takes a broad perspective on design, encompassing everything from visual design to academic research. Meanwhile, abcDesign is more focused on visual and digital design.

When it comes to furniture, furnishings and lifestyle, the country’s large publishers have a number of titles. The main ones, all with a similar editorial line, are Casa Vogue, Bamboo, Casa Claudia and Wish Casa.

For the last four or five years, at least two major newspapers have decided to make design a regular feature in their coverage. Folha de São Paulo always covers events and news from the world of design and has even launched collections of books related to the subject. The Folha Group also brings out a monthly magazine, Serafina, which has a section on design and has featured design on its front cover. Meanwhile, in a bid to become the country’s leading for design, O Globo newspaper has created a weekly column that covers every aspect of design. It also has blogs specialised on the subject in its online edition.

Television
There is still a very limited design-related offer on television in Brazil. There are very few Brazilian programmes on the subject, and the pay-TV channels do not air many shows from other countries on the subject. However, in the last five years a few programmes have been produced in Brazil for pay-TV channels. GNT, a channel with a lifestyle focus, has already aired three design shows. Nos Trinques, presented by designer Guto Requena, offered a mosaic of reports on design, but only lasted one season. However, the other two programmes have attracted a bigger audience and continue to be produced for the channel. Decora, presented by Marcelo Rosenbaum (who took over from the previous presenter, Bel Lobo), is a makeover show, where a specific room in a viewer’s home is transformed each week. Meanwhile, Casa Brasileira, devised by Baba Vacaro, visits houses in different parts of the country with outstanding architecture and interior designs, showing the home owners’ and architects’ perspectives. Furnishings and interior design are the areas that seem to attract most attention, which is why they appear more often. Another approach to appeal to a broader audience is being investigated by Rede Globo. On its popular Caldeirão do Huck show, there is a segment called “Lar Doce Lar” (Home Sweet Home), where the aforementioned Marcelo Rosenbaum goes into people’s homes and uses design to reconfigure their spaces and improve their quality of life. Finally, there is a telenovella called Insensato Coração whose whole storyline revolves around the life of a successful industrial designer, André Gurgel. These last two cases indicate that design is starting to feature in prime time programming on the channel with the biggest audience numbers in the country, helping to popularise the subject, even if what is shown is limited or even misleading.

Another important point is the Brazilian Audio-Visual Law, which requires the country’s television channels – free and paid – to dedicate a significant proportion of their programming to Brazilian productions. This recent law may provide new opportunities for more design-related programming.

Scenes from Nos Trinques and Decora aired on pay-TV channel GNT

 

Events
The number of design-related events is rising. The Bienal Brasileira de Design has returned, as have the design weeks in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Curitiba, as well as the large-scale fairs for objects and gifts held in São Paulo. With a variety of exhibitions, seminars and trade fairs, design is finally consolidating its presence in the country’s event calendar, and with it come new opportunities for the development of a market for exhibition design services and plans for cultural spaces.

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