I am interested in exploring three different aspects/fields of contemporary Brazilian product design:

- Designs for the industry;
- Self-made/craft-based products;
- Designs with social/community concerns

I have based these three distinctions in conversations and readings I have had/done recently, particularly design historian Ethel Leon’s seminal essay “Jovens Objetos Velhos” (Young Old Objects), where she approaches the term “objetística” (a term coined by design theoretician Gui Bonsieppe to designate the urban, low-tech neocrafts generally produced by young people for young, like-minded and digitally connected consumers around the world) phenomenon and its impact in contemporary Brazilian design.

A deeper understanding of Brazilian design is manifestly under high demand from within and beyond its borders; I will try to contribute to that understanding with a critical account of what it means to design in, and for, this fascinating nation.