Rico Lins, graphic design and cross-cultural

Rico lins is one of Brazil’s most influential graphic designers. He has participated in and curated diverse exhibitions, including the one recently organised at the Sao Paulo Image and Sound Museum to present the magnificent posters he developed for the Sao Paulo Jazz Symphony Orchestra. His graphic work is informed by a copious and exuberant variet y of signifiers and signified meanings, blending european influences with brazilian ones in an amalgamation of worlds brought together in a single visual collage.

Gillo Dorfles interviewed by Cristina Morozzi. Second part.

Cristina Morozzi: And are we seeing the same thing in product design?

Gillo Dorfles: Patricia Urquiola, for example. She’s an excellent designer, but why does
she need to add those coloured superstructures? And Philippe Starck? Why has
he even gone so far as designing garden gnomes? It’s just an exaggerated wish
to “épater le bourgeois”.

Gillo Dorfles interviewed by Cristina Morozzi. First part

Not long after the turn of the century, he still has the sense of wonder and the insatiable curiosity of a child for contemporary styles and fashions. No area of creativity is missed by his acute, far-seeing eye; no social phenomenon is not subjected to his passionate investigations; no mania or weakness escapes his wit. He frequents all the arts without distinction. He knows their history, their main directions, and how to make connections, parallels and conjunctions between them. He moves easily from the theoretical to the anecdotal.

Patricia Urquiola

Patricia Urquiola (Oviedo, 1961), the most international of Spanish designers, lives and works out of Milan. She cites Magistretti, Munari and Castiglioni as her maestros. Of Castiglioni she recalls his most famous lesson: “the imperative of seeking out one’s own poetics, following neither rules nor guidelines”. Author of a prolific list of products and projects, and keeping true to wise teachings, she stays spontaneous and fresh by imbuing her works with her passion for handiwork.