Interview: Yomar Augusto
datum:
14.03.2010
categorie:
expo
(Via Fontanel, oktober 2009) Yomar is een bijzonder getalenteerde grafisch en typografisch ontwerper afkomstig uit Brazilië. Waarom hij naar Nederland is gekomen, wat het verschil is tussen Brazilië en Nederland op ontwerpniveau en hoe het is om met een ontwerpers samen te wonen. Yomar werkt mee aan het poster project van GDFB.
Hi Yomar! First of all.. thanks for doing this interview! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Yomar Augusto, male, 32 years old, graphic and type designer, rock climber, collector, book artist & calligrapher
You have been living in The Netherlands for some years now. When and why did you decide to make the big move?
My aim was to move to England in the first place but I couldn’t make it in the end. It was much more affordable to study in The Netherlands than in England at the time, so I decided to move here to pursue my MA in Typography at KABK in The Hague between 2004 and 2005.
What are the most profound differences between Brazil and The Netherlands in design culture regarding for instance aesthetics, clients, workmethods, etc.?
It’s hard to compare, The Netherlands has been designed by hand, even the land is non-natural, so design is part of the country’s state of mind. The investment in culture is a key point as well. Here it’s obvious that the State knows the power of creativity in the over all economy. So, the mind set towards creativity as a platform to develop society is really high, that’s what I think is lacking in Brazil.
Over there, advertise rules pretty much everything, they are EMPIRES, so it is impossible to survive just working for the cultural sector, because it’s such a small market, badly paid and you still have to accept so many stupid rules that kill the pleasure.
But still, back home I think we have a great sense for image work, such as motion design, web design, advertising and photography for sure. I can name many interesting guys working there and abroad, a new generation of type designers are rising as well.
They are destroying the cities, the lack of taste and organization is so brutal that it is already beyond understanding.
What Brazil could learn from Holland in this stage? I would say Architecture. They are destroying the cities, the lack of taste and organization is so brutal that it is already beyond understanding. Brazilian architecture didn’t mature as much as graphic design did, they are following the trend of the “new-rich” leaving entire neighborhoods looking like this fake plastic miami kind of thing. I just hate it. We need to change this mind set to be able to use the cities in a better and a wiser way, I think this is where Brazil could learn from Holland a lot, trying to transform our cities in hubs for cultural trade for 34.1 million people under 25 years old.
Together with your partner Rejane Dal Bello you are the collective Re-Yo. Is it hard to have two graphic designers living under the same roof? Do you guys talk about design all the time or do you purposely ignore it?
We are together since college, 10 years already! And we discuss, research and produce design together constantly. Sometimes it’s hard but most of the time we complete each other in many aspects of the design work and production side as well.
You’ve worked at advertising agency 180 Amsterdam. How do you see design and advertising working together? Do they understand each other?
It was a great opportunity to be part of a global agency, but it’s a hard place for designers. I was doing a lot of type work as well and I must say that that part was way nicer. I’ve learned a lot inside the fast advertising environment. Things change too fast in advertising, way faster then design studios… which is interesting but weird.
Graphic designers working inside advertising agencies must learn how to “let go” of the work, because it will change, so do not attach yourself emotionally with the project because the work will change and most of the time you’re not the one changing it.
To be able to create something powerful in 2 lines is amazing, when you can achieve that
It was also a great place to learn more about concept driven projects, which was great because I suck at it. I have always been a visual and graphic guy, and to be able to create something powerful in 2 lines is amazing, when you can achieve that.
And of course I got in touch with such incredible people. No bullshit, I made real friends over there.
Yomar Augusto, male, 32 years old, graphic and type designer, rock climber, collector, book artist & calligrapher
You have been living in The Netherlands for some years now. When and why did you decide to make the big move?
My aim was to move to England in the first place but I couldn’t make it in the end. It was much more affordable to study in The Netherlands than in England at the time, so I decided to move here to pursue my MA in Typography at KABK in The Hague between 2004 and 2005.
What are the most profound differences between Brazil and The Netherlands in design culture regarding for instance aesthetics, clients, workmethods, etc.?
It’s hard to compare, The Netherlands has been designed by hand, even the land is non-natural, so design is part of the country’s state of mind. The investment in culture is a key point as well. Here it’s obvious that the State knows the power of creativity in the over all economy. So, the mind set towards creativity as a platform to develop society is really high, that’s what I think is lacking in Brazil.
Over there, advertise rules pretty much everything, they are EMPIRES, so it is impossible to survive just working for the cultural sector, because it’s such a small market, badly paid and you still have to accept so many stupid rules that kill the pleasure.
But still, back home I think we have a great sense for image work, such as motion design, web design, advertising and photography for sure. I can name many interesting guys working there and abroad, a new generation of type designers are rising as well.
They are destroying the cities, the lack of taste and organization is so brutal that it is already beyond understanding.
What Brazil could learn from Holland in this stage? I would say Architecture. They are destroying the cities, the lack of taste and organization is so brutal that it is already beyond understanding. Brazilian architecture didn’t mature as much as graphic design did, they are following the trend of the “new-rich” leaving entire neighborhoods looking like this fake plastic miami kind of thing. I just hate it. We need to change this mind set to be able to use the cities in a better and a wiser way, I think this is where Brazil could learn from Holland a lot, trying to transform our cities in hubs for cultural trade for 34.1 million people under 25 years old.
Together with your partner Rejane Dal Bello you are the collective Re-Yo. Is it hard to have two graphic designers living under the same roof? Do you guys talk about design all the time or do you purposely ignore it?
We are together since college, 10 years already! And we discuss, research and produce design together constantly. Sometimes it’s hard but most of the time we complete each other in many aspects of the design work and production side as well.
You’ve worked at advertising agency 180 Amsterdam. How do you see design and advertising working together? Do they understand each other?
It was a great opportunity to be part of a global agency, but it’s a hard place for designers. I was doing a lot of type work as well and I must say that that part was way nicer. I’ve learned a lot inside the fast advertising environment. Things change too fast in advertising, way faster then design studios… which is interesting but weird.
Graphic designers working inside advertising agencies must learn how to “let go” of the work, because it will change, so do not attach yourself emotionally with the project because the work will change and most of the time you’re not the one changing it.
To be able to create something powerful in 2 lines is amazing, when you can achieve that
It was also a great place to learn more about concept driven projects, which was great because I suck at it. I have always been a visual and graphic guy, and to be able to create something powerful in 2 lines is amazing, when you can achieve that.
And of course I got in touch with such incredible people. No bullshit, I made real friends over there.
mijn GDFB:
over de schrijver:
De mannen van Fontanel hebben al flink wat interviews met toppers uit de nationale ontwerp scene op hun naam staan. Interviews die ze hielden met deelnemende ontwerpers mogen we op deze site publiceren.
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