Communication Arts by Ellen Shapiro

8/12/2019 Communication Arts by Ellen Shapiro

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Communication Arts by Ellen Shapiro

I have a special fascination with forms and rhythms of things, say designer-illustrator Kiko

Farkas, principal of Muina !st"dio in #$o %aulo, &ra'il(

It shows( Forms and rhythms are evident in everything he does) film and concert posters, logos andannual reports, children*s +ooks( is intuitive, hands-on approach doesn*t force clients into a

particular graphic style it infuses the client*s persona . whether a record la+el or a +ank . with

graphic wit and virtuosity( In Kiko*s work you see suiggly pen-drawn lines, +old +rushstrokes,

whimsical characters and faces, hand-lettering, undulating patterns of geometric shapes,

photography and illustration /his own0( 1nd color( e works in +right primary hues, in stark +lack-and-white, in all kinds of su+tle tonal ranges(

I developed a personal le2icon o f graphic solutions, which includes working with my hands-

drawing , painting, cutting with shears, tearing paper, collage, scanning things I find on the street,

he e2plains( Many designers don*t mi2 their 3artistc* and commercial sides( I can +e corporatewhen needed, +ut I*m never afraid to +e na4ve or primitive( #o, naturally, with time, most of the

studio*s clients are turned into this philosophy of work(

5ne of those clients is 5ruestra #inf6nica do !stado de #$o %aulo, which has kept Muina!st"dio- consisting of Kiko, his longtime design assistant !lisa 7ardoso, intern 7aio 7ampana and

administrative assistant 1ndr8a 9imine' . +usy with concert programs, tour programs, kids*

programs, institutional +rochures and posters( In :;; elegant, visually comple2 . you*d never call them na4ve

or primitive . limited-edition posters for display in th foyer of the #ala #$o %aulo 7oncert all(

?ast spring, he was honored with a solo e2hi+ition of those posters at #$o %aulo*s Instituto @omie

5htake, the museum and cultural center named for the Aapanese-&ra'ilian woman painter( 1t the

opening, more than a few mem+ers of the International design community discovered Kiko /the

same way 7olum+us discovered 1merica . it was there all along0( Imagine the scene) B;; or so

designers, from almost every country in ?atin 1merica, and from Aapan, India, 1ustralia, Cenmark,

@he Detherlands, ?e+anon, #outh 1frica, 7anada, the E(#(1( 1ll, speakers or attendees at the

I7591C1 /International 7ouncil 5f 9raphic Cesign 1ssociation0 Cesign Geek, mingling in theairy, Modernist space, sipping white wine, ni++ling cheese straws, making small /and large0 talk in

%ortuguese, #panish, variously-accented versions of !nglish( 1nd stopping dead in their tracks in

two galleries lined with Kiko*s virtuoso symphonies of color, form and line( ints of 1l+ers,

Hasarely, Fran' Kline, Matisse, 5p art and 1+stract !2pressionism, hand and technology, yet with

a totally original sensi+ility that ranges from wide +lack +rushstrokes to intricate, layered patterns

of kaleidoscopes and +utterflies( !2ulting in total graphic freedom, Kiko had made the cadences,

harmonies and emotions of classical music . from Mo'art and @chaikovsky to &erlio' and Hilla-

?o+os /of course0 to @an Cun . come to life on paper(

Kiko Gho is KikoJ 1sked the gringos(

Kiko is that slight unassuming guy with curly hair, everyone soon learned(

&rilliant 1ma'ing Gow

I consider myself, a+ove all, a technician, says Kiko modestly( @hat*s why my office is nameMachine #tudio(

is clients seem to appreciate his non-machine-like talents, though( Maestro Aohn Deschling, the

orchestra*s artistic director, e2plains) I wished to reach a true sym+iosis +etween the musical

production of our orchestra and our graphics( @he music we play could +e called suare, +ut I

wanted a younger, more modern image unconstrained +y classical traits( Cesigner Kiko Farkasunderstood my intentions perfectly( I hope that the viewers of this +eautiful creations will come to

#ala #$o %aulo in search of the music +ehind them(


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It*s working( @he posters- three of each design are printed on a ?am+da press . are in demand in the

concert hall shop, and a whole new series, with even more richly-layred patterns, was completed in

:;;( More than B:; have +een produced in total, and they keep coming at the rate of to L a

month(

Kiko is driven +y what he calls his pai2$o por papel- passion for paper( My love for paper +egan

at the very +eginning of my career when I worked for a newspaper and maga'ines, he recalls(

@hose o+s forced me to do work that was clear and precise, to +e su+tle and delicate, to value thecontent( e is a +ook lover, an avid reader, a +ook designer( e*s designed nooks for corporate

clients like 1lcoa, and nearly ; art and trade +ooks on such su+ects as glassmaking #ephardic

/#panish-Aewish0 cooking the 7orinthians, &ra'il*s popular soccer team and the life and music of

a'' guitarist 1ntonio 7arlos Ao+im( e works for a many editor and pu+lisher as he can, and is

currently designing a Martin #corsese +ook on film history(is most nota+le illustrated children*s +ook, Uma Letra Puxa a Outra/5ne ?etter %ulls the 5ther0,

was pu+lished in BNNB after he decided to downsi'e his firm, which had grown to eight employees(

Fed up with administrative duties, I fired everyone, closed the doors he e2claims( I went out

and showed my portfolio to all the people I admired( !veryone said the dame things, that mydrawing was a differentiation from other designers and that I should make it more present in my

work( 5ne of those people was the editorOart director at a pu+lishing company who invited me to

make this +ook( &ut +ook illustration, rewarding in some ways, is so much work, with so littlefinancial return, I cannot totally dedicate myself to this craft( Pet he keeps doing it( Uma Letra

Puxa a Outrasold a very respecta+le ;(;;; copies and won a maor pri'e in &ra'il( It was

followed +y Um Nmero Depois do Outro/5ne Dum+er 1fter the 5ther0, an eually delightful

volume with a green, clock-faced individual on its cover, and Um Passarinho Me Contou/1 ?ittle

&ird @old Me0, whose cover image is a parakeet yakking on the phone(

1s much as Kiko loves +ooks and other works on paper that serve institutos culturais, he isn*t a

specialist in any sector or medium( is most am+itious proect right now, as a case in point, is a

mural that will hang in the lo++y of the #$o %aulo headuarters of international consumer-goods

conglomerate Enilever( It will +e magic surrealism with soap packages at the +ottom of the sea,

says Kiko( It*s going to +e cool

For Kiko, visual communication is multigenerational, family affair( 5ne of his most charming

identity proects is for Infanteria, a +outiue toy store( Gith the youngest of his three sons,9uilherme, in tow, he hand-painted a giant clown-face logo on the shop*s window( is grandfather

Cesiderio Farkas, founder of the Q; store chain Fotoptica, a purveyor of cameras, film, developing,

etc(, was photographer, and so are his father and two +rothers( I always had an artistic am+ience at

home, he e2plains( My parents had and ama'ing li+rary and archive of music, full of wonders( 1ll

kinds of images covered the walls of our house, prints +y Hasarely, originals +y !dward Geston

and many other treasuers( 1t home I had my first encounter with #aul #tein+erg, who was a huge

influence( #tein+erg*s +ooks, 1ll In ?ine and %assaport, were ust waiting on the shelf for someone

to read them( My father collected 9raphis maga'ine since the =;s, and photography and advertising

annuals( 1t home 5 also encountered 1merican a'', which, along with M%& /m"sica popular

&rasileira0, was my audio companion( I love Miles Cavis, Aohn 7oltrane, &ill !vans, the covers of

&lue Dote, the wonderful acket %aul Cavis did for #olo Monk( 5ther influences ranged from %ush

%in #tudios, to ( 7rum+*s dirty girls, to MirR, whom, like #tein+erg( Kiko calls an illusionist, anHan 9ogh, who could make a chair purple and green, yet look a+solutely natural(

Kiko*s formal artistic training +egan at age si2 at a local museum school of art( 1s a kid I was

always drawing and painting, he says( For him, family vacations were road trips spent soaking up

the sights in places like 5uro %reto /+aroueOrococo0, &rasSlia /street fairs, colorful and yet poor

minimal0, the 1ma'on and &ra'il*s coastline and +eaches( @he +each summari'es the soul of&ra'ilians, he muses( @here you see +eautiful women, drink +eer, take in the sunshine, play

soccer or +each tennis, get tanned and to nothing, ust o+serving( 1s a high school student he was


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already designing posters, inspired +y the personalities and locations he encountered while

accompanying his father*s documentary film crew on location(

e attended Faculdade de 1ruitetura e Er+anismo /F1E0 at the Eniversity of #$o %aulo( @here

was no design school here at that time, so most graphic designers studied architecture, he says(

F1E was a center of cultural effervescence, with courses in visual programming, product design,

landscaping, architecture and ur+anism( Is also had a photography la+, a typography studio for

wood and metal engraving and a -color press we used to print materials( Most students did not endup as architects +ut +ecame filmmakers, designers, photographers, musicians, dancers,

cinematographers(

Kiko was halfway through the course when he came to Dew Pork in BN>N t study life drawing at

the 1rt #tudents ?eague and live in the !ats Hillage( e says it was great to +e in the heart of the

Gestern empire, and he dug the a'' clu+s, museums and changing seasons, +ut missed &ra'il*swarmth and improvisational culture( &ack home, he got his start in the layout departments of

local periodicals, then headed up in-house design at his family*s +usiness, FotRptica, which gave

him the opportunity to redesign the corporate identity and the store interiors, furnishings, lighting

and signane-and provided a steady stream is invitations, holiday cards calendars, event programsand poster to promote its photography maga'ine, gallery anf annual VideoBrasil multimedia

festival( In BNLN he spun off Muina !st"dio as an independent entity, which continued to serve

FotRptica +ut soon +egan attracting other clients( Do+ody comes to me for signage for +usstations, he says, +ut they do remem+er me for a museum identity or an arts festival(

Gork for FotRptica remains a maor theme in Kiko*s portfolio( is BNL> VideoBrasilposter is still

one of his favorites) @his was the first time I used a computer( I had limitations to scan and

process, everything got pi2ilated( @he final image we chose was an old village man with missing

teeth, a typical figure form &ra'ilian folklore, which contrasted strongly with the computeri'ed

language(

@oday, he is still soaking up the sights and sounds of &ra'il and using them for inspiration( e likes

to spend weekends with his wife, 7arla 7aff8, an artist and architect, in a mountain ca+in where

there are no written messages in view, a respite after a work in an enormous city he characteri'es

a visually polluted- chocka+lock with +ill+oards, neon, handpainted store signage, graffiti( Esing

typically flowery, ?atin language, he descri+es the mountain light) crystal light of the winter and

the ferocious summer where everything +ecomes saturated( 5ther weekends are spent walkingaround #$o %aulo and envirouns, checking out what some of its BL million inha+itants are doing) I

like the streets, the markets, the food, fruits( e admits to freuenting garage sales, called familSa

vende tudo /family sells all0- their +ooks, music, silverware, furniture( !ventually I*ll +uy a +ook

or a cheap +ut special household item, he says( 5ne #unday I found a vinyl record with an

ama'ing cover +y #aul &ass(

1ccording to Kiko, +eing a designer in &ra'il is not too different from +eing a designer anywhere-

e2cept for the political and economic climate( @he difference is +eing a &ra'ilian, he maintains(

ere, we have to improvise constantly( 5ften you have to create from nothing, do things without

money, ust putting ideas at your service( &eing creative here means +egin a+le to solve pro+lems in

an emergency) the constant changes in our economy, the changing laws, the high cost of computer

euipment, pro+lems like power outages and, of course, the fact that few people appreciate what we

do( 31 propaganda 8, mas o design n$o 8,* he says( /1dvertising is important, design is not(0&eing a designer in &ra'il means working for the minority, the very few( 5nce you understand this

it*s 5K(

@hings are more than 5K these days at Muina !st"dio( !veryone works side in one large room(

Ge work with lost of art materials, +ooks and all kinds of stuff, so there is usually a +ig mess

around, Kiko admits( &ut all the work is in clear view and there can +e a lot of interaction( 1llday long we talk a+out ideas and what is going on( Ge listen to music and have fun( @he

neigh+orhood, %inheiros, is lively, with +ars and restaurants( Ge go out for lunch or sometimes like

to cook on the wood stove, he says( &ut when the atmosphere turns tense with deadlines, things


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get harder( I don*t get too cra'y a+out the demands of clients any more, and that*s one of the

advantages of +eing = years old( I can +e more rela2ed at this stage of life( Ghat*s ahead for

KikoJ e would like to +uild a +igger team add one or two creative people, to +e a+le to do more

interesting work and +e more selective with proects( e would like to teach more, to mentor

younger designers( e would also consider living outside &ra'il . working, studying or teaching in

another country( 5r may+e doing everything together(

Ghy notJ 1t this rewarding stage of life, tudo 8 possSvel /everything is possi+le0( 71

Authors note: Many thans to !yler Little"ohn #ohnson and $l%&ia 'an(hes #ohnson o) Nomad*n+(om, Curiti-a, Bra.il,and /ashin0ton, DC, )or their assistan(e 1ith resear(h and translation o) 2uotes in this arti(le+

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Communication Arts by Ellen Shapiro