mauro pinheiro

About design as a professional field in Brazil

I’ve just published an article about a discussion that has been going on for decades in Brazil. Should design professionals have a regulation or not?

This article is actually a letter I wrote some time ago, to a colleague that was gathering people to discuss this subject. Take a look at it:
Sobre a regulamentação do design no Brasil (Projeto de Lei 3.515 de 1989)

Feira Moderna printer-friendly

I just made some improvements on this website. Now it’s also “printer-friendly”: when you print a page, no menus, no sidebars and no search fields are printed, only the “core” content. This is specially useful for the ‘Articles’ section.

I guess some people will find it strange, because this way “what you see is NOT what you get”. But it seems to me that this is a more intelligent way to do it. Most navigation itens are useless in a printed version of the site, the content is what really matters (although some may say that the visual appearance of the site is also it’s content…but, what the hell, you know what I mean!).

Let me know if it works fine for you! :-)

Helvetica film, autorship and subjectivity

It’s been a while since the release of Helvetica, a film by Gary Hustwit. I only got to see it now, although I already knew about it a long time ago.

Helvetica it’s not only a nice documentary about Helvetica typeface. It’s a very interesting film about how designers from different times thought typography should be used. A film that make us think: to what extent typography can be considered neutral in graphic design (or visual communication in general)? Can designers be considered co-authors of a given text, once they gave it a visual form? To me, that’s the underlined discussion that arises from the film.

That’s precisely the subject I’ve addressed on the previous post, and also in the article I wrote recently. At least, part of the article is based on this discussion. While Hustwit’s film is more concerned with graphic design, I went deeply on this subject and took a step further into other areas, namely interaction design and ubiquitous computing.

Anyway, the point is that if you haven’t seen Helvetica film yet, it’s time to do it! It’s very interesting to see so divergent opinions about typography and design – like Massimo Vignelli and Stefan Sagmeister…couldn’t be more different from each other!

Nice movie. It’s a “must see” film for anyone interested in design.

Internet to the people

Those who read my post about Copacabana’s wi-fi free network might think that I’m against investing public money in free Internet access. That’s not the case. In fact, I’ve been discussing how Internet access can decrease social gaps, build bridges among different cultures, and help to improve our lives. This was basically the subject of my master’s dissertation, in 1998.

The main argument against the present wi-fi initiative in Copacabana is that I don’t see how those who are already “outsiders” of the digital world would benefit from this…and so, I think our money should be used more wisely.

But there’s no doubt that free Internet access is a need nowadays. It can diminish social exclusion, it can help people to access information, and eventually make information turn into knowledge, and doing so, somehow improve their lives.

There are many examples of how this can be done. Even here in Brazil, many cities have invested in public Internet access. Usually, instead of just providing a free wi-fi broadband network, these projects also provides public computer centers, where those who doesn’t have a computer can access the Internet. Public schools, libraries and other public spaces are generally the most common places where these computers are hosted.

In this month’s issue of Carta Capital there is an interesting report on this subject. Many brazilian cities are engaged in building public internet access spaces. And in some cases, this is having side benefits that one wouldn’t imagine, like diminishing illiteracy. In Sud Mennucci, a city near São Paulo that has free internet access in public libraries, it decreased illiteracy in 50%. There are also some initiatives to bring internet to rural villages. Some of these projects can be seen at the website Cidades Digitais.

Free wi-fi broadband access is useless if those who doesn’t have computers still have to pay to use the Internet. And so far, this is what’s going on in Rio de Janeiro.

Worst internet banking 2

And again, Banco do Brasil surprises me with it’s lousy internet banking.

I’ve recently changed my computer at home, and, as nothing can be simple with the worst bank in Brasil, I just can’t use their internet banking until I have my computer registered in their system. To do so, I receive a code, that I should use on an ATM in a “real” bank! I can also make a phone call to a certain number, which would make me wait about 2 hours (that’s what they say) to get the computer ready to use. But I’m not sure it works on weekends…

Why do they make this computer-based restriction, I really can’t understand. It’s not bad enough that their Internet banking doesn’t let me do anything after a certain time, and that I can’t perform many things during weekends – apparently, their system does not work during weekends! They have to make it even worst! The whole point of using the Internet is to set you free from “real” banks, to make you able to access your account from anywhere, at any time, with any device! It’s just stupid to force you to use a specifc computer!

They claim that this is a “more secure” way. To me, it’s just incompetence. When I was in London, I had to make a payment and couldn’t use Banco do Brasil, because I wasn’t able to register the computer I was using! I couldn’t neither go to a “real” bank to finish the registration process, nor call them on the phone.

That’s the second time I write a post about this, because it drives me crazy everytime I have to pass through this stupid process. They care so much about “security” but they just don’t realize that a good user experience is much more than a safe online transaction.

They really have the WORST internet banking EVER.

Wi-fi in Copacabana?

Last week it started working the wi-fi network access in Copacabana beach, a project that is held by the government of Rio de Janeiro – read more in the website of Secretaria de Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio de Janeiro.

I have a mixed feeling about this. Although it’s nice to have free access on the beach – or anywhere in the city – I think there are a thousand more important things in which the government should invest OUR money.

Who will be using this? As they don’t give people a computer to use, one must have it’s own computer – and worst, a laptop, as the access points are restricted to the beach area. And forgive me if I’m being a little naive, but I think it’s most likely that if you have a laptop, you can afford your own internet access provider.

Other users may be the tourists, which mostly have options to access the internet in their hotels or hostels, for a very reasonable cost (and, I’m sorry, if you’re a tourist, you have the money to pay for it). And also there are many lan-houses close to the majority of the hotels, with cheaper prices (I’ve been to Paris and had a **really** hard time to find places where I could access the Internet. In Buenos Aires and in Rio de Janeiro, it’s very easy to find places where you can pay to access the Internet).

Although it’s nice to be able to use a laptop to access the Internet on the beach, I’m pretty sure this will benefit just a small part of the citizens. Why not build free internet centers instead, like the Technology Access Community Centers in Egypt, or the Red Científica Peruana, in Peru? This way the government would really benefit all citizens, instead of only a part of it – precisely, those who already can afford internet access.

And, finally, one should be crazy to take his/her laptop to the beach in Copacabana. It would take maybe half an hour to be stolen. It’s a jungle in this city, getting worst by the minute, and that’s an issue in which the government should invest OUR money. I don’t feel safe to take my camera to take pictures on the beach, imagine a laptop! Where do they think we are living, in Paris, in Sweden?

We should first take kids out of the streets and put them in schools. Give job opportunities to them, so they don’t get into the crime business. Pay a decent salary to the teachers, to keep them working in schools! Invest in family planning in slums. Arrest all “flanelinhas”, cast them away! Take the “camelôs” out of the streets and give them job opportunities too, so we can walk freely on the sidewalk! Stop crime, by making it not necessary for one to survive!!!!

Asked about security issues, the “genius” secretary of technology said this would be an opportunity to face the problem. He suggests that cameras should be put along the beach to monitor crime. Yeah, that would stop crime, wouldn’t it? Once you put cameras in the streets, there would be no poverty, no social problems, no drug dealers ruling the city. Cameras would do the trick. Nice idea, Mr. Secretary.

This government (as all the previous ones in this city, since I can remember) is ridiculously investing our money in stupid things. I guess someone is getting some big money for this, and it’s neither me, you nor the citizens.

Free internet access for the wealthy is the last thing we need in this shit hole that Rio de Janeiro turned into.

New (old) article online

Last year I wrote an article about ‘experience design’. The article has been accepted by the brazilian journal Design em Foco, and it was supposed to be published in the first half of this year. Well, the journal had some problems with it’s database, and after waiting for about 6 months, I’ve decided to publish the article on my website.

The article is an extended version of a presentation I’ve made at the 1st. EBAI (Encontro Brasileiro de Arquitetura de Informação). As the 2nd EBAI is about to happen, I thought it was time to publish the article here, instead of waiting for the Design em Foco printed version.

So, the article is: From interface design to experience design.

You can also take a look at some other articles I wrote. In Portuguese, only.

UPDATE: turns out that the printed version has been published, after all! Now let’s wait for them to update the online version. Meanwhile, I’ve put a PDF file available. Just follow the link above to the article’s page.