Communication Arts by Ellen Shapiro I have a special fascination with forms and rhythms of things, say designer-illustrator Kiko

Farkas, principal of M uina !st"dio in #$o %aulo, &ra'il( It shows( Forms and rhythms are evident in everything he does) film and concert posters, logos and annual reports, children*s +ooks( ,is intuitive, hands-on approach doesn*t force clients into a particular graphic style- it infuses the client*s persona . whether a record la+el or a +ank . with graphic wit and virtuosity( In Kiko*s work you see s uiggly pen-drawn lines, +old +rushstrokes, whimsical characters and faces, hand-lettering, undulating patterns of geometric shapes, photography and illustration /his own0( 1nd color( ,e works in +right primary hues, in stark +lackand-white, in all kinds of su+tle tonal ranges( I developed a personal le2icon o f graphic solutions, which includes working with my handsdrawing , painting, cutting with shears, tearing paper, collage, scanning things I find on the street, he e2plains( Many designers don*t mi2 their 3artistc* and commercial sides( I can +e corporate when needed, +ut I*m never afraid to +e na4ve or primitive( #o, naturally, with time, most of the studio*s clients are turned into this philosophy of work( 5ne of those clients is 5r uestra #inf6nica do !stado de #$o %aulo, which has kept M uina !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 :;;<, to promote the orchestra*s weekly and monthly concert programs, Kiko created => 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 I759F1C1 /International 7ouncil 5f 9raphic Cesign 1ssociation0 Cesign Geek, mingling in the airy, 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( KikoI Gho is KikoJ 1sked the gringos( Kiko is that slight unassuming guy with curly hair, everyone soon learned( &rilliantI 1ma'ingI GowI I consider myself, a+ove all, a technician, says Kiko modestly( @hat*s why my office is name Machine #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 s uare, +ut I wanted a younger, more modern image unconstrained +y classical traits( Cesigner Kiko Farkas understood 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(

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 :;;K( More than B:; have +een produced in total, and they keep coming at the rate of K 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 Mo+s forced me to do work that was clear and precise, to +e su+tle and delicate, to value the content( ,e is a +ook lover, an avid reader, a +ook designer( ,e*s designed nooks for corporate clients like 1lcoa, and nearly K; art and trade +ooks on such su+Mects as glassmaking- #ephardic /#panish-Aewish0 cooking- the 7orinthians, &ra'il*s popular soccer team- and the life and music of Ma'' 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 doorsI he e2claims( I went out and showed my portfolio to all the people I admired( !veryone said the dame things, that my drawing 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 little financial return, I cannot totally dedicate myself to this craft( Pet he keeps doing it( Uma Letra Puxa a Outra sold a very respecta+le K;(;;; copies and won a maMor pri'e in &ra'il( It was followed +y Um Nmero Depois do Outro /5ne Dum+er 1fter the 5ther0, an e ually 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 proMect right now, as a case in point, is a mural that will hang in the lo++y of the #$o %aulo head uarters 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 coolI For Kiko, visual communication is multigenerational, family affair( 5ne of his most charming identity proMects is for Infanteria, a +outi ue 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 Must 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 Ma'', 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 Macket %aul Cavis did for #olo Monk( 5ther influences ranged from %ush %in #tudios, to F( 7rum+*s dirty girls, to MirR, whom, like #tein+erg( Kiko calls an illusionist, an Han 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 /+aro ueOrococo0, &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, Must o+serving( 1s a high school student he was

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 1r uitetura 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 K-color press we used to print materials( Most students did not end up 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 Ma'' clu+s, museums and changing seasons, +ut missed &ra'il*s warmth 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 programs and poster to promote its photography maga'ine, gallery anf annual VideoBrasil multimedia festival( In BNLN he spun off M uina !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 +us stations, he says, +ut they do remem+er me for a museum identity or an arts festival( Gork for FotRptica remains a maMor theme in Kiko*s portfolio( ,is BNL> VideoBrasil poster 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 walking around #$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 fre uenting 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 anywheree2cept 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, Must 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 e uipment, 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 M uina !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( 1ll day 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

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 K= 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 proMects( ,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 than s 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+