Mandacarú - Sustainable Design
Together with my partner, Luiza, I have created, as my thesis project, a company that proposes a new way of making jewellery. Everything arose from the verification of three problems: 1) recognition that the mining activity is harmful both socially and environmentally; 2) a culture of jewellery purchase that values more the materials considered as precious; 3) "Triumph of appearance over substance" in the jewellery market (MUNARI, 1981, p. 5 - 6).
Starting from the verification of these three aspects, we developed Mandacarú: a company that comes to generate a cultural change, a future in which people do not value jewels only for their noble materials. For this, the company works with the triad: reflection, sustainability and "gambiarra".
The reflection arises from the deep emotional associations that the user has with the products and, also, the theme. Sustainability is about social and environmental care in the selection and use of materials and also about the objectives of the 2030 UN Agenda.. Finally, gambiarra (which is a term in Brazilian Portuguese that means: "improvised solution to solve a problem or to remedy an emergency situation") refers to the subversion and resignification of materials, as well as the use of creativity to solve problems. It is noted that gambiarra does not have a negative connotation, on the contrary, it is seen as a positive characteristic of Brazilian culture.
The name chosen was Mandacarú, because it is a cactus that symbolizes the resilience and strength of the people of the Brazilian hinterland, flowering even in the most adverse conditions.
Considering these characteristics, we conceptualized and executed: the branding and marketing strategies of the company (creating its identity, defining its audience etc) and we have created a model jewellery collection for it.
The following images show the results of the process:
Site link: www.mandacaru.design
