What it feels like to become a designer
Adapted from the speech I wrote for the University of São Paulo’s 2015 Classes of Design and Architecture & Urbanism graduation.
I’ll never forget the first class I attended in this building, five years ago. It was History of Art, semester one, taught by professor Agnaldo Farias.
When my colleagues and I got into the classroom, each found a Sonho de Valsa (‘Dreams of Waltz,’ a Brazilian popular truffle chocolate) on top of our desks.
Agnaldo, in his uniquely poetic way, started the class stating that this small chocolate, which is just a cheap, ordinary, and taken-for-granted object in most people’s lives was, for him, one of the most beautifully designed things in the world.
He spent (and this is true) the next 3 hours elaborating on these little truffles. He spoke about their packaging color, the semi-transparency, and ruby-like shine of the plastic. He asked us to appreciate the sparkling sounds they made as we pulled the ends apart to open it up.
“Open them slowly,” he said, “and watch the way in which, unbeknownst to hurried consumers eager to quench their sugar needs, the two characters in the packaging spin around dancing the waltz as the package opens to reveal its sweet, precious gem.”
