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design & storytelling | relações fortes

Plácido Afonso (M.Sc. Industrial Design)

OPEN CLASS
MAY 20TH OF 2024, 2.30PM
ROOM 10 OF EP1

Both design and storytelling are ancient practices, however, their importance continues to grow in the current context and everything leads us to believe that it will be in the future as well.
Design, an assumed and emancipated discipline, even if secular, has undergone an exponential development since the middle of the 20th century, where the main foundations and guiding vectors were established and are still valid.
Storytelling, although used since the beginning of the invention of language or narrative/ narration (pictorial or oral/written), its “commercial” importance, i.e. as a methodical and systematic tool for selling products, services or experiences, came (perhaps) later than design.
Storytelling has been around for more than a century in the entertainment world (audiovisual) and has been particularly active in the advertising sector since the post-war period, especially in the United States. Today,however, storytelling has taken on a critical importance and an unprecedented specialisation that makes it an essential tool for the commercial success of almost anything you want to sell. In this specialisation, the strong contribution of streaming platforms stands out, which – especially in this century – have accustomed consumers to epics, both in historical and biographical narratives, but also in the development of compelling stories about “facts” that were previously unlikely: (Mayday – Air Crash Investigation, National Geographic Channel / Discovery Channel / Disney+, 2003-present), (MH370: The Plane That Disappeared, 2023, Netflix), are paradigmatic examples of this “recent” trend – also known as docudrama – which, although its first examples can be traced back to the mid-20th century, is now showing its full maturity.
With audiences hungry for engaging, sentimental and emotional narratives, commercial storytelling has an openavenue to express itself and, for better or worse, support design in all its glory.
Plácido Afonso, 2024

Plácido Afonso
Aircraft Management Digital Marketing and Corporate Image specialist.
Bachelor Degree in Industrial Design at ESAD.CR – School of Arts and Design (Caldas da Rainha, Portugal), Degree in Industrial Design at ESAD – Esc. Sup. de Artes e Design (Matosinhos, Portugal) and M.Sc. also in Industrial Design at FEUP – Fac. de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto (Porto, Portugal). Academic research at Aalto-yliopisto, (Espoo, Finland) and several courses, including Product Development Specialist at Koulutuskeskus Salpaus (Lahti, Finland) and Business Lead Program ’19 at Hanken & SSE Executive Education (Helsinki, Finland). Extensive experience in teaching, both in vocational training and in a university context, with emphasis on teaching at ESAD and FEUP.
Always focused on the interface, on practical and emotional relationships with the user, with results often awarded or selected for representations – of Portuguese design – in exhibitions in various places around the planet, like: Rimini (Italy), London (UK), Porto/ Lisboa (Portugal), Osaka/ Tokio (Japan), Pasila (Finland), Frankfurt/ Berlin (Germany), Madrid/ Barcelona (Spain) and San Francisco (USA).
Several Awards and Honorable Mentions in “Young Designer Award” promoted by AICEP / Republica Portuguesa and later became a jury of this contest in several occasions, nominated to be part of the Portuguese delegation, participating in the contest “Bienal de Jovens Criadores da Europa e do Mediterrâneo” in Lisbon edition, Honorable Mention “LG Electronics Design competition’99” LG Electronics / ICSID and Honorable Mention “THE BSIDE 2.0 competition – 2016” Bologna Ass. of Architects.
Passionate about aviation, he has developed Aircraft Management Digital Marketing projects – with a strong component of immersive and emotional visual storytelling crafting – for several airlines/air agents, namely Jetflite (Finland).