IED Milano and IED São Paulo have come together to bridge a 9523 km gap through Visual Arts. Teams of Graphic Design students from both IED campuses collaborated to create two murals that go beyond geographical boundaries.
These murals symbolize the ability of design to connect different cultures and underscore the importance of global connections in design education. These artworks not only represent their respective cities but also serve as visual dialogues between Milano and São Paulo. Design, being a universal language, facilitated international cooperation through online meetings, making this distance feel insignificant, whether you're in Milano or São Paulo. Both murals were painted in their respective cities, serving as a creative wayfinding system that reminds us that distance and cultural differences are an integral part of IED's spirit. They don't hinder collaboration or the shared goal of creating a better world through design.
This project was undertaken as part of the first COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) program.
Each digit in this figure, "9523 km," has been transformed into a visual message, personalized to reflect the soul and essence of their respective originating cities. Milan brought its dynamism into the project, showcasing its windows and store-fronts, the elegance of fashion design, and urban frenzy.
São Paulo, on the other hand, enriched the numbers with local slang, its modern locations, and the vibrant Paulista nightlife. The pulsating heart of this initiative was a mural conceived and executed by two groups of students, one from each city, working in symbiosis. Each team designed their mural drawing inspiration from the cultural and urban environment of their city, thereby conveying a fragment of their identity to the other side of the world.
IED instructors Marta Biasi and Gil Tokio guided and inspired the students through virtual meetings and intense discussions, shaping these two collaborative artworks that now adorn the walls of IED campuses with the aim of transforming distance into a creative bridge, a tangible symbol of the power of design in surpassing physical and cultural boundaries. Here the final results and a gallery that show the process and the ideas behind each artwork.
Eliane Weizmann, Coordinator of the Graphic and Digital Design course at IED São Paulo, emphasized the importance of a design education that extends beyond the physical limits of classrooms. By uniting students, a global network of designers is being built, where innovation and cultural exchange converge to shape the future of design.
Giuseppe (BOB) Liuzzo, Coordinator of the International Graphic Design Course at IED Milan, emphasized how design is a universal language capable of transcending linguistic and geographical barriers. Through this project, students experienced the enrichment of the learning process through international collaboration.
THE MURAL IN SÃO PAULO WITH MILANESE STYLE
DESIGN TEAMS: Mariasole Bombardi, Giulia Panzica, Mariana Porras, Jade Santelli
THE MURAL IN MILANO WITH PAULISTA STYLE
DESIGN TEAMS: Isabel Cristina Cavalcante Morais, Marcos Costa Hasegawa, Jenyffer Hoffmann, Giorgia Marconi
