Design, imaginário e cultura: memórias e re-apresentações do doce de Pelotas como aportes na formação do designer.

Abstract

The present work, which describes an investigation on the teaching of Design, based on studies related to the Imaginary. It has, as its main motto, Pelotas’ sweets culture, and was carried out in the Education Post-Graduate Program – Masters’ Course – Federal University of Pelotas. The main objective of this dissertation is to reflect and theorize upon new/different ways to think about the training of designers, which include symbolic content. It aims, also, to establish relationships between Design, Imaginary, Culture and Education. The research had a qualitative nature and can be characterized as a case-study. It involved nine subjects – story-tellers – that told stories originated in the experiences related to the cultural path tread by the city of Pelotas. The methodology aimed at revealing the presence of the sweets in the Pelotian imaginary, through semi-structured interviews. The narratives obtained through the interviews produced data which were analyzed based on the following three large “symbolic cores”, aimed at re-presenting the sweets’ history in Pelotas: “craftsmanship”, “sacrality”, and “productivity”. Such re-presentations showed the importance of treading a path that includes personal aspects which, besides producing more creative attitudes, can promote a contact with the most sensitive elements of Design. Through these re-presentations, it became clear that it is possible to think about pedagogic processes which picture Graphic Design as a practice freer from methods and techniques and, therefore, more in tune with emotions and meanings, as indicated by contemporary theoretical perspectives.