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The design of national products has already won the foreign market, international awards and now, the postal stamps in letters sent by Brazilians.
With the aim of promoting Brazilian design, the Brazilian Postal Services (Correios) released in December 2005 a series of special stamps on the theme. There are four stamps, of different products that have been awarded prizes, that when placed together, form a picture. "The great objective is to promote the art and culture that identify the country," remarked the deputy-head at the Department of Products and Philately at the Correios, Elizabeth de Souza Cabral. According to her, as well as promoting Brazilian design around the world, printing the stamps also highlights the awarded professionals, since each stamp shows the name of the designer and the product illustrated. This is the first time the state owned company prints stamps specifically about design. One of the stamps has the lamp Luna, created by Fernando Prado, winner of the IF Product Design Award 2005, main international prize for design that takes place annually in Germany. The other stamp is of the electric fan Spirit, by Guto Índio da Costa, who has also been awarded by the IF Product Design Award, in 2002 and 2004. Other products that became stamps are the chair Corallo, by the brothers Humberto and Fernando Campana, who were awarded prizes at the International Furniture Fair of Valencia 2005, in Spain, and a furniture piece by Ivan Rezende, of a line baptized by him as Linha Bandeirola, for its resemblance to a flag, which obtained the first place in the 18th Design Award for the Casa Brasileira Museum in 2004. Together, the four stamps form a living room with a lamp, electric fan, chair and furniture. The colors green and yellow, of the Brazilian flag, highlight the stamps background, made with computer graphics and photography techniques. The artist responsible for the creation of the frame of stamps was Rodrigo Azevedo. The stamps are being sold in all national territory for the equivalent to about US$ 0.37. The stamps' dimensions are of 3.8 centimeters by 3.8 centimeters. They will be in circulation until the number printed, of 2.4 million, runs out. The Choice Every year the Correios receive suggestions from the Brazilian population of themes to print on the stamps on the following year. The themes may be related to art, popular culture, celebration dates, architecture, sports, fauna, flora, Brazilian literature, celebrities, preservation of the environment, tourism, amongst others. The themes on the stamps are chosen by the National Philately Committee, made up by members of the society in general and the ministries. This committee selects the program of themes for all months of the following year. For the choice of Brazilian design as a theme, the Department of Products and Philately developed an ample research to select the awarded pieces, created by internationally known designers. "In this case we opted to illustrate only the objects that won the first place in national and international awards," said Elizabeth. According to her, there are many hospital objects that have received awards, however, the Correios decided to illustrate pieces known to any citizen. "Objects that are too specific not everybody knows, and wouldn't look good printed," she added. The idea of increasing promotion of Brazilian design in the country and abroad is part of the Brazilian Program for Design (PBD), created by the federal government in 1995. As well as motivating the national companies to invest in product design, the program looks to contribute to the increase in competitiveness of Brazilian products and improvement in quality of life of the population. Anba - www.anba.com.br
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