Person
Pietro Verona
Design
Creativity & LearningWho is Pietro Verona in the Agency editorial?
Pietro Verona, an industrial designer interviewed in Creative.5 of the Agency editorial, says he never quite accepted things as they were presented to him. He argues for original creation instead of copying references and sees design as close to life. In his studio UOB he is launching Sassy, a collection of joyful, colorful objects that evoke childhood and that he calls a protest against the neutral colors of industrial design. His references run from the 1950s to the 1980s, from retro-futuristic cars to disco.
In short
Creative.5, published in May 2023, is the interview of Pietro Verona in the Agency editorial. He says he is from a small town in the west of Santa Catarina and grew up in Foz do Iguaçu. Soon after finishing his industrial design degree he joined an extension project at UNILA to create a mask for frontline workers against COVID-19, which he says won awards in engineering. He presents UOB, his own design studio, as his personality manifested in a brand, and Sassy, his first collection, as joyful objects that evoke childhood and a protest against industrial design dominated by neutral colors. His references include the Memphis Group, Karim Rashid, Virgil Exner and Verner Panton, and his dream job would be creating products for Karim Rashid's brand. The portfolio shows the projects Hope Hub, Le Freak and Snellire. Creative.1 names him only in its closing summary of interviews.
Key facts
- How does the author introduce Pietro Verona?
- With a high school story: a piece of chalk thrown across the classroom hit him in the teeth, and Pietro was at the back with a mischievous smile. The author says the story shows how Pietro sees life, as a never-ending game that should not be taken seriously.
- What are UOB and Sassy?
- UOB is his own design studio, with a name he wanted to have no specific meaning. Sassy is his first collection within the studio: joyful, funny objects with organic lines and vibrant colors that evoke childhood.
- What advice does he give to industrial design students?
- To use the time in the course to create projects and build a portfolio, learn as many tools as possible and join projects as an assistant, even unpaid. He says a well-presented collection of projects is what helps a student land a good internship.
What does Pietro Verona say about his path in industrial design?
He describes himself as restless and curious, someone who always questioned why things were the way they were and concluded that there is always another alternative. Having just finished his degree, without an internship in the field, he accepted the invitation of a doctor and friend to join an extension project at UNILA, working with materials engineering students on a mask for hospital frontline workers. The challenge, he says, was a cost-effective and fast production mask that was also aesthetically pleasing and ergonomic. The project gave him the real product work his portfolio needed to find a job in the field. The author's introduction adds agricultural vehicles and luxurious furniture to the kinds of projects he has worked on.
What does he say about originality and color in design?
He says his life philosophy and his design philosophy are the same: to put energy into what moves you and to be the protagonist of your own tastes and desires. Applied to the creative process, this becomes the sentence "I advocate for original creation over aesthetics". He rejects the idea that nothing is created and everything is copied, and says it is possible to gather influences, synthesize what matters and still create a genuine piece that meets market objectives. For the name and logo of UOB he had the help of the author and of André Kochem.
The brand is colorful, he says, as a statement against the industrial products dominated by neutral colors that are in vogue, an ideal he calls minimalist and lifeless. The Sassy collection asks the reader what they abandoned when they became an adult. His main inspiration lies between the 1950s and the 1980s: plastic projects, organic forms, retro-futurism, and also sci-fi movies, disco and euro disco, fashion and architecture.
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.