culture
A Design Journey To The Amazon
Natura Brasil invited internationally renowned illustrator Filipe Jardim to help the brand translate its strong connection with nature, the environment and with human kind. Find out more about Filipe's process and the Natura collaboration.
- By Gisela Gueiros
Filipe Jardim is a native carioca but feels at home everywhere. Switching back and forth between sketches and waves, he spends more than half of the year traveling around the globe in search of both the perfect surf spot and his next job. It was in Madagascar that he met someone who worked at Hermès, and ended up creating a series of illustrations for the French brand. Jardim has also done collaborations with Louis Vuitton and Tiffany, as well as editorial work for the New York Times, Vogue and the New Yorker Magazine.
Filipe’s recognizable aesthetic seemed like the perfect way to add some poetry and authorship to Natura's identity. For inspiration, our team brought Filipe to the Amazon, to the source of many of our biodiversity ingredients. As ever, he was able to capture the essence of the region and created authentic designs infused with the spirit of the rainforest. We spoke to Natura's Brazilian team to learn more about this incredible trip.
"… the scents, the fruits, the humidity, the lush, the immense forest brought an enormous energy to tracing my lines."
How did this idea come about and how was the trip to the Amazon?
We were looking for a creative partner who could capture the brand’s essence and translate it into iconic illustrations. The idea was to combine a contemporary look with the inspiration from nature – and we love the style of his drawing. We immersed Filipe in the Amazon, traveling among the indigenous communities with whom Natura partners, experiencing their daily routines. For 4 days, the rainforest was our master. The resulting illustrations, made right there in the forest, are incredible.
…I felt impotent among the massive forest, the warmth of the people, the deforestation you see throughout, the wealth of their food, culture… and the idea that as much as mankind tries to dominate nature, nature will always prevail.
Please tell us more about the scenario he chose to depict, the “Mangue das Garças” (loosely translated as the Mangrove of the Herons).
The “Mangue das Garças” is a park in the center of Belém do Pará. It is sort of a combined botanic garden and wildlife preserve, the park is filled with species of animals and trees native to the Amazon forest. It was one of the strongest inspirations for Jardim’s illustrations.
Filipe Jardim himself spoke about this remarkable experience:
"The inspiration comes from a deep observation of the powerful nature around that area. Perhaps because I’ve been living in France where the tones in nature are more subtle, but the scents, the fruits, the humidity, the lush, the immense forest brought an enormous energy to tracing my lines. It was not my first time in the Amazon, but it was the first time I went to work, to focus only on drawing. I felt impotent among the massive forest, the warmth of the people, the deforestation you see throughout, the wealth of their food, culture… and the idea that as much as mankind tries to dominate nature, nature will always prevail. I left wanting to return, draw more, get to know more of their culture. A powerful abundance that most people aren’t aware of."