Abstract
The centrality of modernist and institution-centred narratives has narrowed the scope of Brazilian graphic design throughout history, limiting its cultural and epistemological diversity. This article explores the value of researching graphic artefacts normally understood as not pertinent to design research, focusing on album covers from the Brazilian rock scene of the 1980s. Based on the formation of an archive of 155 covers, this study emphasizes the need for appropriate methods to analyse mass-culture artefacts whose wide circulation shapes collective design practices and visual imaginaries. By reflecting on the criteria of selection, interpretation, and preservation that determine what is collected, analysed, and preserved (or ignored), this paper advocates for the establishment of more plural, inclusive, and culturally situated collections. Expanding the scope of objects considered legitimate for design research has the potential to strengthen critical perspectives on the discourses that shape design history and to diversify the field’s reference framework.
Keywords
Design archives, visual culture, graphic memory, album cover design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2751
Citation
Moretto, P., and Farias, P.L. (2026) Archives and graphic memory: 1980s Brazilian rock album covers as cultural heritage, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2751
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Archives and graphic memory: 1980s Brazilian rock album covers as cultural heritage
The centrality of modernist and institution-centred narratives has narrowed the scope of Brazilian graphic design throughout history, limiting its cultural and epistemological diversity. This article explores the value of researching graphic artefacts normally understood as not pertinent to design research, focusing on album covers from the Brazilian rock scene of the 1980s. Based on the formation of an archive of 155 covers, this study emphasizes the need for appropriate methods to analyse mass-culture artefacts whose wide circulation shapes collective design practices and visual imaginaries. By reflecting on the criteria of selection, interpretation, and preservation that determine what is collected, analysed, and preserved (or ignored), this paper advocates for the establishment of more plural, inclusive, and culturally situated collections. Expanding the scope of objects considered legitimate for design research has the potential to strengthen critical perspectives on the discourses that shape design history and to diversify the field’s reference framework.