Design is the Message / The Graphic Art of Felipe Taborda

Design is the Message / The Graphic Art of Felipe Taborda presents a comprehensive retrospective of the renowned Brazilian graphic designer’s work, bringing together projects from 1983 to the present day.

Hosted by Sabancı University, FASS Art Gallery, Istanbul, between 7–18 May 2026, the exhibition features a wide range of commissioned and personal works, including record covers, books, posters, logos, and visual identities.

Felipe Taborda is a graphic designer, author and curator from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A graduate of Rio’s Catholic University, he studied cinema and photography at the London International Film School (England), Communication Arts at the New York Institute of Technology and Graphic Design at the School of Visual Arts (USA). He has had his own office since 1990, working mainly in the cultural, publishing and recording areas. In 2008 he launched his book Latin American Graphic Design, published by Taschen (Germany). In 2014 the St John’s University (New York) has organized the exhibition Another Point of View, covering 30 years of his graphic works. He has curated the event Footb-All Mix / 32 Posters for a Passionate Game for the 2018 Russia World Cup. In 2018 he had two simultaneous retrospective exhibitions: Todo al Revés / The Graphic Work of Felipe Taborda, during Madrid Gráfica (Spain); and Cara a Tapa / The Visual Music of Felipe Taborda, at the International Poster Biennial (Mexico). In 2022 the Gallo Gallery, Catholic University of Chile, presented the retrospective exhibition Design is the Message / The Graphic Art of Felipe Taborda. In 2024 an updated version of this exhibition was presented at the d’Gallery, Dasein Academy of Art, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). In 2025 the same exhibition was mounted at the Chavón Design School, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic); and later exhibited at the HSE Art and Design School, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod (Russia). During more than 40 years he was correspondent of the magazines Novum (Germany) and Print (USA). He is now international correspondent of Experimenta (Spain) and Grafikmagazin (Germany).