Melissa e design: a dona aranha subiu pelas parades

Abstract

The Research Project for Bachelor in Design at Federal University of Technology presented in this document offers the developments in new Melissa Aranha model. The studies of the company Grendene story and especially its brand Melissa, highlighting the strategies, aspects and difficulties that influenced designing shoes that are consumed for decades by people around the world. Information was gathered from magazines, company's web site, stores and news from the fashion world. All of this, thus a visit to the factory and interviews conducted in their basic areas (marketing, design and production) gave a deep comprehension which processes are covered in designing a new product and gave good ideas for creating new ones. In our case, the study of Melissa Aranha model starts with looking its formal aspects and thereafter going over its cultural role. This is done with keeping a dialogue between a concrete world of a company leader in the shoes market with the meanings and experiences of the objects of desire‟s world. In using authors such as Daniel Miller, Rafael Cardoso, Adam Arvidsson and Adrian Forty, we aim to present an alternative and a new version of the brand's most traditional archetype, trying to maintain its continuity while at the same time reaching for its innovation and improvements. Project methodology, namely Design Thinking, was thus applied to bring balance between the technical, commercial and human aspects, at the same time valuing relationships with the users and recognizing the importance of Design as a significant mediator in that communication.