Design gained new ground at the 14th edition of the Clube de Criação Festival. Previously included within subcategories, design now has its own category in the Annual, with a jury dedicated to the discipline. A move that recognizes the importance of design in building brands, shaping communication, and driving business.
For Tátil, which sees design as a way of thinking and transforming realities, this recognition holds special meaning. We took part in three conversations exploring the role of design, its relationship with creativity, and the possibilities opening up for the future.
Our first participation was in the panel “Design in Advertising: Department or Culture?”, featuring Ricardo Bezerra, our CCO, Diego Limberti (Droga5), and Fabiana Falcão (OpenAI), moderated by Murilo Melo.
Ricardo shared a perspective that lies at the heart of how we work: design should not be confined to a department or a single stage of the process. Its real potential lies in becoming part of an organization's culture, connecting different areas of expertise and encouraging more collaborative, empathetic, and experimental ways of working.
This perspective also reinforces the inseparable relationship between design, brands, and business. As Ricardo put it: “There is no business without a brand, and no brand without design.”
Experimentation was another key part of the conversation. In line with the festival's theme, Question Everything (Desconfie), Ricardo highlighted the value of doubt in the creative process, emphasizing that experimentation requires acknowledging what we don't yet know and remaining open to discovering new possibilities.
At Clube Lab, invited by Monotype, Beto Biscesto, Partner and Creative Director at Tátil, brought another question to the discussion: how can we preserve creative individuality in an increasingly automated world?
The conversation explored the relationship between artificial intelligence and typography, considering both the possibilities technology opens up and the risk of creative solutions becoming increasingly homogeneous. Beto argued that the challenge lies in building a more human relationship with these tools, keeping creators at the center of the process and using technology to expand creative possibilities. Human sensitivity, intention, and the ability to experiment remain essential in guiding creative work.
To close our participation, Fred Gelli, Co-founder and CEO of Tátil, chaired the first jury for the Design category and presented the four Gold-winning projects. Among them was the Kennedy's 2025 Annual, connected to Kennedys, a Wieden+Kennedy program dedicated to developing young creative talent from underserved communities.
The celebration also connects to Fred's own journey. In 2008, he served on the jury during the first year of the Design category at Cannes Lions. Nearly two decades later, he took part in another milestone for the recognition of the discipline, this time at Clube de Criação.
More than celebrating a new category, the Festival and the conversations it sparked helped advance a discussion we believe is essential: design goes beyond visual expression. It is a discipline capable of connecting different perspectives, guiding decisions, and transforming the way brands and organizations engage with the world. This is the vision that continues to guide our contribution to strengthening Brazilian design and advancing the conversations that shape its evolution.
The festival took place on October 17 and 18 at the Memorial da América Latina in São Paulo, bringing together over 6,000 people.
