THE DESIGNER AS AUTHOR: A REVIEW OF PERSPECTIVES ON AUTHORSHIP IN THE FIELD OF DESIGN

Abstract

This article investigates the issue of authorship in the field of graphic design, using as a starting point the trajectory of the Rio de Janeiro duo Elesbão and Haroldinho and their experimental production initiated in the 1990s. The discussion contrasts the traditional modernist view, which presupposes the invisibility and neutrality of the designer in favor of functional efficiency, with contemporary approaches that defend design as a means of personal, critical, and subjective expression. The theoretical foundation revisits seminal concepts from authors such as Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, and Walter Benjamin, analyzing the transition of the authorial function and the emergence of the designer-author in the postmodern period. The text explores the historical debate between objective rationality and engaged subjectivity, in addition to discussing the designer-producer model proposed by Ellen Lupton and Michael Rock, which suggests that the professional should act throughout the production process to avoid alienation from work. It concludes that authorship in design goes beyond the search for visibility or style; It acts as an agent of autonomy and strengthening of professional identity, allowing the designer to move from a limited position of service to industry to that of a critical subject aware of their socio-political role.