Karim Rashid and Jum Nakao bring color, innovation and design to World Plastic Connection Summit 2023

Published: August 07, 2023

Think Plastic Brazil (Brazilian Converted Plastics Export and Internationalization Program), created by INP (Brazilian Plastics Institute) in partnership with ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), are hosting the Third World Plastic Connection Summit, Brazil’s main event with an international focus on the Converted Plastics sector and the largest connection platform in the Americas for the industry in this sector. The Summit will be hybrid format (in person and online), August 21-24, 2023, with simultaneous broadcasting in Portuguese, Spanish, and English.

Two of the main highlights of the Summit will be the closing keynote speech by internationally renowned interior and product designer Karim Rashid and the launch of the International Color Trend Guide (Color Trend 2024), which this year has the creative direction of the renowned artist and product designer, Jum Nakao.

Karim is one of the most influential and prolific figures in contemporary design, with over 4000 projects in its portfolio, some of them displayed in major museum collections around the world. Additionally, he has collaborated with major international brands such as Alessi, Samsung, and Veuve Clicquot.

In his keynote speech, Rashid will reflect on the impact of innovation and design on the future of companies. “I am looking forward to being back in São Paulo, this amazing city. With this event, Brazil shows that it is an important player in the transformed plastics sector. I love this country and watching how much they invest in technologies for converted plastics. I look forward to attending this seminar,” Rashid said.

Color Trend 2024 by Jum Nakao

The International Color Trend Guide (Color Trend 2024) was created to serve industry professionals in Brazil and worldwide. The preparation of the guide involved the market for converted plastics. Interviews were carried out with Brazilian companies that participate in the Think Plastic Brazil program, including Masterbatch manufacturers. Ahead of the Color Trend 2024 Project is the renowned artist and product design, Jum Nakao, who shares the authorship of the project with Beatriz Abreu.

Recognized as one of Brazil’s most talented designers, Nakao designs furniture, clothes, and spaces; directs films, events, and spectacles; and holds lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and shows, across Brazil and abroad. By taking advantage of the differentiators of luminosity and the state of mind of the Brazilians, Jum developed ideas that could be applied throughout the converted plastics industry starting next year.

“Plastic has the role of coloring and lighting up the world – and Brazil is the place where people most use light and colors as a reference. This is very much in our favor, and it is in this sense that I intend to add and collaborate with this project,” noted Nakao.