Havaianas

Havaianas — The World Cup as a Cultural Icon

A visual tribute to what unites Brazil: football, color, and joy.

This conceptual project for Havaianas was created as a celebration of the World Cup, bringing together two of Brazil’s greatest cultural symbols — football and the Havaianas brand itself.
More than a sport or a product, both represent a lifestyle that is light, vibrant, and collective, capturing the spirit of a country that lives with its feet in the sand and its heart in the game.

The concept materialized in a series of retro-inspired posters, designed in the style of vintage sports and advertising prints.
Through texture, typography, and nostalgic charm, each poster functions as a conceptual ad, where past and present meet — reaffirming Havaianas as a timeless Brazilian cultural icon.

Moodboard — Color, Culture, and Brazilian Nostalgia

The moodboard was built as a deep dive into the emotional memory of Brazil — a country of sun, beaches, spontaneity, and a timeless love for football.
The visual references blend vintage travel posters with classic Havaianas ads, merging the charm of retro design with the vibrancy of tropical color.

These influences were chosen not only for their aesthetic appeal but for their symbolism:

The tourism posters from the 1950s and 60s evoke the golden era of Brazilian visual communication, defined by organic shapes, hand-lettered typography, and a sense of optimism.
The street photography and neighborhood football scenes bring authenticity and warmth — reminding us that the true Brazilian field is the street, and the spirit of the game is born from improvisation.
The warm, sun-drenched color palette, inspired by sunsets, colorful facades, and the sands of Copacabana, captures the essence of a culture that is vibrant, collective, and unmistakably alive.

The result is a visual narrative that encapsulates the project’s purpose:
to translate Brazil into form, color, and feeling — the same Brazil that wears Havaianas and celebrates every goal.

Beach Soccer — Havaianas

Inspired by the visual language of vintage posters and the graphic modernism of mid-century Brazil, this piece offers a symbolic interpretation of national identity through the everyday scene of beach football.

The art direction follows a three-layer composition, where the product — the flip-flops planted in the sand — functions as an anchor element and a symbol of cultural belonging. In the background, silhouetted figures in motion convey spontaneity, movement, and community, visually translating the brand’s collective spirit.

A warm and desaturated color palette, derived from variations of yellow and green, evokes the tropical atmosphere without resorting to patriotic clichés. The use of elongated shadows and a low-perspective viewpoint creates immersion and visual proximity, placing the viewer within the scene.

The typography blends structure and fluidity, balancing Havaianas’ institutional voice with a hand-drawn rhythm that reflects natural Brazilian expressiveness. The result is a cohesive visual composition that communicates lightness, authenticity, and cultural identity through a contemporary and technically refined approach.

Street Soccer — Havaianas

This piece continues the Original from Brazil series, preserving the campaign’s visual coherence — warm light, vector illustration, and institutional typography — as a unifying thread between narratives. This consistency reinforces Havaianas’ positioning as a symbol of authentic Brazilian identity, one that lives both on the beach and in the streets.

In Street Football, the focus shifts from leisure to everyday life. The urban, peripheral setting adds a social and emotional layer: Brazil is portrayed through dusty ground, tangled wires, and the simple gestures that shape childhood and community.

The warm, earthy palette — tones of ochre, olive green, and sunset light — conveys human warmth and poetic realism while maintaining visual continuity with the previous piece. The Havaianas in the foreground serve as an anchoring symbol: part of the scene, not the protagonist.

A low-angle composition places the viewer within the action, reinforcing the sense of belonging. The absence of faces universalizes the experience, turning the game into a metaphor for equality and shared joy.

In essence, Street Football expands the campaign’s message by portraying Havaianas as a living part of Brazilian culture — an icon that connects leisure, identity, and everyday life with authenticity and ease.

Goalkeeper’s Gloves — Havaianas

Concluding the Original from Brazil series, “Goalkeeper’s Gloves” encapsulates the campaign’s essence: turning everyday life into cultural iconography and showing that Brazilian identity goes beyond aesthetics — it’s creativity, improvisation, and a deep sense of belonging.

If Beach Football celebrated collective leisure and Street Football portrayed affection and popular authenticity, this final piece elevates the narrative to the idea of Brazilian ingenuity. By using a pair of Havaianas as improvised goalkeeper gloves, the image reinterprets the famous “jeitinho brasileiro” in its most positive form — the ability to create simple, clever solutions with spontaneity and humor.

The art direction preserves the series’ visual unity — vector illustration, grainy texture, and a warm palette of greens and gold — but shifts the focus to gesture and movement. The upward framing and triangular composition convey energy and everyday heroism, turning a fleeting game moment into a symbol of pride and creativity.

Once again, the Havaianas act as the narrative link — now not just as part of the scene, but as a tool of imagination. The product itself becomes a metaphor for the Brazilian spirit.

As the closing piece of the campaign, Goalkeeper’s Gloves reaffirms the central message: Havaianas doesn’t just sell footwear — it embodies a way of life that is light, inventive, and unmistakably Brazilian.