Graphic Design Illustration Solo artist Studio

Gabriel Mello Franco

posted by Beatriz Camargo August 2, 2017

Gabriel Mello Franco grew up surrounded by paint pots from his mother’s art studio. Since an early age, he helped his mother paint and got used to it quite quickly, turning art into something natural in his daily life. Gabriel never had doubts that he would do this of the rest of his life. During his early teenage he met a group of older guys who made up the Fleshbeck Crew (aka FBC composed of artists BR, Toz, LETS, SWK, Rod, and Krrank) who were Rio’s graffiti originators. They were the only group that made street art in Rio’s south zone and Gabriel developed great interest in them. He started to hang out with FBC following them wherever they went to paint, becoming their mascot and “godson”. With time, they gave Gabriel freedom to join them paint the city walls.

Gabriel studied industrial design and after interning at an agency, he began doing freelance work and started Studio Hello, a personal project where he could create his own visual language. People then started to approach him to make collaborative projects. Hello began as a design studio and later on an online shop where the artist sells products like t-shirts and posters, turning it into a brand. The artist gets his inspirations from the streets, the everyday life and human interaction. He has done a lot of recent work on politics due to the current political instability in Brazil and the world, which led to Piauí, a very popular Brazilian magazine, commissioning him to make political illustrations earlier this year.

After the announcement of the Brazilian mascot for the world cup in 2014 called “Fuleco”, the artist decided to create his own anti-hero (or rebel cousin) called “Fumeco” – a reference to cigarettes. This mascot can be considered to be Gabriel’s own logo, a type of signature that graffiti artists usually spreads around the city: Gabriel spreads “Fumeco”. He uses the mascot as a critique for the prohibition of cigarette ads in a good humour and playful way. Gabriel has been working in current projects such as a partnership with Loja Três fashion label, who are launching their first male clothes collection soon as well as a commissioned project with Do Bem juices which includes painting their new office/events house in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro.