Couto Toothpaste / WO5 Chair from Work Station Project
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COUTO TOOTHPASTE
Couto toothpaste “has been on everyone’s lips” since 1932, the year it was launched onto the market. With a strong and fresh minty taste, this toothpaste was created by Alberto Ferreira Couto, manager of a chemist’s in conjunction with a dentist, helping change the oral hygiene habits of the Portuguese.
It was also one of the first to invest in advertising, which is now considered essential to promoting any product nowadays. The ad showing a man spinning round gripping a chair with his teeth and the slogan “strong teeth, healthy gums, only with Couto Medicinal toothpaste” was engraved on the memories of various generations of the Portuguese public. Located in Vila Nova de Gaia, the Couto Factory specialised in hygiene products, also being responsible for another famous product, the o restaurador Olex.
Fábrica Couto, Largo da Utic, 100 H2, Vila Nova de Gaia
+351 22 716 9760
Drogaria Oriental, Rua dos Fanqueiros, 238, Lisbon
+351 21 887 3868
Drogaria do Loreto, Rua do Loreto, 62, Lisbon
+ 351 21 395 6068
€1,85
A Vida Portuguesa, Rua Anchieta, 11, Lisbon
+351 21 346 5073
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WO5 CHAIR FROM WORK STATION PROJECT
When Marco Sousa Santos first presented the Work Station Project at Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes in an exhibition associated withExperimenta Design in September, 2009, he projected the Couto toothpaste ad mentioned in the previous text to transmit the message that he also wanted to “get hold of the chair with his teeth”.
This project, developed with the help of a woodworker and a sawyer, also involved design and digital cutting. According to the designer “with digital technologies, it’s possible to produce small series at the same price as mass production, creating a kind of “digital handicrafts” akin to design in Nordic countries. In Scandinavian plywood, the series of chairs that make up Work Station were produced by hand, with the aim of creating a virtual work zone. Of the 26 prototypes of Scandinavian plywood – which follow the principles of sustainability – four are in production under the name myownbrand.
Myownbrand 2010 edition
Paris-Sete Factory
Rua Rodrigues Faria, 27, Lisbon
+351 21 099 7213
€480
by Maria João Veloso
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