Founded by Bernnardo Bennedito and Cristian Savakis, their creative studio is based in London.
​
The studio's core practice is to explore the possibilities of design at the intersection of the real and the oneiric, with the goal of designing a joyful future.
While beauty is defined by culture and changes over time, their commitment to the values of care and empathy will remain constant in this brighter future they are shaping.
— the
studio
Bernnardo and Cristian's partnership began long before the inception of Savakis Bennedito.
It was around 2009 and they were roommates. Cristian had begun studying Interior Design as Bernnardo was completing his Industrial Design degree.
Bernnardo's inspiration to create a “luminous object” with an experimental design combined with Cristian's creative drive. The result was called the Favela Lamp (in homage to the Campana Brothers's Favela chair): a structure with wooden planks spiralling upward, allowing a wire and bulb to be hung in multiple positions.
The prototype never became a commercial product, but it served as a spark for their partnership.
Over the years, they have helped one another on countless projects.
Cristian, with his technical knowledge, helped Bernnardo to create digital prototypes for production and Bernnardo helped Cristian to refine projects with his eye for design and knowledge of art direction.
The idea to formally collaborate arose organically in 2020 and from there they began to outline what is now Savakis Bennedito.
— bernnardo
bennedito
Having graduated in Industrial Design in São Paulo in 2008, Bernnardo is a multidisciplinary designer who has worked broadly across art direction, graphic and product design.
As part of Alexandre Herchcovitch's team, he designed furniture collections that included tables and cabinets for the high-end furniture shop Micasa, and houseware collections for the affordable design chain shop Tok&Stok.
At Giovanni Bianco’s studio, he worked on several music and fashion campaigns and projects, including the Versace/Riachuelo fashion show, Anitta's "Bang" music video and the 20th anniversary career editorial of Gisele Bündchen for Vogue Brazil.
He has also worked as a cool hunter and designer in research, innovation and commercial strategies for Brazilian brands.
Since moving to London, his clients have included the advertising agency Wunderman Thompson on campaigns for Rolex, HSBC, and Avon, amongst others, as well as the Brazilian Embassy.
— cristian
savakis
Although Cris studied Robotics-Mechatronics at an early age, he was later drawn to complete a university degree in Interior Design. Eventually, he discovered the perfect way to combine his passion for both science and design: 3D visualising.
After starting out as a sales consultant for luxury furniture brands like Moooi, Vitra, and Cappellini, he developed his practice as a visualizer for events and exhibitions in Brazil.
Upon moving to London, his first studio job involved four different projects for Galeries Lafayette.
He’s also worked with Es Devlin, including on Super Bowl 2022 and world tours for both Adele and Dua Lipa.
He’s worked with other studios, such as Imagination and Weareyourstudio, on projects involving augmented and virtual reality.
​
Taking a holistic approach to the way he works, Cris has recently branched into animation, vfx, and gfx in the film and TV industry, with Minnow productions as his client.
