Contrate RS: A platform to boost Rio Grande do Sul’s creative economy
In the face of one of the greatest climate tragedies in history, we come together to support companies and professionals who share the market with us.
By rodrigo Cesar | February 20, 2025
In May 2024, Rio Grande do Sul faced one of the most devastating floods in its history. The destruction was there for everyone to see, but let’s recall the scale of it. The flood impacted regions throughout the state, including the capital, Porto Alegre. More than 2 million people were affected, with nearly half a million forced to evacuate their homes. The damage to infrastructure was equally severe, with widespread water and power outages, blocked roads, and broken dams.
Naturally, a disaster of this magnitude raised urgent questions, particularly: how can an entire state recover economically once the waters recede? Jobs were lost, projects were put on hold, and contracts were suspended.
To start discussing the project, it’s important to highlight Rafael Bittencourt, a designer from Porto Alegre with a strong background in socio-environmental impact. He is also the co-founder of Guaraipo (previously known as Dive during the project), a design studio dedicated to creating positive impact through innovation.
Photo: Thales Renato / Midia NINJA
Unlike many of us, who watched the news about the floods from a distance, Rafael was right in the heart of it all. He heard the relentless rain, saw the homes of friends and family flooded, witnessed his own neighborhood submerged, and felt the heavy uncertainty about what the future would hold, not only for his business but for the entire city and state.
Amid his volunteer efforts to address urgent needs, and while his professional routine was completely disrupted, he posted something on LinkedIn that began like this:
"Hire companies and professionals from Rio Grande do Sul"
- Rafael Bittencourt
The post quickly gained traction. People across the country recognized that the region’s economy would need support, and a great group of individuals began to engage. One of them was Thiago Hassu, founder of Meiuca. He saw the post, reached out to Rafael, and just a few days later, we were all collaborating in a Slack channel, working together to bring Contrate.RS to life. And when I say "we," I’m referring to this amazing team that deserves recognition: Berro Motion, Purpous, studiobah, Arturo Garziera, Camila Cousseau, Gabriela Teló, Julia Garim, Luciano Braga, Matheus Santa Cruz, and Valter Junior.
Contrate.rs is the digital platform that emerged from Rafael’s post title, simple as that. It’s designed to help Brazil hire companies and professionals from Rio Grande do Sul, driving the state’s economic recovery. Think of it as a digital showcase that highlights local talent and services, helping them generate more business. On the site, professionals and companies in the creative and tech industries can sign up, provide their contact information, and get listed: this is the heart of the platform. On the other hand, businesses looking to hire can browse the list of suppliers or use filters and find the right fit for their needs.
We handled the project management, production, and website launch, working closely with those who were directly impacted. The main challenge was to develop a functional platform under tight deadlines. We focused on delivering the essential features for the initial launch and then continued to refine and improve the platform in the weeks that followed.
"We began the project with a clear view of the platform, handling everything from design to development. The entire process moved quickly, within just a few days, the website was up and running. Our approach was simple and efficient. We did a quick benchmark, explored other community platforms, but given the tight timeline, we concentrated on building something functional and mobile-optimized" explains Adri Quintas, Head of Design at Meiuca, who oversaw the internal creation process.
"We wanted to create an experience that made it easy for professionals and clients to connect. The goal was to quickly showcase the expertise of each professional and company available for hire and allow users to reach out with just one click via WhatsApp. The more direct, the better: especially since many had lost their equipment and needed to get back to work as soon as possible. While the entire team was deeply moved by the tragedy, the conversations with people from Rio Grande do Sul gave us an even more tangible sense of what was happening. We saw the images online, but hearing personal stories made it even more real" she recalls.
We started discussions about the platform on May 10th, and by May 17th, it was live. To put things into perspective: in 2024, our communication efforts reached over 1.35 million social media accounts and earned coverage from 12 different media outlets.
The platform featured around 260 professionals and companies, receiving recognition from three prestigious design awards: Gold in Positive Impact Design at the Bornancini Design Award, Bronze in Impact Design at the Brazilian Design Award (BDA), and the Design For a Better World award in digital design from Centro Brasil Design.
It feels a bit strange to talk about awards in this context..as Rafael mentioned on LinkedIn, these awards for the platform shouldn’t even exist because the ideal situation would be for the project to never have been needed in the first place. But if anything, let these awards serve as a reminder and encouragement for design companies to step up in times like this, giving back to society by applying the skills we’ve developed.
Contrate.RS was a voluntary project born out of our genuine passion for using design to address social challenges. In 2025, we’re launching a new initiative, Meiuca ESG: a new service front focused on bringing our digital product expertise to the ESG departments of large companies. We believe this combination has the potential to create meaningful, sustainable impact at scale.
If you want to learn more about how we do business, feel free to reach out! :)
