1º dezembro

1º Dezembro Récita poster for Associação Académica da Universidade do Minho (AAUM), 2012

* Philip is remembered for his patronage of the arts—portrayed multiple times by the famous Diego Velázquez.

The 1st of December is a symbol of Portuguese independence gained in 1640 after 60 years of rule by the the king Philip IV of Spain*.

The story says that the students of Braga’s College of St. Paul were the first to cheer for king Phillip passing through the streets of Braga on his way out. Celebrating the restoration of independence, they started a tradition which observed every year, remains alive.

the mentor and the protégé

Mentorship is key to career success. Alumni UMinho recognising this value created two mentoring programs for the students of the University of Minho. “Tutorias por Pares” joins a freshman and a second-year student where the latter is to help the young one best integrate into the academic environment. The program Mentorias UMinho pairs a last-year student with an alumnus to give the future graduate the best shot at a successful career kick-off.

For the promotional campaign, we’ve come up with the tree/root metaphor to visualise the relation created in the program. It represents the way the parts above and below the ground differ in nature, have specific roles, but depend on each other and together are one organism.
The root is what grounds the plant body, gives it support, gathers and stores the water and nutrients, and because it lives underground, it’s invisible to us—almost like a mentor who is the support to the growing protégé. The crown is the vital, green part assimilating solar energy and CO₂—the visibly growing section, the protégé.
Except that in the poster the root is also a tree, but an older one. It suggests that the mentor–protégé relationship is a symbiosis where both parts gain and grow as a result.

The composition consisting of two fields of contrasting colour that complete each other enforces the message. The typography is arranged in the form of a frame, which directs the attention into the centre—the relationship.

The brochure’s custom cut further explores the concept of two individual parts, where the message underneath each part of the “window” is directed to either mentor (bottom) or protégé (top).

the games

The competition, organised by the CDUP—Centro de Desporto da Universidade do Porto (University of Porto’s Sport Centre), aims to encourage the U.Porto students to join teams and participate in the National University Championships. The main objective of U.Porto Games is to provide all students with competitive, leisure and socialising moments during the competition.

Sport is essential to education and, as each field of study has its own distinctive characteristics, so does each sport discipline. Following that idea, we decided to focus on the wide range of sport activities practiced by the students and the uniqueness of each. The challenge was to find a way to represent it in the event identity.

We used simplified illustrations of sport equipment weaving in and out of large, brightly coloured type. The representation of movement associated with each action infuses the composition with dynamics and playfulness. The same aesthetic is reproduced for every edition of the event altering only the main colour (which is always paired with the CDUP green) and the set of sport symbols.

play-time

The concept for U.Porto’s Holiday Sports Camp turns children’s activities into playful illustrations that breathe energy and enthusiasm. These illustrations draw inspiration from each of the event’s related symbols such as ice creams, for the Summer; stars for Christmas; and eggs for Easter. 

The posters sets up the tone for future communication supports by using simplified silhouettes and themed motifs that can be used across all necessary materials. 

Each poster uses a themed colour palette, which relates to its event thus creating a specific mood and recognition, without losing cohesiveness.

the principles

The Principles of Design and Development, minimal poster series that we designed for our partners at Tekzenit to be a part of the brand new office’s interior design. Simplistic approach reduces the form to the minimum necessary bringing the posters closer to Geometric Abstraction paintings; being the large-scale colour accent in the clean and bright office interior.