3rd meeting of young researchers at UP 1 - IJUP - Universidade do ...

Vernacular Typography in Porto - A case study research about the
drawing of lettering from the Garrafeira O Ananás’ posters.
D. Paiva 1
1 Master in Graphic Design and Editorial Projects, Department of Design, Faculty of Fine Arts,
University of Porto, Portugal.
This paper seeks to develop a theoretical and practical study of letterings drawn in sales
promotion posters and used in point of sale of small companies in the city of Porto.
Specifically, the case study research of the letterings used by the Garrafeira O Ananás, located
in the neighborhood of Paranhos.
The theoretical stage of this research is essentially based on the concepts of Dones [1], Rahde
and Cauduro [2] who shows a direct link between postmodernism and the vernacular
production. During the empirical research, data were collected, registered in a field diary and
then analyzed. Later, the practical step of this research was to systematize the material
collected to understand the features of the design of the letters and thus enable the digitization
of the alphabet produced by the merchant Jorge Manuel Lopes Cardoso.
Finally, taking the digitized alphabet as a starting point, was generated the Seu Jorge typeface.
That font received nonexistent characters in the original handmade design and adjustments in
order to not only registered the vernacular production of the Porto City as well as contribute to
the expansion of the sparse literature produced in Portugal on the subject.
References:
[1] Dones, V. L. (2004), As Apropriação do Vernacular pela Comunicação Gráfica, 7th Brazilian
Conference of Folckcomunication, Rio Grande do Sul, May13 – May16, 2004, pp.1-12.
[2] Rahde, M. B. F. and Cauduro, F. V. (2005), Algumas Características das Imagens Contemporâneas,
Fronteiras – Estudos Midiáticos, Rio Grande do Sul, vol.VII, n.3, pp.195-205.
402 3 rd meeting of young researchers at UP