O projeto – Abridores de Letras

The Project

Presentation

The main aim of the project entitled Sign Painters of Pernambuco was to map out and analysis the production of vernacular hand-painted lettering and the profession of sign painting in the state of Pernambuco, located in the Northeast region of Brazil. The research came about with the intention of registering the ephemeral design production developed by these local craftsmen in order to value and recognize it as an integral part of the Brazilian graphic memory, proposing a more decolonized vision of the history of graphic design in Brazil.

To register this production, the research was structured into three main research axes - formal, technical and historical. The formal axis sought to record and analyze aspects of the visual language of vernacular lettering, with emphasis on their typographic attributes. The technical axis delved into issues related to the production process of these artifacts, as well as seeking to identify the protagonists who are behind this craft. Lastly, the historical axis sought to discover the signs of how this activity began in the State of Pernambuco.

The Mapping

The cities visited

Mapping out the activities of sign painters in Pernambuco for this project initially came about through a comparative study between the urban landscapes of the cities of Recife (state capital), Gravatá, Caruaru, Arcoverde, Salgueiro and Petrolina over a period from 2008 to 2015. Photographs taken in these cities make up the main body of the collection presented throughout this site. However, as the project is in constant motion, little by little new records from other cities may also be incorporated into our collection.

Distance from Recife

The book

The book Sign Painters of Pernambuco

The book Sign Painters of Pernambuco – mapping out the vernacular, published by Blucher in 2013 with the support of the Cultural Investment Fund for the State of Pernambuco – Funcultura, presents the results of the extensive visual research carried out during the visits to six cities initially studied on the project.

The pages of this book describe a journey through the urban typographic landscape of the cities of Recife, Gravatá, Caruaru, Arcoverde, Salgueiro and Petrolina, and present the sign painters encountered along the way, seeking to arouse the reader's gaze toward the universe of vernacular commercial lettering, which so often goes unnoticed due to the fleeting nature of life in big cities.

Click here for a preview of the book.

Abridores de Letras de Pernambuco: um mapeamento da gráfica popular / Sign Painters of Pernambuco: mapping out the vernacular graphics Fátima Finizola, Solange Coutinho, Damião Santana
São Paulo: Blucher, 2013
1ª Edição, Bilíngue, 144p.
ISBN 978-85-212-0798-6

The Exhibitions

Exhibition at the Museu do Homem do Nordeste (Museum of the Northeastern Man)
MUHNE, Recife, PE
September 29 to December 29, 2018

Link to Fundaj Material: Read the material Ler a matéria

Exhibition at SESC Campo Limpo
SESC Campo Limpo, São Paulo, SP
July 20 to September 4, 2016

Cidade Gráfica Exhibition
Centro Itaú Cultural, São Paulo, SP
November 20 to January 4, 2015

Watch the video in Brazilian sigh language

The Exhibition Tipografia Vernacular: do analógico ao digital (Vernacular Typography: from analogue to digital)
Centro de Design do Recife, Recife, PE
July 8 to November 8, 2010

Would you like the exhibition to visit your city? Contact us!

Technical information

Main team

This project originated on the Postgraduate Program in Design at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE during Fátima Finizola’s master and doctorate studies (from 2008 to 2015), under the supervision of Solange Coutinho and with the indispensable partnership of the designer and photographer Damião Santana. The development of this investigation has continued until the present moment as a research and extension activity of the Nucleus of Design and Communication of the Academic Campus of the Agreste of UFPE.

Fátima Finizola | Graphic designer and researcher in the area of vernacular design, typography and and graphic memory. Adjunct Professor of the Design Course at UFPE - Campus do Agreste. PhD and Master’s degree in design through PPG Design at UFPE. Founding partner of Corisco Design. A member of the board of ADG Brasil between 2009-2013.

Damião Santana | Specialist in Information Design through PPG Design at UFPE. Management partner at Corisco Design and founder of the collaborative project - Crimes Tipoográficas. He has become a designer through training and a photographer through vocation.

Solange Coutinho | Designer, PhD from the University of Reading, UK; Researcher PQ 2 – CNPq; Professor at the Department of Design at UFPE (Undergraduate and Postgraduate); Associate Team Coordinator 1 – PROCAD/CAPES.

Project Coordinator | Fátima Finizola
Researchers | Fátima Finizola, Damião Santana and Solange Coutinho
Photography | Damião Santana
Website builder | Felipe Albuquerque