Município de Grândola - Paços do Concelho
Direcção de Arte / Editorial / Print
The former 18th-century Town Hall building is one of the oldest and most emblematic examples of the built heritage of the town of Grândola. Beyond its historical and architectural value, it carries a symbolic weight, representing the municipal autonomy obtained on 22 October 1544. Conceiving a publication about this building emerged as a natural way to preserve its heritage and safeguard its memory for the future.
The book brings together historical research with the results of archaeological work carried out during the building's rehabilitation in 2021, gathering these two strands together in a single volume for the first time. It was the objective of the Município de Grândola that the book should dignify the history of the building and the rigour of the scientific research, while remaining accessible and appealing to the general public — not only to specialists in heritage or archaeology. The graphic project should serve as a bridge between the technical universe of the work and a curious reader, without simplifying or intimidating.
Recognising the importance of first impressions, it was a declared intention that the cover should communicate simultaneously the documentary rigour of the work and the singularity of the archaeological process that gave rise to it, positioning the publication as a piece of institutional and heritage reference — without resorting to the conventional visual language of a local history book.
The graphic solution is born directly from the universe of field archaeology. The title typography is constructed from the rulers and scales used in archaeological recording, transforming scientific measuring instruments into expressive material. The fine red-orange grid running across the entire surface of the book evokes the act of scrutinising — the methodical and attentive gaze of archaeological investigation seeking traces beneath layers of time. A die-cut on the cover allows glimpses of fragments of the words printed on the reverse of its own flap, introducing the gesture of discovery: just as in an excavation, the content is not immediately revealed, but gradually emerges as the object is explored.
On the back cover, a line illustration of the building's façade enters into dialogue with the descriptive text, anchoring the publication in the real architectural object. The reduced palette — red-orange on a raw background — reinforces the restraint and elegance of the project, while giving it an immediately recognisable visual identity.
The graphic solution is born directly from the universe of field archaeology. The title typography is constructed from the rulers and scales used in archaeological recording, transforming scientific measuring instruments into expressive material.
A Unique Typeface
A book born from the convergence of history and archaeology demanded a typographic project that would not simply compose text, but actively participate in communicating its subject. Resorting to an existing typeface would have fulfilled the function, but not the ambition: it was necessary to design a visual language that would bring the universe of excavation into every page, even before a single word was read.
A complete alphabet was designed — letters, numbers and punctuation marks — whose glyphs are constructed from the rulers and scales used in archaeological recording. Each character is composed of geometric blocks that simultaneously evoke the rigorous metric of measuring instruments and the fragmentation characteristic of remains found in an excavation: forms that appear complete from a distance, but which, seen up close, reveal gaps, joints and internal details — as if each letter were itself a find waiting to be interpreted.
The typographic system rests on the grid that runs throughout the publication, reinforcing the connection to field survey work and ensuring coherence between cover and interior. Inside, the typography is used in the chapter openings, printed at large scale on pages with a red-orange background, where the white glyphs acquire a monumental presence that marks the reading rhythm and gives identity to each section of the book.
A die-cut on the cover allows glimpses of fragments of the words printed on the reverse of its own flap, introducing the gesture of discovery: just as in an excavation, the content is not immediately revealed, but gradually emerges as the object is explored.
