Project Information

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Roles: Type Design and Visual Research

 

Cantorias is a display typeface developed as part of a research and design project focused on rescuing the visual memory of the Cantorias album covers, iconic records from the Brazilian Northeast in the 1980s.

 

The project started with a historical and visual investigation of these album covers, which were originally hand-lettered by Janine Houard using cut-out paper techniques—a discovery that emerged during our research process. This manual, layered and textured aesthetic became the starting point for translating that graphic heritage into a digital type system.
 

Together with Gabriela Paolla, who also worked as a type designer and researcher on the project, we developed a typeface that seeks to carry the same visual rhythm and spontaneity found in the original lettering. The process involved detailed studies of letterform structures, manual imperfections, and composition dynamics typical of the original artworks.

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Cantorias is not just a typographic tribute—it’s an effort to preserve and reinterpret a piece of Brazilian graphic history, transforming the language of cut paper and poetry into a contemporary design tool.