This week’s suggestions are especially for those who are just starting out in the arts or trying to ‘navigate’ the complexities of the art world.

The truth is that, despite all the love we may have for art, we cannot sugar-coat the reality and claim that the life of an artist or creative professional is a bed of roses, because, generally speaking, it isn’t. And, unfortunately, simply having ‘talent’ is just not enough.

In these three books we’re recommending today, we offer a slightly more positive perspective for anyone wishing to venture into this world.

Last week, we hosted TransparencyChain’s latest mini-training sessions on digital marketing at Saber Fazer.

In this course, Miguel Barbot and Mariana Teixeira presented the fundamental theoretical concepts of marketing and their practical application for micro-businesses in a digital context.

We’re talking about people who would much rather spend their time creating in their workshop than at a computer (who wouldn’t?), and so the programme was designed with the specific needs of creative professionals in mind.

SCARLET is a five-year research project funded by the European Research Council, led by Professor Paula Nabais at NOVA FCT University. The aim is studying historical natural-dye recipes from the 15th to the 18th century, to interpret, reconstruct, and analyse these recipes, then turn what they learn into tools and resources the textile community can actually use. Estúdio Ofício is designing the visual identity and communication strategy for multiple applications for a digital platform and social media, events, exhibitions, publications, among others.

The recommendations we’re sharing today have been selected with those in mind who are currently concerned with the development of their creative business, marketing issues, growth models and public funding for their projects. 

The first, “How to Win Work”, is already a classic and, although written from an architectural perspective, is easily applicable to other creative sectors that have to work with both private clients and through competitions.

The second, Do Scale, serves as a slight counterpoint to Paul Jarvis’s “Company of One”, which we recommended in our previous post. However, like everything from “The Do Book Co”, it offers an ethical and sustainable perspective on growth, showing different paths to follow.

Finally, the new book by our friend Francisco Cipriano, which we have been recommending on our social media for a few weeks now, is an essential guide for anyone running a creative business or cultural organisation and seeking European funding for their projects. 

This year we started a new project in Trás-os-Montes, North-East Portugal, where we're working across two different areas: Saber Fazer, with a research, education and editorial initiative dedicated to wool and silk, and Ofício, covering all the work of creating a visual identity and preparing the project's communication and editorial materials. 

Over the past few years we have found ourselves returning regularly to the world of VIC NIC and Aveiro Arts House. Starting with communication strategy and consultancy work back in 2023, the collaboration gradually expanded into identities, publications, events and ongoing communication support across an ever growing list of projects. Somewhere between BREAK, AMP, newsletters, releases and more than a few visits to Aveiro, a lot has happened over the years.

"A small business, growing only as far as it should, has much more capacity to be a model business. Being obliged to create value for the customer, since without it, it cannot survive, it is also subject to very direct scrutiny and immediate impact. I work fundamentally with design and creative businesses. For them, the value is in the cocktail that combines different things: the sold product, its function, durability, responsibility in the choice of materials, provenance and ethics in the manufacturing process, history, aesthetics, artistic value, and service. All are easily noticeable and valued by those who leave their money there."

Founded in Porto in 1963, in the middle of Salazar’s Estado Novo dictatorship, Unicepe - Cooperativa Livreira de Estudantes do Porto CRL began as an act of resistance as much as a bookshop. At a time when books could get you into trouble, it set out to make ideas accessible: cheaper books, harder-to-find titles, foreign works and even banned works. Now, over 60 years later, we were tasked with designing a new website that will carry the next generation of readers and thinkers (and troublemakers) into the future.

Barbot Bernardo and Saber Fazer hosted a roundtable and vegan lunch by Venn Canteen (photo gallery)

We brought our community together at Saber Fazer for one conversation around food politics, agro-ecology, and education.

Organised for the TY-CO project and in line with the ABR Festival's focus on sustainability and local culture, the afternoon traced the journey of food from local producers to the table, and asked a simple but uncomfortable question: what do our food choices really cost?

As you might know, Joana Correia has been a friend of the studio for some time now — we regularly work together on various projects, including Nova Type Foundry's communication strategy and graphic design (which you can read about in an earlier post).

Recently, Joana and co-founder Paley Dreier asked us to develop the visual identity for their new venture, Ligado Studio, a consultancy that supports type designers and foundries in growing their businesses.

The Heritex Toolbox is a platform for entrepreneurs, researchers, and fibre enthusiasts — a living archive of the knowledge embedded in textile heritage.

Built as part of HERITEX-HUB (COST Action 19131), a networked knowledge hub to empower the green transition in textiles and fashion by harnessing the wealth of data and insights provided by the study of Textile Heritage.

So, after many requests, especially from my dear wife and business partner, I've finally created a dedicated page to our strategic consultancy and education programmes for creatives, which is what I do most of the time.

Of course, there is an explanation for not having done it so far - a steady pipeline of new projects arriving through word of mouth and being afraid of spreading too thin between consulting, EU projects, managing a design studio and supporting Saber Fazer, made me a bit anxious about promoting our work outside the safety of our creative bubble.

But yes, let's step out of the bubble and see what the outside world has to offer!

Sara is an architect whose work unfolds between Lisbon, Porto, and her native Funchal on Madeira Island, where she is currently based — cities and landscapes that each carry distinct rhythms, stories, materials and light.

For this, challenging the typical perception of Tax consultants was our first design hurdle: reframing the practice as a proactive partner in compliance and sustainability, helping both private and public sectors navigate the tax system and avoid unnecessary legal issues. This idea guided how we positioned Binomial Advisory as a trusted, positive force

Estúdio Ofício finally has its own online home!

Estúdio Ofício now has its own website! After a few weeks of work, we’re excited to share what we’ve been creating in the studio over the last four years. We’re amazed by how much new work we’ve done for so many clients in such a short time!

Zumbido Books, Joana's project, arrived at our desk exactly one year ago. After spending the last decade working as a filmmaker for Canal 180, one of Porto's most innovative media projects, Joana had a plan: to keep things visual in her life and open a bookshop dedicated to the universe of children and illustration.

Early this year, Cidália, Joana, and Sofia, the founding trio of Oupas Design, visited our office to discuss a possible project to help them restructure the company.

The company was turning fifteen and was facing many challenges: Joana, a fundamental part of the trio, was leaving the studio to pursue new projects. Sofia and Cidália felt that this could damage their motivation, leading to extra work and less focus on their individual needs.

We are back at our beloved Vinhais, one of the most remote and mysterious places in Portugal, for a new community learning project called "Viver Mais e Melhor".

"Viver Mais e Melhor" is a follow-up for our 2021-2023 "Cultura para Todos" initiative, when we first piloted a community learning methodology that we are now adopting in other projects at both the national and European levels.

Back in 2019, our friend Inês Catarina Pinto, the editor in chief of Nevoazul, asked us to assist with the magazine's editorial strategy and invited me to serve as the photography editor and photographer for the third issue.

For the second Time Machine, we present a selection of photographs featured in the third edition of the magazine, along with others captured in some of Porto's retail spaces where the magazine was available. Hope you enjoy!

A typeface is often judged in the very first moment a designer encounters it, and the way it is presented can make or break the spark of connection that leads someone to explore it further. That’s why when Joana Correia from Nova Type Foundry asked us to develop a new set of visuals to display her typefaces on the MyFonts platform, we took it very seriously. MyFonts is not only a marketplace; it is often the first point of contact a potential user has with a font family.