The thing about working with culture, creativity, and independent retail is that typically, there is no big budget involved. It is a lot of fun, though.

Zumbido is, as you guessed, a low-budget project, so we had to assist the client with most of the choices, from furniture and interiors to coffee equipment. Unfortunately, they didn't have a budget for an architect, which made things a little bit more complicated, and we had to improvise a lot.

Being low-budget also means a greater effort to create a comprehensive visual system that can be easily scaled at a low cost and be used by someone playing all the instruments: selling books, brewing coffee, doing admin work, updating the website, creating Instagram content, cleaning the bathroom. Everything must be printed on a budget home printer and be available as Adobe Express templates for simplified editing.

Curiosity drives innovation, and for Zé and Rute, innovation is finding old machines and understanding how they can still be useful to solve production problems. This curiosity has led to technical refinement, new ways of operating the equipment and the discovery of new solutions to the various production challenges and opportunities that arise, both in Ideal & Co, and client work . Having fun while doing it is also part of the formula: it is not uncommon to arrive at the workshop and see Zé enthusiastically showing off the machines, moulds and other equipment they bought from an old shoemaker or glove factory: “What can I do with this?”

With over 75 years of experience, Comeca is a leading company supplying appliances and technology for the HORECA sector (an acronym for Hotel, Restaurant, and Café/Catering).

We started this project by creating a plan for a complete brand redesign and a new brand strategy considering the significant but exciting challenges that the clients are currently facing and to mark Comeca’s 75 anniversary.

Summer was in full bloom when Estúdio Ofício, Barbot Bernardo’s graphic design studio, kick-started the project to design the new identity for Golden Pilates, a new Portuguese pilates machines manufacturer.

Vai Vem, a design book publisher, was the second project supported by Barbot Bernardo's free Mentorship Programme for Social Enterprises and Not-for-profits.

This project objective was to support Vai Vem in organising its work units, which range from book publishing, education, events, and a graphic design practice.

This post is a visual tale about how we helped Tiago rethink his Hakko House, a small cafe and restaurant in the heart of Bombarda, Porto’s Art District.

Attention to all urban cyclists!

We're working on a project that could be a part of the (very urgent) cycling revolution in Porto, together with an essential contribution to the housing problem we're currently experiencing.

This project supports a new housing co-operative planned for a high-density area of Porto, which will focus on cycling and the comfort of future residents who prioritise cycling and other soft modes of transport.

Jazzego, an independent jazz label, kickstarted our new free mentorship programme for not-for-profits and social businesses in the Porto region (Portugal).

This project will provide strategic support focusing on fund-raising and revenue stream optimization to expand the catalogue and support artists, fund research and creative processes, launch education and capacity-building projects and expand the label’s distribution internationally.

It was the first weeks of 2022 when Filipa and Hugo, the power duo behind the multidisciplinary studio FAHR 021.3, asked us to help them design a new strategy for their practice. The Porto studio was about to turn ten years old and was growing organically, having already achieved a remarkable international reach.

I met Sara and Helder in 2018. At the time, they proposed a challenge to plan the Manna project from scratch: a new restaurant and café in the heart of Porto. The vegan restaurant offers delicious food on-site, like sourdough bread, fermented veggies, speciality coffee, craft beer and natural wines. They also wanted to include a Yoga Studio with several classes running daily.