The Municipal Market of Barcelos, as it is known today was inaugurated in 1970. It was designed by the architect José Carlos Loureiro, that is also responsible for the urban planning of the city of Barcelos.

Altho the market itself is already old, it’s origin and tradition is even older. It dates back to the reign of D. Pedro V, where it’s first name originated “D. Pedro V Market”.

Before the infrastructure and it’s official name, the market was held in a different place, where nowadays is the Garden of the Square of Pontevedra, witch was designed by José Marques da Silva, another very important figure of the architecture of the city of Barcelos.

This tradition is still active today, people from around the city and the district come to the market to sell their biological and organic goods and socialize.

In the present the market has been forgotten by most of the population, and is now left for the oldest members of the city. This intervention aims to boost local commerce and cultural activities on the market, attracting new audiences, without forgetting the existing ones, and also to represent it’s cultural heritage and tradition.

One of the goals of the new identity is to compliment the informal and friendly image of its merchants. To achieve this it was a requirement that the brand image was iconic, but at the same time transparent, so that ultimately the merchants are the true brand of the market.

It was also proved to be significant to preserve the historical heritage of the space, since it will be refurbished soon.

After extended research it was concluded that the best solution was to create a modular identity, given the extended numbers of services and the complexity of the space.

The square was the starting point, since it is a geometrical shape with a huge presence on the physical realms of the market.

The typography used to compose the logotype is modular. Therefore the logotype works the same way. 

It has no fixed format, and it can be manipulated, compacted or even omitted, as way to adapt to any context, without compromising the recognition of the brand.