Mercado 2 de Maio by night
Logo
Shop window: door 2
Manifesto
Shop windows
Bar signage
Toastie menu
Main menu
Chalkboard on the counter wall
«Mais cás Mães» (More than the mothers) coaster collection Social media
Os Putos
Visual identity, creative writing, merchandise
Night bar
● Os Putos (The Kids) are Quico Neto, Guilherme Cappelle and Miguel Calheiros. They decided to open a night-time tavern at Mercado 2 de Maio, in Viseuʼs historic centre. I was invited to conceive the graphic identity for the space, which would feature architecture by Matilde Mata. They already had the name «os putos» in mind: all in their early twenties, all at university. The first thing I tried to convince them of — and the only one I failed at — was to call the place «bar dos putos». I like ultra-direct names: that was what everyone would end up calling it anyway, so we might as well own it, especially with social media and hashtags in the pipeline — it would have been good to have everything converge. It ended up as «os putos», fine by me.
● The brand was them, first of all. They are very communicative and warm types, and function like a power trio: each one knows how to do one thing very well. Then, as I said earlier, «os putos» because they are the youngest in the business around here, and because they would be winking at an essential segment in that area: high school teenagers and their first drunken nights. Next, «os putos» as a multi-generational spirit: going out at night is a kidʼs thing, whatever your age. Curiously, the name came to them precisely from the poem of the fado that Carlos do Carmo immortalised. In fact, it even frightened me a little, but that reference would have to be captured somewhere.
Mercado 2M by night
The bars at Mercado 2 de Maio occupied tiny indoor spaces within Siza Vieira's building (since demolished), and worked very well, especially in summer: each bar's actual space is essentially the outdoor area immediately in front of it, in the square shared by everyone, greatly energised by cultural and economic activities.
Logo
Right then, my reasoning: let me come up with a brand that brings the histrionic, teenager spirit — something of today's kitsch — toss it in the pan and "retread" the desired marialva-chic longing (I'm thinking of fado) by drawing on punk. I remembered that "os putos" could very well be a social network, so sophisticated that people would see each other in three dimensions!, face‑to‑face, sitting next to each other on a terrace; so advanced that it would even provide toasties and cocktails. And logging in would be as simple as pulling up a chair. The graphic register connects social media with handicrafts: cutouts and crumpled paper.
Shop window: door 2
Some of the characters that make up Os Putos' identity are based on people who were involved in the project. In the first column: Quico, Guilherme and Matilde. In the second: Miguel, me and Quico's father.
Manifesto
Manifesto
Who in 2016, right in the historic centre of Viseu, would still dare to open a bar? That's a kid thing to do. Indeed.
It just so happened that it was the wish of the kids Guilherme, Miguel Maria, and Quico, a lovely bunch of sparrows on the loose (as the poem goes) whom fate would forgive for their recklessness, and here Os Putos stand to prove it.
Just as it once happened in the revolutionary garages and attics of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and company, but in the Portuguese terrace version, Os Putos gathered all the creative weaponry available only to those who suffer from this ingrained youthfulness, and aimed straight at Zuckerberg.
Everyone knows a Kid's ambition is global.
And that is why the result is closer to a proposal for an absolutely innovative, technologically unsurpassable social network: a top‑of‑the‑range night out.
Let's see:
Os Putos are so cutting‑edge that here the chat is face‑to‑face. Funny videos don't take forever to load and are in 3D — actually, in all the dimensions the senses allow. Who even needs a screen anymore? You don't need a network or internet either, and if your battery dies, just ask for a little coffee.
Zuckerberg can only dream of serving toasties on Facebook!
With all these barriers removed, there is time and energy left for the mission of any sun‑soaked terrace: to put the troubles on hold and rescue the kid, the chief, the pirate — the Kid! — in everyone. And logging in is just a matter of pulling up a chair.
The bar's shop windows, like those of the others on the square, consist of two glass doors (one opens, the other is a fixed window). Decorated with white vinyl.
Shop windows
Bar signage
Toastie menu
Main menu
Chalkboard on the counter wall
Mais cás Mães (More than the mothers) coaster collection: an opportunity to extend the social network concept and let all the character‑drawing run free; they are a kind of profile page for 42 more or less fictional users.
Social media
