Volta Studio

Portugal

Illustrations and Packaging: Helena Soares
Art Direction and Identity: VOLTA | Branding & Digital Studio
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: Romanico
Location: Portugal

ROMÂNICO is a national brand of embroidery, linen and clothing, inspired by the Romanesque historical period and its graphic identity was developed by VOLTA | Branding & Digital Studio – design studio where I interned during the last year of my graduation (2013).

ROMÂNICO BORDADOS (embroidery) wants to recover the famous Lixa’s (small village in Northern Portugal) embroidery and turn these fantastic linen and cotton goods into luxury items. Noticing that the motifs of these embroidery have been the same since the XII century (they are inspired in the motifs found in Romanesque style Route monuments of Northern Portugal), they asked VOLTA to create a brand that showed off this fantastic longevity, the exquisite embroidery of their products and a rustic, handmade look. The solution was to create a symbol based on the monument’s motifs, allied to a decorative but strong typography (Estilo Pro by Portuguese typeface designer Dino dos Santos).

It was also created the brand’s kids range, ROMÂNICO BABY – in which I collaborated. With illustrations based on animals portrayed on the monuments of the Romanesque Route, this brand range has, on the other side, a focus on color and decoration. Each animal has its own geometric shape and color, with this palette allowing us to create very colorful packaging and product displays. – Helena Soares