Sto Mercado
“The Mercadão is a place of resistance – despite the changes and the passage of time, it endures. (...) It metamorphoses to continue resisting time.” After the 2017 fire that devastated its structure, the Santo Amaro Municipal Market was preparing to reopen with an expanded area and a greater diversity of shops and services. The new market aimed to establish itself as a community center, not only as a place for shopping and convenience, but also as a celebration of local culture. In addition to creating a complete visual universe for the brand, the project included guidelines for the verbal identity and embracing the nickname “Sto. Mercado”, chosen to bring the market even closer to the people.
Strategically, the new identity was designed to revitalize the market, attracting a new generation of visitors without alienating old customers. The project's premise was to honor the space's history while seeking a vibrant and welcoming future. To better understand the historical context, we hired a local reporter to create an essay that portrayed the market as a character. This material, from which the opening sentence of this text was taken, allowed us to build the brand's personality in a respectful and precise way.
The visual identity reflects a harmonious combination of tradition and innovation. The logo and typography of the communications, inspired by the characteristic typefaces of Brazilian metropolitan businesses at the time the market opened, were designed to balance historical heritage with a modern aesthetic, ensuring a striking and contemporary, yet nostalgic presence.
Furthermore, the identity incorporates illustrations that represent both the daily activities of the space and tributes to important figures in its history. These illustrations not only appear in promotional and institutional materials, but are also integrated into more practical applications, sometimes as fruit stickers, alluding to the activities that gave rise to the space, and other times in the form of stamps, evoking the idea of the market as an iconic postcard of the city.
Credits
POLAR TEAM
Creative Direction and Design: Bruno Ribeiro, Lais Ikoma Illustration: Stella Bonici Motion Design: Lais Ikoma, Ronaldo Arthur Vidal Case Study Production: Lais Ikoma, Satsuki Arakaki Case Study Photography: Ronaldo Arthur Vidal
STO. MERCADO TEAM
Mariane Carvalho, Caroline Meneghelli
TYPEFACES
Frank Latin (AlfaType) Clarendon Text Pro (SoftMaker)
SCOPE
Branding Visual Identity