Case study: the development of Sao Paulo Subways visual communication

Abstract

The São Paulo subway is in a transition moment of of its signage design, caracterized by the urgency of adaptation to new publics and new station lines. Its visual planning is, however, an emblematic case of the brazilian modern design paradigm - the so called "total design" - which aimed to integrate architecture and design in the daily life of the urbe (that was becoming increasingly complex). In the time of its creation, more than fourty years ago, Cauduro and Martino had made a huge project, choosing all the graphic elements, taking international references to set up the signage (the standart typographic family with optical kerning, exclusive pictograms, cromatic system and all the others informative patterns, like internal and external maps), which resulted in a project considered "impeccable", flawless. (AU)