Universidade de Aveiro (2003 redesign)

Published June 5, 2025

Logo with wordmark for the University of Aveiro

In 2003, the University of Aveiro (Universidade de Aveiro) went through a rebranding project, led by Francisco Providência, head of ProvideênciaDesign and professor of the Design Course in that same faculty.

The then current logo consisted of a glyph standing upon an open book, suported by an armillary sphere. The words theoria, poiesis, praxis were written on the book. This visual identity was in a way anachronistic and decontextualized. The university belonged to a group of new academic institutes that were projected and opened in the 1970s. Until then, the only public academic universities were the University of Lisbon and the University of Porto (both opened in 1911) and the University of Coimbra (the oldest in the country, dating back to 1290). The previous visual identity that Aveiro presented was inspired by and in the same graphic language as the previous colleges, making it an outsider to the zeitgeist of the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century.

The new logotype combined the elements into a continuos form, discarding the written word, and the book – once opened …– was now represented by a void, therefore maintaining the same symbolism. A new, more radiant shade of green was chosen. Helvetica, for which the author has a predilection, was chosen as the main font across all mediums and applications, for its modernist aspect, technical function yet elegant form.

Still from a promotional video for the university

Use of the font and the logo on the façade of the caixa ua, a multipurpose building inaugurated in 2024

Outdoor signage for the academic departaments

Exhibition graphic for the 50th anniversary of University of Aveiro in 2023

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

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