In September 2014, the presentation of the new visual identity for the city of Porto marked the beginning of a process that transformed the way the city communicates with its citizens. The “Porto.” identity came to define services and municipal spaces – from the Rivoli Theatre to the Bolhão Market and the Municipal Police – and established itself as a system that organizes messages, media and the relationships between the institution and the public.

The project was born as a tool to unify and clarify public communication. Over time, it gained weight in political action and became an element that structures the city’s narrative and its presence in public space.

This trajectory was only possible because the project was developed within the field of design and executed entirely by designers: a professional process that made it possible to define criteria, maintain coherence and ensure that the identity functioned both as a strategy and as an instrument of governance.