http://vimeo.com/86694852

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The term almanac refers to a periodic publication of diverse themes and contents that became popular in the second half of the 19th century. Through its diversity it was aimed at people from all classes, locations and professions. Almanacs reflected a multifaceted society.

In the late 1950s an innovative magazine designed by Sebastião Rodrigues was titled Almanac. The title evoking this type of periodical publication celebrated the power of magazines.

The exhibition Almanac – A History of Portuguese Graphic Design in Magazines collects various magazines that tell a story of graphic design, illustration and typography in Portugal. The magazines reflect their time through style, fashion, currents, ideas and authors. A story of design cannot be separated from a cultural history – of the production means, the artistic currents, the political and economical context – marked by freedom and censorship, vanguard and defence of the conventional values, that magazines reflect.

This exhibition introduces a century of Portuguese graphic design through the covers, spreads and dummies of magazines such as ABC, Contemporânea, Ilustração Portuguesa, Almanaque, Sema, Politika, Contraste or Belém.

It is a exhibition consisting exclusively of Portuguese magazines from the beginning of the 20th century until now. The exhibition collects over 100 titles, presenting the most important magazines of movements such as Modernism, Neo-Realism or Post-Modernism, and aims to tell the history of Portuguese graphic design through periodical publications. José Bártolo, curator of the exhibition, chair of the Scientific Committee of ESAD and co-editor of PLI Art and Design Magazine.

Créditos