Following an incredibly vibrant 19th edition of the Young Researchers Meeting of U.Porto (IJUP), which took place from May 6th to 8th, we are absolutely thrilled to share some outstanding news: two out of the three distinguished students in the arts are from the MDGPE program! 😉
These distinctions reflect not only the academic rigor and creativity of these individuals but also the growing strength, critical thinking, and collaborative spirit of our entire community. Below is a brief look into the distinguished research projects (one communication and one poster) that captivated the juries and audiences this year:
André do Carmo Gonçalves: The Revival of Tia Lira: Reinterpreting cultural legacy in type design through variable font technology Supervised by Pedro Amado and Vítor Quelhas
André’s project beautifully bridges the gap between historical preservation and contemporary digital practice. He focuses on revisiting and reinterpreting the “Tia Lira” typeface (2003), originally designed by the late Portuguese designer and researcher Manuel Pereira da Silva. By employing OpenType variable font technologies, André structured a new, dynamic type family along weight and x-height axes. His dynamic presentation highlighted how technological experimentation can serve as a powerful tool to preserve, renew, and bring visibility to our national typographic heritage.
Bruna Silva: Black Women in Portuguese Colonial Visual Culture
Supervised by Cristina Ferreira and Margarida Dias
Bruna’s vital research confronts the lingering colonial marks in Portuguese visual culture that normalized racial stereotypes, particularly regarding the representation of Black women. Using critical visual studies and decolonial feminist frameworks, she proposed an editorial artifact designed to act as a pedagogical tool. By analyzing historical illustrations across descriptive, formal, and critical levels, Bruna’s work exposes recurring strategies of exoticization and subalternization. Her project positions graphic and editorial design as an active, powerful agent in decolonizing our visual archives.
A Note of Gratitude and Congratulations
On behalf of the MDGPE direction and the entire Faculty of Fine Arts (FBAUP), we want to extend our deepest and most grateful thank you to everyone who participated, supported, and engaged in this year’s IJUP.
Specifically to André, and Bruna: Congratulations! Your distinctions are a testament to your hard work, countless hours of iteration, (putting up with your supervisors!) and your unwavering dedication to pushing the boundaries of your respective fields.
We wish you the absolute best in your ongoing research and future endeavors. You have thoroughly earned this highly deserved academic success!
Post drafted with the generative assistance of the AI model Google Gemini Pro 3.1, edited and posted manually.