Gesto e Memória: Bordado da Madeira
Helena Gomes
This archive-book, developed for the Project course, responds to the brief for a large-scale personal project. It documents and graphically explores Madeira embroidery through a visual essay on gesture and memory, both deeply present in the embroidery process.
The publication strikes a narrative, somewhat poetic tone, pairing writing with the visual side of embroidery. Leafing through the book unfolds like the act of embroidering, and the artifact itself conveys the sensory experience of embroidery.
Communicating through images and their interplay with the poetic texts, the project conveys the tradition and elegance of the embroidered pieces; the detail, rhythm and repetition of their patterns; the texture and delicacy with which they are treated; and the presence of gesture — the act of embroidering.
The project thus aims to enhance the value of this heritage and the graphic potential of embroidery. By analyzing its patterns and modules, it translates the stitches, lines and textures of the embroidery into graphics and weaves them together with the text throughout the publication.
Imprint / Technical Rider:
Year: 2026
Dimensions: 170 × 230 × 14 mm; 174 pages
Materials: Covers: Rives Tradition Pale Cream 320 g/m²
Text block: Munken Pure 90 g/m²
Dust jacket: tracing paper 90 g/m²
Production and finishing: Digital printing: covers, text block and dust jacket
Hand-bound with French sewing (Mr. Carvalho)
Resources and credits: Typefaces:
– Bricolage Grotesque, by Mathieu Triay
– Host Grotesk, by Element Type, Doğukan Karapınar, İbrahim Kaçtıoğlu
– Archivo, by Héctor Gatti and Omnibus-Type
Photography and editing: Helena Gomes, Nostalgia Lusitana
Illustration: Helena Gomes
Texts adapted from archives provided by IVBAM
Software: Adobe InDesign CC 2025, Adobe Photoshop CC 2025, Adobe Illustrator CC 2025
Curricular Unit:
Project (1st year)
Supervising Professor:
Eduardo Aires
Keywords: Design and Archive, Heritage
See this project in the Material Archive interactive archive →