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Article published In:
Information Design Journal
Vol. 25:2 (2019) ► pp.171–191

Information, typography and persuasion in Brazilian late 19th and early 20th century ephemera

| University of São Paulo
| University of São Paulo

This paper aims at a better understanding of the informational structure of late 19th and early 20th century ephemera through an analysis of recurrent informative and persuasive elements in a set of printed artifacts produced in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The research methods adopted involved gathering, describing and comparing verbal and visual information found in those artifacts. Recurrent graphic elements, employed not only for providing information but also for characterizing and differentiating competing companies were found, suggesting that Brazilian printers were making use of graphic elements to promote their services and visually communicate the identity of their businesses.

Keywords: ephemera, book labels, print culture, design history, graphic memory
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The papelarias de são paulo: ROTULOS album and its contents
  • 3.Methods and procedures
    • 3.1Letterform styles
    • 3.2Arrangement of verbal elements
    • 3.3Colors and typographic variations
    • 3.4Graphic elements denoting distinction and identity
    • 4.Results
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Appendices
    • Appendix A.In Figure 3 (p. 173) the label reads
    • Appendix B.In Figure 4 (p. 174) the billhead reads
    • Appendix C.In Figure 5 (p. 176) the billhead on the left reads
    • Appendix D.In Figure 5 (p. 176) the label on the right reads
    • Appendix E.In Figure 9 (p. 182) the label reads
    • Appendix F.In Figure 10 (p. 183) the details of billheads read
    • Appendix G.In Figure 11 (p. 183) the billhead on the top reads
    • Appendix H.In Figure 11 (p. 183) the billhead on the bottom reads
    • Appendix I.In Figure 12 (p. 184) the account-book label on the left reads
    • Appendix J.In Figure 12 (p. 184) the account-book label on the right reads
    • Appendix K.In Figure 13 (p. 184) the account-book label on the left reads
    • Appendix L.In Figure 13 (p. 184) the account-book label on the right reads
    • Appendix M.In Figure 14 (p. 185) the billhead on the top reads
    • Appendix N.In Figure 14 (p. 185) the billhead on the bottom reads
  • References
Published online: 7 July 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.25.2.03per
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