Saber FazerA window into Portuguese traditional arts and crafts

Saber Fazer is a project by the Portuguese DGArtes that promotes traditional Portuguese handicraft production as a tangible and intangible heritage. The website features rare photos and detailed information about the arts, the artisans who still practice them and the unique objects they create. It is a platform to learn about the techniques, raw materials, territories, their natural landscapes and history.

The challenge

We were challenged by DGArtes and The Home Project to think of a way to show these ancient crafts in a contemporary light. Using a user-centred approach, we researched and developed a full digital strategy for the website, positioning it as the biggest reference on the subject of Portuguese traditional arts.

The type choice is Staff Wide by Rui Abreu, a powerful Neo Grotesk font family that’s versatile and contrasts beautifully with the image content. The logo and visual identity was developed by Joana & Mariana.

The technology

We used modern javascript framework Next.js and a headless CMS to build a website that’s fast and highly performant even when many contents need to be displayed. This allows for scalability and maintainability, two important factors for a ever-growing database.