Portsmouth Historic Quarter A colourful and inviting visual identity, fit for a placemakerBranding, visual identity, launch campaign

Portsmouth Historic Quarter is a charity that owns and operates historic boats, boathouses, and other buildings in its historic dockyard. Its strategic aims are to preserve these assets, but also to develop the area, educate people and create enjoyable experiences. 

Delving into the history and character of the charity and its location, the aim of the project was to create a new visual identity strongly tied to the place. A colourful and inviting visual identity, fit for a placemaker.

The circular, typographically driven logo recalls customs officers’ stamps, and allows the charity to finally make its mark on the location. The typography is inspired by the vernacular type found around the location, stencilled on signs and stamped into metal. The vibrant colour palette evokes sailcloth and sky, sun-baked brickwork and brass, while the brand graphics are all dockyard structures rendered iconic. Finally, people focused photography and inviting messaging build a strong relationship with the visitors of the historic quarter.

Renamed, rebranded and relaunched, Portsmouth Historic Quarter is set to curate experiences for the community with an unmistakable sense of place.



© Definition

Care Quality Commission Communicating a complex digital transformationCampaign

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) needed a campaign to bring a mostly remote workforce on board, and maintain momentum over the life of the transformation programme.

Together with the strategy and design team, I helped deliver Our Shared Direction, a campaign brand with a built-in communication framework. Both are flexible and long-lasting, to allow for the programme’s evolution over several years.

The logo and visual identity centre around the idea of movement and looking forward, positioning CQC as a world-class regulator with a strong and focused vision to drive improvement and transform people’s experience, now and in the future. 

Using icons, infographics and other elements, the campaign clarifies the different change programmes that make up the transformation, and relates them all to CQC’s end goal: improving the quality of care for people who need it.



© Redhouse

UK Parliament Balancing cohesion and distinctiveness over years of brand design
Campaigns, exhibitions, layouts, illustration


For an institution as steeped in tradition as the UK Parliament, a rebrand is a significant commitment. It’s important to get clear and lasting value from it. So when the UK Parliament rebranded in 2018, I started to help implementing the new brand effectively. The rebrand promised to support a modern, digital style of communication, and to bring all Parliament’s communications, internal and external, closer together.

There are many teams within UK Parliament, from the People and Culture team to the curators of Parliament’s art and heritage. Working directly with them, I ensured we were always applying the brand consistently to create distinctive communications that still form part of a cohesive whole. Projects spanned from short to long-form publications, exhibitions in communal spaces of Parliament’s buildings, like the lobby of Portcullis House, environmentally focused campaigns, social media assets, illustrations, and many more wide reaching deliverables.



© Definition

Institute of PhysicsChallenging stereotypes that can hold young people back
Campaign


No one should be limited in life by other people’s prejudices. But the Institute of Physics saw young people being excluded from physics because of stereotypes, like that white boys are somehow better suited to physics, or that you have to be a born genius to do well in the subject.

The Limit Less campaign challenges these harmful stereotypes, asking families and teachers to recognise that narrow views can limit opportunities for young people – and to commit to limit them less. The goal of the campaign is to see more young people, from all backgrounds, choosing to do physics at 16.

Limit Less walks a fine line: making a strong case for the audience to change their behaviour, but without alienating them. We achieve this by focusing on the young people, their positivity, potential and aspirations. Bright, aspirational imagery presents alternative views of what physics students can look like, and of what it looks like to engage in the subject. Bold headlines urge the audience to be part of the solution, not the problem.

Because the young people who choose physics today will be the ones who tackle the world’s biggest challenges in the future.



© Definition

Royal Alfred Seafarers SocietyHelping to form a tight-knit, thriving communityRebrand

The Royal Alfred Seafarers Society is a longstanding care home dedicated to providing care and support for former seafarers and their dependents. With a history deeply rooted in maritime culture, it has continuously evolved to meet the needs of its residents, while preserving its core values. 

The rebrand aims to reflect the new brand personality we have established with them. RAAS is experienced and confident, but at the same time kind and friendly.

Drawing inspiration from the original logo, the updated visual identity retains the iconic anchor – a symbol of safety and stability – while placing new emphasis and meaning on the rope. The rope serves as a metaphor for the strength of community, representing how individual strands, when bound together, create something resilient and supportive. 

This theme of unity and togetherness is at the heart of the Royal Alfred Seafarers Society, where carers and residents work hand in hand to form a tight-knit, thriving community.



© Definition

xCOAxInviting computation, communication, aesthetics and X to PortoBranding, visual identity, layout, exhibition design

xCOAx stands for Computation, Communication, Aesthetics & X. It has been running since 2014 in different locations across Europe through a series of conferences, exhibitions, concerts and algoraves. 

I joined the team to expand on the visual identity based on a previously designed logo. xCOAx was held in Porto that year, and we worked on the promotional materials prior to the events such as posters, flyers and banners, as well as all of the communications and supporting materials during the events. We created exhibition posters, programmes, a map lining up all of the events running simultaneously across the city, tote bags and lanyards. 

Prior to the exhibition, all of the artists’ summaries and submissions were collated in the final proceedings.

On the last day of xCOAx the team announced the new look and feel for the following year, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland. For that, I developed a set of four options for the logo, inspired by the recurring theme in many of the art pieces – the glitch, and the beauty and interest in embracing it.

A glitch is an unpremeditated result of a digital protocol, making visible technology by its failures. — Andres Wanner




© xCOAx / Joana Morgado

Definition PR Agency Opening a gateway for new opportunitiesRebrand

Definition agency is a B2B PR, SEO, social and content agency. They work with clients across four key sectors – tech, engineering and industrials, professional services, education, and not for profit. 

They had a logo and visual identity that no longer suited them – too discreet, dull, grey and stuck to the past. To help drive momentum with the team and their clients, we conducted interviews and surveys to help establish their brand proposition and personality. The results reinforced the need for change – the Definition PR team are specialists in their field, they are trustworthy and professional, but they are also fun and friendly, a team that think outside the box and work tirelessly to help elevate their clients profile.

Based on the new proposition we launched a new Definition open up to opportunities, both internally and externally. Definition turned into a gateway for new opportunities, new leads, new paths, a whole world of possibilities. 

The logo features its first letter, the D, and it acts as stamp into all these new realms. The D is also the starting point for the whole visual language. It can expand and grow into a more interesting and exciting language. A modular system that can be translated into all its communications – namely on the website, social media, and communication decks. 




© Redhouse

UP Edições — University of Porto Publishing HouseElevating academic investigation through creativity and rigourLayout, cover design

After completing an internship at my University working exclusively on branding and pagination with great feedback, I was then invited to work for the University’s publishing house. 

Given the different levels of complexity and proofing processes, I would at times end up managing the layout, pagination and cover design of more than five books in different stages of completion. 

Working closely with the publishers and the authors I worked on over twenty books, most of them quite technical and extensive. 



© UP Edições

PearsonPromoting a commitment to evidence & research in educationProduct campaign

Pearson believes evidence is the engine behind great learning experiences. The multinational company commissions academics to research the impact of their digital education products. They come back with highly complex academic papers, results of scientific trials, statistical models and analyses, meta-analyses and research reviews. To make use of the research, Pearson needs to present the findings simply and digestibly – but without sacrificing academic rigour.

When Pearson researchers find evidence that one of the company’s products helps learning, it’s natural to use that evidence to give the product a marketing boost.

After research revealed compelling findings about Watson-Glaser (Pearson’s critical thinking skills assessment) and Microsoft Office Specialist (a certification programme by Pearson sub-brand Certiport), I, together with the language and design team, built evidence-centred marketing campaigns around both products.

Each campaign featured a hero animation highlighting the research findings, along with web ads, social media promotion images, sales presentations, factsheets and more.



© Redhouse
© Joana Morgado 2024