A História da PIDE

The cover was developed based on the book “A História da PIDE” by Irene Flunser Pimentel, with the aim of visually translating the atmosphere of repression associated with the Estado Novo, the oppressive and dictatorial regime that was in power in Portugal between 1933 and 1974. The composition adopts a direct and high-contrast typographic language: the acronym “PIDE” appears on a large scale and in red, almost like a stamp of authority and threat, referring to the regime’s political police, the International and State Defense Police, responsible for surveillance, censorship, persecution, and the arrest of political opponents, becoming one of the most striking symbols of fear and institutional silencing.

In the background, the repetition of names evokes the victims of the Estado Novo and functions as both graphic and memorial material: text ceases to be mere information and becomes presence. These names were conceived as “bars,” creating a texture that suggests imprisonment and confinement, while also underscoring the collective dimension of the regime’s violence: many lives affected, many individual stories that endure despite attempts at repression. In this way, the cover blends documentation with metaphor, turning typography into a gesture of denunciation and remembrance. All the names shown correspond to real victims of the Estado Novo, collected from the official website of the Aljube Museum.

This project was developed within the course Editorial Laboratory, part of the Master’s in Design and Multimedia at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra.