Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu is part of the conservation, adaptation and new building intervention project executed and developed by Allegra Pacaembu concession. In 2022, the development of a brand review was initiated so that the concessionaire could activate the new management of the space, still under construction, with the moment of commercial prospecting for the various partners in the new venture. The project included the creation of brand strategy, visual language, signage and implementation of the materials created during the transition from the Allegra Pacaembu brand to the Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu. Throughout the case, we detail all the points that contributed to the project’s decision-making, as well as illustrate what was designed for exclusive city furniture. Pacaembu has always been an iconic place in São Paulo city, and it deserved a project that made its unique and timeless personality clear.
Just like its stadium, the Pacaembu font is a celebration of Brazilian football, its unique flavors, movements, landscapes and colors that have enchanted fans around the world for generations. In its research, Nacione found the font created for this situation and defined it as the best option to integrate the brand and signage project, not only because of its history and affection for the place, but also because of the technical quality that allowed for a diverse application for the situations and requirements of the project.
Photos by Yghor Boy.
2 Comments on “Pacaembu Stadium wayfinding”
Lovely to see this here on Fonts in Use. I’d like to add a bit of background, as this marks a nice full-circle moment for the Pacaembu font.
Back in 2016, my good friend Fábio Salmoni was working on a study for new signage for the stadium. He sent me photos of the historical signage from the 1940s and asked, “What font is this?” I told him it was lettering, not a font — but assured him we could turn it into one. So I did, quite quickly, and for free.
Fábio was developing the project with the São Paulo city council, which managed the stadium and sports complex at the time. His study was part of his undergraduate thesis at FAU — São Paulo’s prominent school of architecture and urbanism.
Later that year, São Paulo elected a new mayor, and his administration chose to sell Pacaembu to the private sector. All ongoing city projects were dropped, including the signage that would have featured the Pacaembu font.
Since I still owned the font, I revisited it in 2019 with my partner at Naipe, Felipe Casaprima. Together, we expanded, polished, and officially released it as a retail font in September 2020.
Fast forward almost nine years from the original commission: the new private owners of the stadium connected with Nacione Branding — who had heard about the font and convinced them it was the right one to use — and Pacaembu was finally installed where it was always meant to be.
It’s hard to overstate how thankful I am to Ricardo Carvalho and Nacione Branding. This is quite literally the best possible use case for this font anyone could imagine.
It was a long and winding road, but Pacaembu finally made it home.
Massa demais, Álvaro!