International consultancy Future Brand unveiled a new territorial brand for the Brazilian Legal Amazon, using typography based on the Amazon River‘s actual course. Commissioned by Embratur and Amazon Integrated Routes (RAI), this project aims to unify all nine states under a single regional identity, promoting 5 million square kilometers — home to 28 million people and a major global biodiversity reserve.
Until now, the states of Acre, Amazonas, Amapaá, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Para, Rondônia, Roraima, and Tocantins each maintained separate regional brands, hindering the communication of a unified identity and the promotion of the region’s economic potential. The new brand’s strategy centers on the river, the only natural feature connecting all states.
Geographical alphabet based on its waterways
The creative team developed the Igaratipo typeface by mapping meanders and curves along 25,000 kilometers (15,534 miles) of the Amazon riverbed.
These natural forms yielded a complete alphabet. Each letter in the primary logotype corresponds to the exact geographical coordinates of a tributary connecting to one of the region’s states. The typeface takes its name from the Tupi word igara, meaning canoe — a tribute to the Indigenous peoples who navigate these river routes.
Grounded in the territory’s actual geography, the design rationale deliberately sets aside abstract concepts. Alongside Igaratipo, a second typeface family, Aberta (‘open’ in Portuguese), draws its inspiration from the hand-painted signs of local markets.
Together, these two typefaces enable the brand to reflect both the natural landscape as captured in satellite imagery and the popular culture lived within local communities.
Integration of local artists and certification of products
The brand strategy includes illustrations, photography, and audiovisual content created exclusively by native professionals, including Winnie Tapajos and Malu Menezes.
The visual system’s color palette is equally dynamic, shifting contextually to reflect the flora and fauna of each specific region. Since the region is too vast to be captured under a single tone, the design avoids imposed uniformity to maintain coherence through diversity.
Beyond institutional communication, the project introduces a certification seal for products made in the Amazon, a mechanism designed to strengthen the local economy of resident communities across sectors such as handicrafts, gastronomy, fashion, and music.
In this way, the brand functions primarily as a driver of commercial and cultural development, rather than as a promotional vehicle for international tourism.
Controversies over intellectual authorship
The identity launch drew criticism from the creative community in northern Brazil, as the project was led by a São Paulo-based agency. Local professionals questioned why the budget and leadership were assigned to a company from the southeast, outside the jungle zone. Although regional artists participated as collaborators, critics point to a gap between the intellectual authorship and its operational execution.
The academic journal Amazonia Moderna, affiliated with the Federal University of Tocantins, also noted similarities with a logo it had published in 2023. That design also used river meanders to form the publication’s initials, which caused discomfort given the lack of prior recognition.
Although the geographical resource has no legal owner, the coincidence reopened the debate on the visibility of local academic work compared to large institutional campaigns. Meanwhile, the river continues to draw its history.