Parahybat: criação de uma fonte dingbat para promoção do turismo no estado da Paraíba

Abstract

Nowadays, it is possible to observe how the role of design has brought benefits to the tourism sector and how this has led to a growing number of projects in which design acts as a means of promoting tourism. Society is increasingly surrounded by visual elements such as posters, banners, storefronts, signage, and digital interfaces. Within these elements, one can identify brand visual identities and graphic syntheses such as symbols, pictograms, and icons that are easily recognized by people, especially with the advancement of communication technologies. In the context of design applied to tourism, examples of place branding and visual identities that use sets of icons as part of the project stand out. One way of using graphic synthesis is through dingbats, which are font types that contain symbols or pictograms instead of Latin alphabet letters. The state of Paraíba has striking characteristics and cultural richness that still require better exploration of their potential, as the focus on sun-and-beach tourism often overshadows other elements. This work presents the process of creating a dingbat font using the method proposed by Cunha (2019), which is specifically designed for the creation of dingbats. The font, named Parahybat, is inspired by the typologies of Paraíba’s craftwork, characterized by leather goods, fibers, wood, ceramics, folk toys, and threads, with the aim of promoting the appreciation of traditions and tourism in the state of Paraíba.