01
Patience
We choose work that lets us think about it for at least eight weeks. We work with two new clients a season, no more.
Index · 01 · The studio
A small atelier, on a quiet street, in central Lisbon.
Founded
2024 · Lisboa
Studio
Rua de São Bento, 42
1200-820 Lisboa · Portugal
Contact
studio@iovate.studio →Iovate Studio is a small atelier in Lisbon. We design brand identities, websites and editorial systems for companies and institutions that care about the craft.
We were founded in 2024 by three designers who had spent a decade between Lisbon, London and Porto. We were tired of pitching, tired of decks, and tired of being one of fifteen names on a project. So we built the place we wanted to work in.
Today we are a permanent team of five, with a rolling cast of a dozen photographers, writers and engineers we collaborate with on a brief-by-brief basis. We work out of a ground-floor studio on Rua de São Bento, three minutes' walk from the Assembleia.
Fig. 01 The studio sits two streets from the Pavilion Carlos Lopes — the source of half our colour palette
Index · 02 · How we work
Three things we will never compromise on.
02
Craft
Every output — a wordmark, a homepage, a print spread — is designed by a senior. We have no concept of an account team.
03
Restraint
Most projects need less, not more. We are paid in part to remove things from briefs.
Index · 03 · Capabilities
- Brand Strategy ·
- Identity Design ·
- Custom Typography ·
- Editorial Design ·
- Art Direction ·
- Web Design ·
- Web Development ·
- WebGL & Motion ·
- Packaging ·
- Signage & Wayfinding ·
- Photography Direction ·
- Print Production
Index · 04 · The team
Five designers. No account team.
01 Founding Designer · Editorial
Mariana Reis
Mariana spent six years at a Lisbon publishing house before co-founding the studio. She runs our editorial and identity work.
02 Founding Designer · Type
André Caetano
André draws our custom typefaces and runs the studio's type direction. He teaches a yearly workshop at ESAD.
03 Founding Designer · Digital
Helena Vaz
Helena leads our digital work. She trained as a frontend engineer and switched to design — she does both, often in the same day.
04 Designer
João Tavares
João joined us from a brand consultancy in Porto. He works across identity and web with an unfair eye for grid.
05 Studio Manager
Sofia Lima
Sofia runs the studio — the brief, the schedule, the coffee, the conversations clients did not realise they needed.
Index · 05 · Press
— It's Nice That
"A new Lisbon studio with a steady, considered hand — Iovate are quietly making some of the best editorial work in Portugal."
— Brand New
"A reminder that the new wave of European studios is not louder, but more careful."
— Design Week
"Iovate are writing the playbook for slow studios in 2026."
Index · 06 · Recognition
Selected awards.
- 2026 D&AD Wood Pencil Praia Paper · Editorial Design
- 2026 AIGA 50/50 Shortlist Casa Azul · Identity
- 2025 European Design Awards · Silver Museu da Tinta · Identity
- 2025 Type Directors Club · Editorial Tejo Press
- 2025 Awwwards Site of the Day (x3) Casa Azul, Tejo Press, Oficina Graça
- 2024 Brand New · Noted São Bento Coffee
- 2024 It's Nice That · Studio Spotlight Iovate Studio