Sebastião Rodrigues (1929–1997) was a Portuguese graphic designer.
From a very young age he started doing small odd jobs for the advertising department of newspaper A Voz, where his father worked.
In the early sixties, he began working with Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, a major cultural institution in Portugal. He designed the identity and print collateral of dozens of exhibitions.
He worked with the Estado Novo regime throughout his career, namely through Secretariado Nacional de Informação, the government’s propaganda arm.
Notable clients include RTP (Portugal’s public broadcaster), Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Banco de Portugal, and Mosteiro da Batalha.
Timeline
1929
Born in Dafundo, Lisbon, Portugal.
1940-1941
Studies at the Escola Industrial Marquês de Pombal under painter Calvet de Magalhães and architect Frederico George. Financial difficulties force him to abandon.
1945
Starts working at Atelier de Publicidade Artística (APA).
1948
Starts working at the studio of Manuel Rodrigues.
1959
Travels through northern Portugal for six months with a grant from Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, researching vernacular graphic materials.
Complete 18 issues digitized and downloadable as searchable pdfs. Made available by Hemeroteca Municipal de Lisboa, a public library in Lisbon dedicated to periodicals.
[pt] [online]
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's History of the Art Exhibits digital collection features posters, catalogues and original artwork made by Sebastião Rodrigues for the Foundation.
[pt] [online]
Page of the exhibition on Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian's History of the Arts Exhibitions site. It features information, photos, graphic materials and documentation related to the exhibition.
[en] [online]