União Zoófila.
Visual Identity
Motion Design
Research
Photography
In just 48 hours, we redefined their story with a single, urgent message: “All we ask is for you to stay.” Anchored in the word “Fica” (“Stay”), the campaign reframed adoption as a lifelong promise of care, calling the community to stand with those who should never have been left behind.
At the heart of the identity is “Rafeira,” an experimental custom typeface inspired by Lisbon’s neighborhoods, raw, irregular, and deeply human. It echoes both the resilience of stray animals and the cultural fabric of the city. Surrounding this, a bold, agile visual system with provocative typography, adaptable layouts, and motion-driven storytelling brought the campaign to life across print, outdoor, and digital platforms.
The project was a finalist at Young Lions Portugal, proving its strategic clarity and creative impact directly to the client. This NGO rebrand stands as a case study in how design can reshape narratives, mobilize empathy, and drive social change.
The Promise to Stay (FICA)
The challenge was to translate compassion into a visual and strategic language that celebrated belonging rather than rescue. We decide to frame the act of adoption as the creation of a community, where every pet finds more than a home, but a place to stay
The rebrand shifts the narrative from abandonment to connection.
"Eles não pedem muito. Apenas que fiques.
Eles não pedem muito. Apenas que apoies.
Eles não pedem muito. Apenas que adotes.
Eles não pedem muito. Apenas que cuides."
Everyone talks about love for animals, but few understand what it truly means. For them, love is simple: it means staying. This brief shifts the focus to permanence, commitment, and home, to the loyalty animals show us, and to our responsibility to return that love through our presence.
Rooted in the cartography of Lisbon’s neighborhoods, we found unity for the new União Zoófila identity, transforming the shapes of their communities into the foundation of its visual system. A visual language born from community.
From these shapes we created Rafeira, a custom experimental display that embodies the imperfect beauty of rescued animals and invites emotional engagement through visual tension.
The refreshed color system introduces neon blue for adoption, yellow chartreuse for support, and brown for institutional communications, a triadic palette that ensures clarity, cohesion, and purpose across every touchpoint.
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Isa Marita Romão & Francisco Modesto, Designers
The patches appear across every touchpoint of the branding and campaign. They are visual scars that challenge the excuses so often used to justify abandonment. Each one invites reflection, turning design into a mirror for human behavior.
They stand as symbols of contradiction, marks of pride and guilt, of an achievement surpassed, stitched together to provoke introspection.
This project was a finalist in the Young Lions Portugal 2025, a competition for Cannes Lions Festival, a recognition that, even without a podium, represents a powerful validation of our vision and purpose.
This achievement became a moment of reflection, a reminder that design can provoke empathy and ignite change.
União Zoófila-> continues to shelter over 600 dogs and cats, each one waiting for a community. A place to belong.
If this project moved you, visit their website and explore ways to help. Because they didn't ask for much. Only for you to stay.
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