The fundamental values of the Malhadinha Nova (HMN) project – Time, Space, Nature, Sharing – provide the structure of the estate's new visual identity. During the process of developing this new image, the main objective was to translate these values into a coherent identity, to reflect the deep respect for the nobility of the estate's natural legacy. The new logo functions as a typographical landmark over the Alentejo landscape. As with that land, the design is inhabited by animals and plants and transformed by the natural cycles. The structure of the analog clock display (12am, 3am, 6am, 9am) and the cardinal points (N, S, E, W) — time and space — determine the layout of the elements of the logo.
In this new visual identity, the built environment is represented by the word, shaped by typography; the natural environment is represented by images, rendered in illustrations and photographs. This duality is also symbolic of another of Malhadinha's core values and priorities: sustainability and the balance between the built and natural. Simple, linear illustrations of indigenous flora and fauna (by Iñaki Aires) meander through the typographic demarcation, making roots or migrating as seasons come and go. Photographs of the sun dried local flora (by Óscar Almeida), picked in late summer at the estate, bring to life the editorial artefacts. Time and space, and their graphic notation, are also present in the wine labels. Preserving a Soares family tradition, the children drew the distinctive imagery that identifies the estates' production, this time using native species and farm animals. The ranges of wine are now brought together in a coherent collection.
The individual characteristics of each wine range is shown through variations in label, drawing and font size, background color and capsule. New references can be added within this visual logic, preserving the collection's identity. All these strategies contribute to an elegant, unpretentious tone of communication, in harmony with Malhadinha's core values and natural surroundings.
