# O Pasquim Satirical Press

> A weekly satirical tabloid from Rio de Janeiro that made cartoonists co-editors: hand-lettered headlines, cartum and caricature, and long interview and chronicle columns on one dense newsprint page. Unlike American underground comix it is a newspaper, with irony and Rio vernacular as cover under military censorship. Its staff were arrested in 1970 and the paper bombed; copying its look is not sharing its risk, nor a decorative retro skin.

- Period: 1969–1991
- Where: Latin America & Caribbean
- Origin: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: first issue in late June 1969 (26 June in most accounts), conceived by the cartoonist Jaguar with the journalists Tarso de Castro and Sérgio Cabral
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: Pasquim, Brazilian alternative press cartoons, Imprensa nanica
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/o-pasquim-press/

## How it works

- Run cartoons beside long columns of text so the joke and the argument share one page.
- Letter headlines and mastheads by hand, loose and irreverent, rather than setting a formal newspaper face.
- Cover political criticism in irony, mock-names and in-jokes that the censor cannot quote.
- Pack the tabloid page densely, mixing cartoon, caption, column and ad at newsprint economy.
- Print mostly in black on cheap newsprint and let the drawing carry the cover.
- Give the paper a recurring cartoon mascot and a conversational Carioca voice.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Column grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/column-grid/) (characteristic)
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (occasional)
- [Broken grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/broken-grid/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (defining)
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (characteristic)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (characteristic)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (occasional)
- [Condensed display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/condensed-display/) (occasional)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (defining)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (occasional)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (characteristic)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)

### Surface & texture
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (occasional)
- [Halftone & Ben-Day dots](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/halftone-and-ben-day-dots/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)
- [Rules & bars](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rules-and-bars/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (defining)
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (characteristic)
- [Found & vernacular imagery](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/found-and-vernacular-imagery/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (defining)
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (defining)

### Tone & intent
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (defining)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (defining)
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (characteristic)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (occasional)

Avoids: Generous white space, Framed panels, Gradients, Gloss & highlights, 3D render, Authoritative & institutional, Luxurious & glamorous, Calm & contemplative

Palette: #e8e0cc, #1a1a1a, #8a8575, #d8cfb4

Typefaces: Hand-lettered mastheads and headlines, Cartoonists' own hand lettering

Known for: O Pasquim, first issue, Rio de Janeiro, 26 June 1969; Jaguar (co-founder; creator of the rat Sig; drew the strip Chopiniks, scripted by Ivan Lessa); Ziraldo, Millôr Fernandes, Prósperi and Fortuna (cartoonist contributors); O Pasquim issue no. 1,072, 11 November 1991 (the last edition)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Alike in its design choices: [Black Panther Party Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/black-panther-graphics.md) (1967–1980), 71% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Underground Comix](https://stylogeny.com/styles/underground-comix.md) (1968–1982), 68% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Il Male Newspaper-Forgery Satire](https://stylogeny.com/styles/italian-77-movement-graphics.md) (1978–1982), 67% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Turkish Weekly Humour Magazines (Gırgır to Uykusuz)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/turkish-humour-magazines.md) (1972–2025), 63% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Russian Futurist Book](https://stylogeny.com/styles/russian-futurist-book.md) (1910–1920), 62% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Lira Popular (Chilean Illustrated Verse Broadsheets)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/lira-popular.md) (1866–1930), 61% alike

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Pasquim
- https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Pasquim
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_(cartoonist)
- https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziraldo

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “O Pasquim Satirical Press”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/o-pasquim-press/