Officio was born in 1991 as AGS Composer. The initial idea was to design newsletters, magazines and books. And we did a lot of them. There was a good market for these services in those pre-internet times. It was also the moment, here in Florianópolis, when the transition from the more artisanal ancient methods of preparing layouts and artwork– when photosetters of O Estado (local newspaper) and Studio 4 still reigned – to laser printers was happening.  We had a laser printer. Perhaps the first in the city, such a novelty that it even attracted curious people on pilgrimages to see it working. Every now and then one would knock on the door and ask, "Can I see the printer?".

Even with the this machine, there was still a lot of glue and scissors in our hands until the software, that was emerging, was dominated by those professionals so used to Letraset and the paper cutter. In the beginning, lasers were used as a mere substitute to photosetters. They were of lower quality but were much easier to use. Photosetters demanded wizards in their operation and Studio 4 had its team of great professionals.

During these 30 years, many people, several professionals, have been at Officio, many have taught, but many more have learned. People came to ask for an internship for a short salary, or even without salary. They wanted to learn how to use the computer with us, who were also learning.

It's true, lots of people have worked with – or are woking – for or with AGS / Officio, employees and customers. Many, many, many journalists, various writers and copywriters, admen almost all, many graphic artists, spectacular page designers, magical artworkers who could transform any piece o paper on somenting incredible, patient proofreaders, a good number of photographers, many printing professionals, people from all over, from others states, other countries and, without a doubt, the best locals. it was a party. Me, who write these lines, have met so many creative people, with great conversations and very sharp humor, that perhaps it was because of them, more than anything else, that I stayed in the profession.

There are many stories. There are so many names! Let's make a list of them. Not here, but on social media, maybe. A timeline of names.

And the clients always loved.

Our clients, who were also (were they? No. They are) almost always people of creativity, loved to participate of all those sessions (remember that those were pre-internet times, pre-PDFs, pre-emails. Those were times of physical visits: client needed to go to Officio). And we would spend nights working together.

This kind of environment makes – it always made and will always do – emerge certain bonds of friendship and, as a consequence, an unexpected fidelity starts to exist. Hence, we have clients who have been with us for over 20 years. The 10-year-old ones are still young.

Things changed

Today, there are hundreds of companies selling the same thing we do at Officio. They are graduated professionals, interested and promising people, guys who believe in what they do and give their best at work.

And what do we at Officio have that they don't? Simple: we have this baggage, this experience and all these stories. Thoughts are not born out of nowhere, ideas do not arise only from creativity, they depend much more on the fertile field of experience, practice and stories. Today, using machines is the easiest part.