This intervention research aimed at understanding how agents and the craftspeople of the Favela Museum designed the conception and creation in partnership of souvenirs of Circuit of Houses-Art (Casas-Tela) through the activation of a procedure to record the signs of favelas of Cantagalo, Pavão- Pavãozinho, in Rio de Janeiro, with the team of NIMESC/PUC-Rio. From the authors dialog that are affiliated with a theoretical perspective of translinguistic semiotic, from critical philosophy of culture and critical sociology, a participatory design work has been performed with the agents of Favela Museum. Data have collected in field research in these communities through conceptualization and creation workshops with agents of the Museum and craftspeople. Data revealed that the participation of the designer s role in a community requires a close scientific partnership, which observes the devices that capture the processes that are significant. They make themselves an integral part of the formulation of a powerful local identity, expressed in the language of souvenirs with handcrafted techniques.