Tell us about where you studied and some of your highlights and favourite lecturers.
I actually studied economics in high-school! My mum was the one that gave me the push to go for something creative when she found me panicking with college applications, so we sat down looking at design schools together.
I ended up doing my bachelors in Communication Design at DELLI, in Lisbon. It was like a big design playground: screen printing, riso, you name it — the teachers really pushed us to leave our comfort zone and experiment. I was the happiest in self-publishing classes or anything editorial related.
On my last year there I helped with our academic publications as a studio monitor and was offered an internship at my professor Luís Alegre’s publisher for artist books, Stolen Books. I learned a lot there — I was given space to experiment, make mistakes, and was trusted to make decisions.
At that point, it was a no-brainer: editorial design was it for me. I got into a Masters in Graphic Design and Editorial Projects at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Porto, and spent the last months of my internship making the 3-hour-long bus ride from Lisbon to Porto back and forth to start my classes. I finally found my place in the design community there: I loved the city, the people, my talented friends and how everyone thought about design like more than a job. I immersed myself in the culture completely for the first time ever. Maybe the air is different up there.
What weird and wonderful things are you obsessed with right now that inspires your creative work?
Honestly, everything non-design that’s niche to graphic designers? I’m very clichê and tick all the boxes (and refuse to agree with anyone that says that’s a bad thing): I collect weird ugly trinkets, spend hours playing cozy games, obsess over movie soundtracks, love interior design and know all the best weird 2-hour video essays on YouTube.
Favourite travel destinations that inspire you?
I’ve lived in Amsterdam for over a year now, but I’m from a small fisherman town in Lisbon. So — if I’m in Amsterdam, my favourite destination is Lisbon. And if I’m in Lisbon, then is Amsterdam.
Lisbon is warm people, sunlight, and music in every street. But it’s also the revolution my grandpa fought fascism in 50 years ago and marching for liveable wages, housing and against growing right-wing political parties. It reminds me that design can be both beautiful and political. Amsterdam means moving here on my own — anything from sitting at a canal to going to my local cafe is a reminder of that and gets me inspired! For a third one, it has to be Porto. I lived there for a year; it immersed me in design culture for the first time, and is home to almost all of my design buddies; I miss it a lot.
Tell us about your tools / what tech, programs, equipment and environment do you do your best work in?
Anything Adobe is really hard to escape in this industry (and I’m dreading the day my student subscription ends) — but that’s as fancy as it goes, with the ocasional hello to FontLab for Type Design. I still haven’t upgraded to a big monitor and love to take my laptop with me to new places I can work in. I think having a wall behind my screen would be my worst nightmare: I need a window to people-watch or an open space where something is happening. When I do have the opportunity to get out of my screen, I love to experiment with scraps of paper, different printing methods and analog processes. I really want to get into clay and Blender!
Which 3 creatives do you look up to and why?
First on my list will always be Marta Veludo. I’ve been learning and working and with her for almost 2 years now, first as an intern and now as a part-time designer & art director. I hear intern and junior designer horror stories everyday, and never have one to share myself. She's incredibly supportive in both my work in her studio and outside as a freelancer — plus, an incredible designer & art director if I do say so myself.
I also really look up to the women at Hey Studio and their commitment to empowering women in the creative industry. Completely committing themselves to those issues and be successful while doing it was the coolest thing to me when I first came across their work (and a slap in the face for ever thinking I needed to choose between one or the other).
Finally, Kel Lauren has to be on this list. What a dream to watch my favourite artist in concert and having my work in the merch stall or in their vinyl sleeve. I especially really look up to how vocal they are on issues both inside and outside the creative industry, turning design into a political and ethical statement no matter the project. Design should and always will be political (now more than ever).
What are your biggest hopes and dreams for 2025, both for the world and your career?
I sometimes feel like my dreams are both too big and too small at the same time. I’m so lucky to already have some really cool things happening in 2025 as a freelancer — from working with Ryan Trahan to collaborating on the design of a festival: younger “is freelancing even an option?” me wouldn’t believe it.
I would love to work on more editorial and cultural projects, and to collaborate with studios, design communities/platforms and other freelancers I look up to. I never shy away from new opportunities, so my only hope and dream is for them to keep coming and for me to keep chasing them.
For the world — to not fall into old habits.
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