Edgard
Kozlowski

What led you into design?

I got into design very early, without much planning. Before I thought of design as a career, I was already into visual things. I liked drawing and was inspired by things like album covers and skateboard graphics.

When I was a teenager, a cousin noticed that interest and helped me get an opportunity at a small advertising agency in my hometown, Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

I was 15 when I started as an intern there. I designed campaign materials for local politicians, mostly using CorelDRAW. It was a great first experience. I learned the basics, understood how an agency worked, and over time became more interested in design as a craft.

That experience pushed me to keep learning. I enrolled in a technical course and later studied advertising in college.

Over the years, my work gradually shifted. I moved from traditional advertising, then to designing websites, and later into digital products. For a period, I worked as a developer, and later returned to designing digital products.

Looking back, the common thread is simple. I always liked spending time on the computer making things.

What does a typical day look like?

On a normal day, I try to start my morning slow. I read a bit, make coffee, and try to avoid doomscrolling. I do not always succeed, but I try.

I work mostly from home, but I try to go to the office a couple of days a week. It’s always good to talk to people there, see what they are working on, and catch up. I’ve been working at Work & Co for almost eight years, and I feel very lucky to have built friendships with people I really admire.

During work hours, my routine is very hands on. We try to keep meetings to a minimum. Most days I have one team check in, and one or two client meetings during the week. I spend most of my time designing, building things, and giving direction to other designers.

After work, I usually exercise and spend time with my wife. We might watch TV or do something around the city. Prospect Park, near where we live, is one of our favorite places to go.

What's your workstation setup?

I live in a small apartment, so my setup is also small, but very functional.

I try to keep my desk as minimal as possible, with very few objects and as little distraction as I can. Under the desk, I keep my work computer and my personal Mac mini.

As I mentioned before, album covers have always influenced me as a designer. Today, with algorithms constantly recommending music, I feel we spend less time really listening to albums or paying attention to their covers.

That interest led me to start a personal project. It’s a Raspberry Pi with a small screen that connects to the music I’m listening to and displays the album cover, using data from the Last.fm API.

Right now, I’m focused on designing the physical case for it. I’m learning 3D modeling in Autodesk Fusion and printing prototypes on my 3D printer.

It’s been a very fun process overall, but designing the case has been the steepest learning curve so far. This is a design of what I’m planning for the final object:

Besides those devices, I also took an old MacBook Air and installed Omarchy, a Linux distro. It’s been fun to play with how customizable Linux is, and to see how an old machine can still feel fast with a lightweight system.

Where do you go to get inspired?

I try to get inspired everywhere I go.

I’m lucky to live in New York City, which is very multicultural. I’m constantly exposed to different cultures, ideas, and ways of expressing things.

I like how much care many places here put into visual identity. Cafes often have nice branding, and well designed merch. That kind of everyday design naturally inspires me.

I also enjoy spending time in bookstores, mostly looking at book covers.

When it comes to online inspiration, Cosmos is usually the first place I go when I need inspiration while working. I also keep a personal list of websites that I go back to often.

What product have you recently seen that made you think this is great design?

I recently discovered an app called CapWords, and it reminded me how joyful using software can be, which is something I don’t feel very often anymore.

CapWords is a language learning app, but instead of quizzes or competition, it asks you to take photos of things around you and learn how to say them in another language.

I liked how different this approach is compared to most language learning apps, which usually focus on streaks, scores, and competition.

Another product I’ve been following is Resend.

I’m impressed by the level of detail they put into their marketing pages, and how clear and well crafted everything feels

What pieces of work are you most proud of?

One project I’m especially proud of is a portfolio I designed and built last year for my friend Camila Rosa.

She asked me to work on both the design and the development of her portfolio. I had followed her work long before we became friends, so it was hard to say no to the project.

What I liked most about this work is how simple it is, while still having small details that make it feel special and true to her identity. The main goal was to let her work speak for itself. Everything on the site was designed to support that and give her projects as much space and focus as possible.

What design challenges do you face at your company?

Working at an agency means we often need to understand new products and industries very quickly. Getting context fast, while still making thoughtful design decisions, is always a challenge.

Another constant challenge is keeping things simple. Turning complex problems into clear and simple solutions is often the hardest part.

What music do you listen to while designing?

Any advice for ambitious designers?

Create personal projects.

Looking back, the projects I enjoyed the most were personal ones. In day to day work, you don’t always get the chance to use the tools or technologies you’re curious about.

Personal projects are a good excuse to explore those interests, experiment, and learn by doing, without pressure.

Anything you want to promote or plug?

I still need to create my portfolio, but on this page you can find my contact details if you’d like to reach out.