What led you into design?
Since I was a very young child, I have been interested in visual arts, drawing, and any activity related to crafts and building objects. My father is a carpenter, so I spent a lot of time playing in the workshop with wood, colors, and tools. That probably influenced me.
As a kid, I was the one who always carried a notebook and pencils everywhere to spend time drawing. Over time, that interest shifted to the digital realm when my first computer appeared. My curiosity led me to try to replicate that in all the digital tools that emerged. Captain Tsubasa, Batman, and other superheroes were often the themes I focused on.
Fast-forwarding a bit, with the advent of FrontPage, and later Flash and others, I developed a special interest in interactivity and content creation. I became skilled at using Flash, which became my catalyst for doing paid work where I could also channel all my creativity and design interest. The people at Neostream were my heroes during that time.
In another leap forward, I found in the Industrial Design field everything I believed encompassed design itself. From graphic design, usability and accessibility, morphology, digital expression, to physics and many other things. So, I graduated, but I never stopped working in parallel as a designer, especially in the digital realm. I believe that all the knowledge I acquired during my education, as well as in the projects I worked on in that industry, enriched my performance in the digital world.
What does a typical day look like?
It really depends on the day. But a typical day starts with me waking up, having breakfast with my partner and my son, then I take him to school and go play tennis (which is a sport I really enjoy and I’m trying to be consistent with).
Around 9-9.30 AM, I start working, checking Slack, emails, Notion, etc.
While my leadership role involves a lot of management hours and talking to people, I also like to dedicate a lot of time and stay close to the craft, getting involved in projects. Therefore, I can also allocate time for focused work, organization, direction, critiques, or collaborations with the team.
Around 1 PM, I always make time to have lunch with my partner before continuing the work day into the afternoon.
Around 6-6.30 PM, I unplug from the computer and spend time with my family, playing with our son, drawing, playing and listening to music until he goes to bed. Then we spend some time with my partner talking, discussing, watching a show, doing some household chores, etc.
I won’t deny that I might check the computer to do something last minute before going to bed.
What's your workstation setup?
Where do you go to get inspired?
My real inspiration probably comes from everything around me, what I consume, read, and learn in my daily life and life in general.
I am convinced that the best inspiration does not reside in a direct and concrete solution to what one is working on, but rather from related fields, knowledge, and intangibles acquired through years of consuming good content, learning, and being as receptive as possible.
Due to my background in Industrial Design, almost anything can eventually help me, and that happens: from an architectural detail, an object, a texture, a physical technical solution, a video game, a typography, or anything I see on the street or read in a book.
For me, each project is a way and a search to connect all that potential content with what I am working on.
What product have you recently seen that made you think this is great design?
I love objects, especially those with great design. I've admired Ettore Sottsass's work for a while now, particularly his design of the Olivetti Valentine. Recently, I found someone selling theirs and bought it.
I'm also a big fan of games from Naughty Dog, especially because of their attention to detail. Lately, I've been replaying The Last of Us Part II, and the cinematic narrative in the gameplay continues to amaze me.
Lastly, a few days ago, I revisited mymind while searching for an app to save content, so I decided to give it a try. I'm thrilled with the work that team is doing. They pay attention to every detail, and the product is genuinely designed to simplify the use case and value proposition.
What pieces of work are you most proud of?
In the past year or so, my website has received a lot of attention for winning the first prize for Site of the Year at Framer, followed by other awards and recognitions on well-known platforms like Awwwards, CSS Awards, and other publications and communities. What I love most is that it was a light project, where I didn't spend more than 6 hours with no other intention than to try out what was a new tool for me at that time.
A couple of shot of other projects done with the talented team at ++hellohello
As a fun fact, outside of websites and apps, I'm always making, designing, and experimenting with things—from furniture and toys to working in a team on industrial and digital design to launch a satellite into space in collaboration with my country's university.
What design challenges do you face at your company?
Every day is a new challenge :)
What music do you listen to while designing?
Any advice for ambitious designers?
‣ Don’t follow too many tips from influencers and gurus out there. Do what you want to do.
‣ Always show up. Be consistent and put in maximum effort; it pays off in the end.
‣ Always seek to learn new tools and fill your backpack with skills.
‣ Dive deep into some areas, become proficient, but only after you’ve explored and done enough.
‣ There are no shortcuts in your career. To become good, you need to do, do, do.
‣ Form & function, without compromise.
Anything you want to promote or plug?
Nothing in particular, if there is anything I said that resonates, you can follow me and start conversations at: Twitter or Instagram.
I leave also my personal website (SEB®) and from the ++hellohello team doing amazing work.
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