I prefer to hire someone with less experience but very open to trust and be part of a great team than try to find the next superman. My recent experiences proved me people can be incredible surprising if they know they're going somewhere with you.

Please give us a brief bio of yourself.

I'm 29 years old, was born in São Paulo and I have been working with design and advertising for the last 10 years. I'm graduated in Business/ Marketing and afterwards I studied Graphic, Editorial, Poster and Experimental Design at School of Visual Arts in NYC. 

I started my career at DM9DDB (where I worked for almost 5 years with Fernanda Romano) and there, I got my first Art Director job. After that, I worked for Lew'Lara\TBWA for another 3 years, leading the design team.

In 2009, I joined André Matarazzo's team at Grïngo working as a Creative Director where I found the thrilling path to a great combination of kick-ass ideas and world class production.

What do you do for inspiration?

I love talking to people. From simple situations of everyday life till deep and philisophical conversations. I'm the kind of person who won't blink in a movie with an exciting dialogue but I can't help falling asleep when it's all about noise, violence, special effects and action - boring.

What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

I'm proud of keeping myself surrounded by people I admire at work and outside it. To find enough balance in life so I can go on a roller-coaster whenever I want.

How many hours do you work each week?

About 40 hours a week, sometimes a little bit more. I have to sleep well, eat decently, have fun with friends, watch movies, visit my family and do nothing for a while. It's how it works for me to keep myself sharp and welcome new big challenges.

How do you relax or unwind?

Gym. Kidding. I travel, I try to escape from the city landscape.

If you weren't working on the internet what would you be doing?

I love to sing and I'm not bad! It would be nice to work with music, it's something I can't live without. Sometimes I also think it would be great to work with architecture or urbanism to be able to make places more funcional and pleasant.

What's your favourite part of your job? What's the hardest part of your job? What do you do when you get stuck?

The very best is to get to know so many, many different worlds. I never get tired of studying, what are people's expectations in life and try to figure out a new way of getting their attention. The hardest part is maybe keep the mind fresh and don't repeat what is safe. And when I get stuck I give a break and start over.

 What area of web design lacks the most?

User experience.

When dealing with major clients, how difficult is it to meet the needs of such wide target audiences?

When working for wide target audiences, it's important to know what is universal, what communicates loud and clear. It's not about being flat or poor, it is about finding a way to give something everybody will connect, something resonant.

What did your very first site look like? Is it still online?

It was very innocent and cute. It was a Father's Day campaign for a local newspaper and nobody at the agency remembered to create 'something for the web', so I took the challenge. The idea was that the user could create a fake homepage to send to his/her father, where all the headlines were amazing achievements of the son - through personalization of images and text. It's fun to remember cause today I can imagine this same idea with vitamins where the father would recieve the same newspaper real printed at home on father's day, wouldn't it be cool?

Have you written any books, if not do you plan to?

I'm writing a book right now but it's just for fun. It's about how I met my husband and it's been made for my kids (when I have them) to read. There will be three chapters and I only meet my husband at the third part of this trilogy. Mmm, and Drew Barrymore will play my character in the movie.

The web is getting out of the web. Do you find that thinking in digital solutions alone hinders you? Do you feel the urge to solve the problem using all mediums necessary?

It's hard to separate medias today. How can someone classify a social application that allows you to create a master piece using your friends as colored paintballs and then order a poster of that? It's a cool way to do a poster or is it a fun digital/social experience with a good outcome? It was just an example of one of our latest cases for Absolut. We design the flow through contact points to feel organic and it will work if it makes sense for the user.

Of all the websites you/your company have produced, which one are you most proud of?

It breaks my heart to answer but I will choose 'My videogame life' for Coke Zero. We literally created a game based on the real life of a geek. It was cool and huge to give such an experience for this simple guy and share this process with audience.

What are your views on design/graphic school. Do you think someone can get into the field without educational experience in a school environment?

Sure. I'm a living example of that. I learned a lot by myself when I started, I read everything I could, went through a lot of books and talked to a lot of people with experience. The educational enviroment is great and can make a difference, can give you the right basis, make you feel sure about your skills and may put you in contact with interesting people but it means nothing if you're not hungry for learning.

If you were a student entering this industry or an aspiring FWA award submitter, what advice would you give them?

Find your own way to succeed, your life's baggage is your richest reference. Work for people you admire outside the office, look for those who think like you about life and can make you feel comfortable to share mistakes and fears. Ask talented people to criticize your work to be sure about your strengths and your weaknesses so you can improve always.

How difficult do you find employing the right people in a world where everyone calls themselves a web designer?

I prefer to hire someone with less experience but very open to trust and be part of a great team than try to find the next superman. My recent experiences proved me people can be incredible surprising if they know they're going somewhere with you. 

What country excites you the most in terms of innovation?

I'll have to say Brazil. Innovation is a consequence of creativity and our environment produces the most creative people naturally. I have big expectations for the next years in our industry.

What is the most expensive thing you have bought in the last week?

2 tickets to Buenos Aires.

Any parting shots or pearls of wisdom?

Dance like nobody is watching =)

It has been a privilege, thanks very much

It was fun, thank you!