What's up?
I'm senior art director at tms agency in Chicago. I use my design skills to craft all sorts of graphic pieces and make information sing for McDonald's. I've mastered tools beyond the design staples Photoshop and Illustrator, using Figma + Airtable, and Sketch + Abstract daily to streamline my workflow.
What I'm currently reading
Last week I started Han Kang's "The vegetarian" - more out of curiosity of its title than for Kang's recent Nobel Prize win. The writing is rich, easy to read, some twists and full of eastern-asian references that resonate with my own upbringing.
Intrigued by the disparity between the northern and southern hemispheres - particularly in terms of politics and society - I stumbled upon this captivating book by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson: "Why nations fail". Even just reading the introduction, I was struck by its enlightening insights. Unfortunately, it also reinforced a disheartening belief that Brazil and Mexico (or most poor countries, for that matter) are unlikely to experience significant positive change in the next half-century - despite efforts of their people.
I'm learning a lot about US housing market history (particularly during World War II, the Great Depression, and the New Deal era), through "Escaping the housing trap" by C. Marohn Jr. and D. Herriges (authors I discovered on the @StrongTowns Instagram, which I started following in 2021).
And I have just finished Max Barry's "22 murders of Madison May". Mr. Barry is smart, and one of my favorite authors.
We squeezed in a nine-day getaway over the Fourth of July, splitting our time between Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.
Vegas was a whirlwind: boiling temperatures (daytime heat was scorching 110 degrees and at night around 96°), also an inescapable, constant cloud of cigarette smoke. It was like going back to the 1980s, when the world reeked of cigarettes. Also crazy expensive prices all over.
But amid the chaos, we enjoyed a few gems. Mac King's magic show was pure entertainment, and Omega Mart, an immersive art installation, blew us away. It was so incredible that we're already planning our next trip to check out their other locations.
After the Vegas cigarette smoke frenzy, we escaped to the serenity of the Grand Canyon. The sheer scale of the place is mind-boggling, and the wildlife we spotted up close was an unexpected bonus.
Luxor Hotel Las Vegas
Meow Wolf "Omega Mart"
Grand Canyon
Since we moved to our new home in 2022, I've been more diligent with meditation.
Still keeping up 🙂
. I wake up at 4:45 am, meditate for 50 minutes. Always using Insight Timer App to track it.
Dall-e blew my mind when it came out in 2021, but Adobe's Firefly has really knocked it out of the park.
Now, I use both tools all the time to whip up comps and early mockups. They're game-changers for pre-production meetings, where we're brainstorming ideas and don't need to worry about the details of execution just yet.
Here are some Dall-e prompts and generated images:
"Gangster squirrel counting his money"
"Nike Air Jordan sneakers imagined by Monet"
"Batman night scene painted in oil by Van Gogh"
And Firefly's:
"Backlit glitter explosion"
"Octopus creature with diamond glasses singing in underwater bar stage"
"Fire made of ice"
"Ancient Roman mosaic depicting an astronaut"
In 2020, when we moved to the U.S., I started a Google Photos album titled 'Illinois Skies'. This album serves as a continuation of my 'Mexican Skies' collection, which I began in 2018 upon moving from Brazil to Metepec, a charming town just outside Mexico City.
Geneva, IL
Metepec, Mexico
To recapture the healthy lifestyle we enjoyed in Mexico, we opted to settle an hour outside Chicago, trading the gray high-rises and traffic jams for a quieter pace of life.
Geneva is now our home, and we see ourselves staying here through our daughter's high school years.
My time in Mexico really sparked my interest in unique drinks. I started taking pictures of the bottles before trying them out, and it's become a bit of a habit. Strangely enough, here in the US, I seem to find even more unusual beverages to explore.
Suzu: our cat.
> Moving abroad with a cat is a real pain. It's time-consuming, expensive, and involves a ton of paperwork.
Besides Portuguese, now she's able to meow in Spanish and English
Thanks for stopping by!
🙂
Exploring Chicago for a long weekend