The Fjordian talks photography, life in Brazil and the importance of being comfortable with the uncomfortable
Position: Service Designer
Studio: São Paulo
Years at Fjord: 2
What exactly does your role entail?
I passionately talk to people about specific problems in their everyday lives and then try very hard to provide them with unexpected and fun solutions while trying not to waste too many Post-its in the process.
How did you end up in this role and what do you love about your career choice?
In a nutshell: when a British-American designer from Fjord Madrid serendipitously asks a Venezuelan living in Berlin if he’d be interested in moving to Brazil to help run projects in Spanish all over South America with Fjord São Paulo.
I’m used to moving around the world, from China to the USA, from Mexico to Germany, and a couple other places in between. But it was a whirlwind when I chose to take the chance to move to Brazil! Luckily, it all turned out great.
What I love so much about this career choice is the sense of empowerment I now feel as a designer, being able to use my skills and creativity and apply them to problems of great scale and complexity in a variety of sectors.
The level of rigor, diversity and multidisciplinarity we have at Fjord and in the service design community is something I very rarely encountered in the architecture world (where I spent most of my time studying and training as a designer). I treasure that and feel inspired by it everyday.
What’s been your favorite part of working at Fjord?
It’s really hard to choose just one, so…
Getting to work on great projects with some of the most talented, fun, and hardworking designers in Latin America. After spending 10 years away from this part of the world, coming back has been very exciting.
Being part of the Fjord Evolution Ambassadors group, which represents our truly diverse nature as a company and plugs a supportive (and crazy-smart!) network of designers around the world to exchange information and advice relevant to our studios.
But all in all, learning Portuguese and getting to know Brazilian culture has been my favorite part. It has provided me with a new lens through which to look at and interact with the world around me — and that’s just priceless.
Where do you find inspiration?
These days we can find inspiration everywhere, which is fabulous and overwhelming at the same time. I personally love to follow a variety of architecture, design and art blogs as well as keep up with geopolitical news, because I’m that nerdy. Typically a lot of fresh, interesting stuff comes from my peer designers and fellow creatives.
But to be honest my greatest source of inspiration is usually nature itself. I love hiking and camping. Especially living in São Paulo, which can be such an intense and high-paced city, retreating to the mountains or the coast helps me clear my mind, refresh my body, and think about things from new perspectives.
If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why?
I believe us designers need to be politically engaged, now more than ever. I would love to grab dinner with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old activist who just ran against a congressional big-shot in New York… and won! She has a high chance of becoming the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in the United States. I lived in New York for some years, and I would like to take her out to dinner now — before she gets too famous — to talk about building movements from the ground up, truly listening, talking and mobilizing members of your community, and the power young people have to really make a change, wherever they may be.
What’s the weirdest or funniest thing that’s happened to you on the job at Fjord?
Recently, running a project in Colombia in Spanish, English and Portuguese at the same time resulted in a healthy amount of “brain farts,” glitches and confused expressions at almost every meeting. Good thing the team (and the client!) always welcomed a good laugh.
What are your three favorite things to do on the weekend?
I like to spend my weekends resting from the week’s hard work, recharging for the coming one, and reconnecting with friends. I never miss my weekend yoga, and also love to go on bike rides or long walks to explore different parts of the city. Once the sun sets, it’s always a lot of fun to enjoy the São Paulo cultural scene and nightlife in one of the many LGBT spots the city has to offer.
How does your role as Fjord affect your life outside of the office, and how do your hobbies and passions impact your job?
At Fjord we are always talking about the importance of being “comfortable with the uncomfortable,” as we say to a lot of our clients. Now, more than ever, being resilient and adaptable has become an important skill both at work and in life. You gotta learn to work with what you got, and continuously adapt to succeed in today’s hypervolatile world.
I love that at Fjord I can bring my full self to work everyday. So I bring my gayness and its humor, I bring my photography and its curiosity, I bring my yoga and its level-headedness. Being a Service Designer is the kind of job that is just hard to separate from your out-of-office life because your empathy and creativity don’t disappear when you step out of the studio. In fact, they make your work so much stronger by ensuring a diverse set of perspectives and experiences contribute to every project.
What are your three office must-haves for a successful workday?
1. A nicely organized and clean desk — it’s important to get the basics sorted out.
2. The right music — whether upbeat or chill vibes, these days it’s scary how the Spotify algorithm knows me so well! Even better than my significant other or any of my friends…
3. Natural light — I love a sunny and light-filled space to be able to focus.
If you didn’t have this job, what would you be doing?
I love to treasure the wonderful set of choices and coincidences that led me to where I am today, but I feel like if I wasn’t a designer I would be pursuing what always was a childhood dream: to be a National Geographic photographer traveling the world capturing people, places and stories.
What’s your hope for the future ?
Maybe it’s the designer’s optimism in me, but I truly hope we can more collectively embrace the values of empathy and generosity in a world that desperately needs so much of that, and through shared experiences learn to work with others to celebrate our differences and actualize our potential. Together, I hope we can not only dream up, but build a more humane, more inclusive, and more beautiful world.
We’re always looking for smart, talented and passionate people like Carlos. Want to join the team? See all open positions and find out more about why it’s good to be a Fjordian here!
