A Semplice Story -How Gláuber Sampaio landed his dream job at Work & Co
Exactly one year ago last week we launched Semplice, a new portfolio tool for creatives. Since then thousands have joined the family and created beautiful portfolios with the help of Semplice.
Today we like to introduce you one of them: Gláuber Sampaio, a designer and front-end developer based in Brazil. We featured Gláuber just two months ago in our showcase and since then things have changed quite a bit for him, but let’s hear it from himself.
Lu: Hi Gláuber! Thanks for taking time to chat with us. Tell us a little bit about yourself, who are you and what do you do?
Gláuber: I was born and raised in Ceará, Brazil. My interest in design and web started when I was 14. In that age, I wanted to understand how software were made. Soon after I was coding on Flash and building small applications, just for fun.
I started my Design degree when I was 17, and since that time I've been working as visual designer and front-end developer for independent studios and local startups.
I'm the founder of CreativeDoc and I actively take part in some cool projects with friends. Just recently I joined Work & Co in Rio de Janeiro as a designer.
Lu: How did you discover Semplice and how was your experience working with it?
Gláuber: The very first time I heard about Semplice was through Tobias’s (Co-Founder of Semplice) profile on Twitter. When Semplice was released I was convinced by the product’s presentation and I was wondering how creating a portfolio could be so simple, and how it would fit in my needs.
I purchased Semplice in the first week it got released and started to edit my portfolio from scratch with all the default options, just to find out how it works. The first version had some limitations, but after the first update came out Semplice was just the perfect fit for me.
“I created 3 versions of my portfolio with Semplice. It was so simple that I could dedicate more time and attention to design the main interface and inner pages.”
Lu: We love your portfolio, it’s one of our favorites. One reason is that you have done some custom work to make it stand out. Can you tell us a bit more about your experience customizing your portfolio?
Gláuber: Sure! As Semplice truly helped me to get most of things done quickly, I wanted to code something different for the front page.
I've designed some alternatives for my front page in Photoshop and created some functional prototypes in separated files, just to test some animations and interaction alternatives. Once I got more satisfied with the circles interaction, I changed small things in the WordPress templates and modified some HTML blocks inside the Semplice’s editor, like adding permalinks inline.
And that’s pretty much it.
Lu: It definitely turned out great! — Did being featured in the showcase helped with your exposure and landing your new gig? Tell us a bit about it.
Gláuber: Yeah, so much, even being featured months after I released my portfolio.
“Some weeks after releasing the portfolio, I was contacted by some small and big companies in Brazil, including Huge and Globo.com, as well as agencies from NYC and Miami contacted me to do some freelance work.”
Lu: We recently heard you are starting a new gig at Work & Co — How did that happen?
Gláuber: After I published my portfolio via Twitter, Tobias retweeted it, and that generated a lot of buzz with many people commenting on it for hours.
One of these people who saw Tobias’s retweet was Felipe Memória (Work & Co Founding Partner), who contacted me 3 weeks later. In a conversation we had, Felipe mentioned that he already knew about me, and decided to get in touch after seeing that retweet from Tobias. He was glad to see an evolution in my work.
To be honest, that was one of those happy moments in life, because I always was inspired by Felipe’s work at Globo.com and Huge. His book, Design para Web, was the first book I bought when I was 16, and his experience at Globo.com written in his book was one the references in my degree dissertation.
Being invited to work in his company was certainly one of the most unlikely things that I'd never imagined would happen.
Now, I'm joining Work & Co newest team in Rio de Janeiro among some incredible people. It’s been an amazing experience and I believe it will last for many years.
Now I see the things happened synchronized and naturally. But I don't know how things would be if none of this wouldn't happen.
Lu: Do you have any favourite portfolios in the showcase?
Gláuber: The Semplice showcase is definitely one my favourite places for inspiration today. Some portfolios I use to visit from time to time just to see updates are Kasper Laigaard, Calvin Teoh, Sincedilla (David Vale) and Lu Yu. There are others I like too, but these are my favourites.
Lu: Any PRO tips for designers who want to get the best out of Semplice?
“With Semplice, anyone is able to create a beautiful portfolio from scratch, even only with the default options.”
Gláuber: I think if you know some front-end programming techniques, manipulate some CSS, Javascript; understand how Semplice and Wordpress work, you will be able to create something really different and achieve an even better result.
Thank you Glauber for sharing your story with us. We wish you all the best in the future. Keep on rocking!
Interview conducted by Lu Yu in collaboration with Tobias van Schneider for Semplice, the portfolio platform for creatives. Thank you for viewing!
