1Please give us a brief bio of yourself, your company, job profile, etc.
I consider myself a curious person and a tireless observer and soon I realized that designing would be my future. Creativity, art, and industry were always part of my life. I inherited my passion for art from my maternal grandparents, who were both painters; and my fascination by industry and management came from my father. So, I ended up learning about these different areas every day and the truth is that being a designer happened to be a natural course for me. I studied Design and Marketing and, in 1998, I’ve founded Omdesign. Fortunately, and since then, the company never stopped growing.
2Tell us a bit about your business and what you do.
The company has begun its activity for more than 20 years. We daily work our customers’ brands from Leça da Palmeira (Matosinhos) to the world, having always as a goal the admiration of their clients – the final consumer.
The strong relationships that Omdesign’s team has built over the last 20 years are the result of the dedication and the unique way the agency embraces each project, always offering innovative and highly effective solutions.
3Congratulations! As the winner of the 2019 Muse Awards, what does it mean to you and your company and team to receive this award distinction?
We are so proud to be recognized once again by the Muse Awards’ jury in both competitions - Muse Creative Awards and Muse Design Awards.
It is a pleasure for our team to keep taking across borders the best of Portuguese design and to be recognized for the very differentiating solutions we create every day.
4Can you explain a bit about the winning work you entered into the 2019 Muse Awards, and why you chose to enter this project?
We won a total of 11 awards (5 awards in Muse Creative Awards 2019 and 6 awards in Muse Design Awards 2019) in different categories with several projects, namely a museum, books, exhibit, film, and packaging design. We’ve chosen these projects to participate because we think that each one has interesting characteristics that distinguish them.
5How has winning an Award developed your practice/career?
Fortunately, we have been receiving some awards in the last years, which are a consequence of our hard work and excellence we put in everything we make. All the awards achieved are a strong motivation to keep going on the same route we’ve defined since 1998.
6What are your top three (3) favorite things about our industry?
It is difficult to choose only 3 because I think that this industry is fascinating, but I can refer, for instance:
- Every day is a new challenge, considering that design and advertising areas are in constant evolution;
- The daily need to analyze each brand and always present them with the best solution is also a plus that makes each day unique;
- We do not have routines, which is an advantage because it develops our ability to improvise and also challenge ourselves every day.
7What makes your country specifically, unique in the creative industry?
The Portuguese people are unique in the art of doing-well in several fields of activity and the creative industry is not an exception.
8Where do you see the evolution of creative industry going over the next 5-10 years?
In the next 5-10 years, I believe that we will be able to see even more innovative options. The creative industry is in permanent progress, in terms of production processes and materials available, so the solutions presented will be more incredibly surprising, even when they are the most simple or sophisticated ones.
9If you were a student entering this industry or an aspiring Muse Award submitter, what advice would you give them?
The only advice I can give is to work hard. As far as I know, this is the key to success.
10What resources would you recommend to someone who wants to improve their skills in the creative industry?
It is crucial to always create distinctive and innovative solutions, never forgetting that simplicity is a plus, because often (if not always) less is more.
11Tell us something you have never told anyone else.
This journey has been amazing and we are now even more motivated to keep surprising the global market and our clients.
12Who has inspired you in your life and why?
My biggest inspirations are my grandparents, undoubtedly, that were painters. They are, even now, one of my main sources of inspiration, like my father, to whom I owe the fascination for the world of management.
13What is your key to success? Any parting words of wisdom?
I believe that if exists a key to success is hard work. Only working every day, always focusing on the excellence and accuracy we will be able to be well succeeded. I think it is also extremely important to be ambitious, bold and to do better and differently day after day. If we have a truly positive attitude, success will come naturally.