2001
Fine Arts and Design Degree Begins
at Fine Arts Faculty, Seville University, Spain. One of the
most rigorous art schools in Spain.
The way of the classics
I started learning the ways of the designer analyzing
classical masterpieces and following the path of the old
masters.
Theory of Design and Applied Psychology
I would later study said classic through the Gestalt, the
Bauhaus, and the Psychology eyeglass. This observation opened
the gates of understanding human needs and the basics of their
satisfaction through design to me.
PVP
I entered as many national and university-related design
competitions as I could.
Club Founder
I co-founded a club for amateur writers. We'd gather once a
week to present our pieces of literature to the group and
discuss the meaning. We'd later go for a coffee, earning the
nickname "Coffee Club". Later on, the Faculty published our
work.
Cognitive and Behavioral science
Art and design theory taught me a lot about composition,
functionalism, visual principles, and human emotion.
To get the optimal experience, however, cognitive and
behavioral science applied through rigorous human research was
the dual partner of all the former.
2006
April 2006. Defense
Master Thesis: Contemporary Illustration through the eyes of
new media representatives.
400 pages compendium. A guide
of contemporary illustration authors and styles used in new
media such as the Internet, comic books, video games, and film
art concepts, as well as conventional media.
June, 2006. Graduation
I got my degree - Master of Arts (MA) - Fine Arts and Design
Something missing
Although the program was one of the richest, newer
technologies were almost entirely excluded from it. I needed
to dig deeper and study more about the technical aspects of
digital products.
September, 2006. Postgraduate
Understanding the importance of knowing the tech and systems
that compose the product itself, I embarked on a one-year
postgraduate study - Digital Product Development - where I
gained extensive knowledge of the digital product's creative
and technical aspects.
2007
June, 2007. Final Project
In a team of 5, we developed an interactive product based on
the life and work of Edgar Allan Poe. We developed a short
animated movie as the center of it, using Flash, 3D
pre-rendered environments, our voice-over, a promo website,
and the DVD that contained the whole thing.
Applying to go out
I was invited to participate in a three-month program in
Europe to gain my first job experience. I was selected for
Poland.
2008
Cracow
In February 2008, I moved to Cracow, Poland. My craziest
adventure ever.
First Internship
at A.R. Niedzielski as a Designer.
No way I was leaving
I prolonged what was supposed to be a 3 months experience. I
stayed at Niedzielski's until the end of the summer.
always learn the local language
Intensive learning at Gżegżółka school of Polish.
December 2008. New Job
at WebSpirit, a digital agency with roots in Ireland
responsible for developing AnotherFriend, the (then) most
popular dating site in Ireland.
2009
Continuous growth
I grew and learned a lot working side by side with devs, and
the distributed team in Limerick, Ireland.
I collaborated for the first time on a white label
affiliates program, providing online dating services to many
big players in Ireland and the UK.
2010
Politics
I was part of a three-person team that designed the PiS
campaign for the 2010 election in Cracow. The candidate then
was Andrzej Duda.
Online Dating
While I contributed a lot to AnotherFriend, the site was fully
functional when I arrived. However, I designed flirty.ie from
scratch with new tech and a concept to attract young people to
online dating.
It was a real challenge when big players like Badoo emerged.
2013
October 2013. New job
at Telepronto as a Designer (UX / Product). In Barcelona, Spain
2014
Start-Up
Telepronto was a young company with a lot of small projects
and a few big ones. I got to work on existing and new products
over the following years.
Transparency
The nicest part was that everything was shared, so everyone
knew what the other team members were up to and what obstacles
they were encountering. This reinforced the business and
cross-functional learning for all of us.
Ownership
As a solo designer, I could decide on strategies and take
action on design processes. As a trade-off, the pace was
insanely fast, and got to work on so many projects at once.
Not only was I responsible for finding the right problem to
solve on a big project, but also the creator of the marketing
and social media material.
We continued iterating to improve the different products.
2016
Awards
Our star product, miaffaire.com, won 2 awards: Best Website of
the Year, and Best Dating Site, Spain edition, by Metrics Lab.
2018
Overview
By the time I left Telepronto, I had over 150 projects in my
portfolio, ranging from hundreds of banner sets to the final
iteration on our star products and 2 design awards.
2019
February 2019. New job
at UX Comet as a Senior Designer (UX / Product). In Poland, but remote.
2020
Learning Android
I set out on a quest to learn Android app development with
Kotlin as well as the fundamentals of computer science (data
structures, algorithms, and computational structures).
I
took CS50 and courses from Udemy, Udacity, the MIT open
courseware, and Google Labs.
2021
Story so far - Part I
At the moment, I am leading a team of 3 UX researchers and 2
UX designers. We have successfully delivered data-driven
solutions for major industry players in dating, industrial
engineering, gaming, e-commerce, finance, and other fields.
Story so far - Part II
I go on with my Android / Kotlin learning and code small
products as a side hustle. I also mentor junior artists and
run my own digital art studio business.
