update and making of #26daysoffoodtype

Hey guys!
In case you didn't notice, I was in silence on the blog for the past weeks... well, over a month I'd say.
Towards the end of the #26daysoffoodtype project I got really tired and though I had plans of sharing more about it I just couldn't.
Right after finishing the project I took a small yet very well deserved vacation to meet and explore the wonderful Madrid.
When I got back I didn't really know what to talk about so I just ended up doing other stuff instead.
One of the goals I had set myself for may was redesigning my website. I'm very happy with how it turned out and you can check it here, I'd love to have your feedback on it.
And just before the end of the month I finally got around to edit the fottage I made while #26daysoffoodtype was happening.

I'm really liking this filming and editing thing, if you have any video ideas please drop me a line.
Also you can expect a video from my trip to Madrid, I'm committing to it right now! But at the rate I'm going I'll probably only get to it in a month or so.
I guess this is all for now, I hope you had a great month.

My top 5 alphabets from #36daysoftype

Hello!
My 26 days of food type project has been going on for 17 days, which means there is only 9 more to go.
And let me let you, between pies, icecreams, nutella and guacamole, I've been eating a lot in the last days. Couldn't let it all fo to waste, right?

Anyway, the 36daysoftype still has a lot of days ahead so I'd like to share with you the top 5 alphabets I've been following. Maybe you don't know them already and end up liking them too.
As I've told you before, there is a big amount of great ideas so it was quite hard to decide my top 5.
Check them out by clicking the images.

26days of type - food lettering

36daysoftype has started 1 week ago and it has been a lot of fun.
And A LOT of work let me tell you.
It you search for the #36daysoftype hashtag on instagram you'll find a lot of great examples of how creative we can be having the same theme.
Keep up with my project here: instagram

I've been receiving a lot of feedback which has been great! I even got featured by type.gang!

26daysoffoodtype - the beginning

36daysoftype starts tomorrow!
Here's a sneak peak video of what you can expect from me (sorry if the image seems a bit wonky sometimes, I'm still figuring things out):

36daysoftype are you with me?

36 days of type is a project in which you're supposed to design a letter or number of the alphabet everyday for 36 days straight. It was created by Nina Sans, Rafa Goicoecha and Victor Bregante and they invite all Designers, Illustrators and Graphic Artists to express their particular view on letters and numbers of our alphabet.
Every year (it's the third year now) designers, illustrators and lovers of lettering in general create great and inspiring pieces of design and share them mainly via instagram with the #36daysoftype hashtag. I participated in the first edition (remember this? Or this?) but skipped the second as I was taking an illustration course in London during that time.
However, I decided to get back on that train this year and I'm trying to get as many people on board with me as I can as it can be an extra motivation.
I'm only going to do the letters so it's going to be 26 days of type for me.
It starts in a week.
What do you say? Are you with me?
If you want to know more abou the project head over to their site.

Flat lay photography - my new header

I don't know if you've noticed but I've been making some changes to the layout of the blog. One of the things that were bothering me the most was the header image. It's the first thing you see when you enter a blog, kind of the first impression the reader gets and mine wasn't making me happy at all!

With that in mind, I had this idea of making a new lettering piece (every excuse is a good one). The process of creating it is something I'll probably talk about in a different post as it's something I don't usually do as everything was made manually and I usually jump to the computer stage as soon as I can...

Nonetheless today I wanted to talk about the process of creating the image per se.

Idea

I knew I wanted to take a photo on my desk with a composition of elements that were simultaneously inspiring and useful. Well...not all elements are actually useful but they tell a bit more about me when you first enter the blog (that's why there's a children's book there which wouldn't usually be on my desk while I'm working on lettering but is such an important part of me that there was no way it wasn't going to be featured there. Choosing only one was obviously the problem...

Research

The objects that were going to appear in the image were decided but having google and pinterest as my best friends I decided it wouldn't hurt to see what others have been doing around the same subject. To my surprise, I discovered a world of articles about flat objects photography but they featured mainly beauty stuff

Composition

After laying the objects in an organized chaos, I started to take pictures. I suggest you take an experimental photo to get your composition right. Seeing your composition through the screen is completely different and helps you see if everything is well balanced.

An important tip is when you take some photos you think you're happy with, see them on the computer. 

For example, this is the first photo I took and I thought it was ok but when I saw on the computer I realized there was a stop of white space. With everything still in place, I was able to fix it. And I'm not even joking this was what editing looked like. Not comfortable but effective.

Light

I knew I was going to use natural light so I waited for the weekend to work on this as I come home after dark during week days.

My office is a great natural light during the afternoon but it starts to get direct sunlight around 4 pm and since I didn't want huge light contrasts I started photographing right after lunch.

Then It was just a matter of editing the image to soften the shadows and make the letting pop a bit more.

I quite like the final result and it is the first thing you see.

What do you think?

my second book

I just realised I didn't post about my second book here and that had to change so here I am today, better late than never, right?
Xafir e a Feiticeira do Pântano which in english goes something like Xafir and the Swamp's Wizard is a book about a special boy - Xafir - and his friends and their adventure when they try to understand what happened in the forest where everything has turned into stone.
The book is for kids who are a little older than my first book (7-12 I'd say) so the illustrations are smaller.
I really liked illustrating this book, it was the first time I used my cintiq and worked only in photoshop instead of illustrator which used to be my favourite tool. I even think my style is a bit different but you tell me.

One other thing that's quite fun about this book is that the authors have been going to schools to present the book and I've seen some drawings kids have made about their favourite parts of the story.
Here are some of them:

Podcast suggestion: Design Life

It's 6.24 in the morning while I write this post and one of the main reasons that made me get out of bed and straight into the computer this early in the morning was Design Life. I woke up at 6 when actually I only have to wake up to go to work at 7.30 am.
Design Life podcast is a show about design and side projects for motivated creators. It's hosted by Charlie Marie and Femke VS two female young designers with a fulltime job and side projects. What I like the most about the show is how easily I can relate to almost everything they talk about.
When I discovered it I listened to all the older episodes in a day of work or two and like that urge you feel when you discover something awesome, I felt the need to share its existence with everyone I thought might like it as well. Problem is I don't know many people who like to listen to podcasts and maybe by sharing it here it might get to someone who likes is as much as I do. That's why I'm posting it.
Every week they talk about a different theme: Facing imposter syndrome, How to get up early (he're I am!), Finding motivation and staying focused, and many more subjects. As you can probably tell, it's not all about design and you might relate to these struggles if you're a creative person from a different area.
Now I find it a bit easier to get up every monday morning as I know I'll have a new episode to listen to when I start working.

Paris trip vlog

For the sake of putting myself out there a bit more, today I'm sharing the video I made when I went to Paris last year.
That's right, I went to Paris last november and I'm only sharing this video today.

The trip was great and a good way to realise how terrible my french actually is. I will forever cherish the moment I said to a waitress "je voudrais un croque monsieur et a bottle of water".
I was there for five days and stayed at a very small studio apartment rented via airbnb. Though it was small, the apartment was very central and the walked everywhere using the metro only from and to the airport.
My last night in Paris was the night of the terrorist attacks. It was indeed quite scary trying to sleep that night with all the sirens and helicopters and overall fear. Luckily, this ended up being only a small sad episode in an overall great trip.

About the video, filming and editing it was actually a nice experience as I haven't done anything like it since I graduated. The first version of the video was 8 minutes long and it was quite a difficult process cutting out all the pieces that I had to leave behind. But I had to include that long bit with us trying the Ladurée macarons...
Hope you like it.

Valentine's day illustrations

First post of 2016.
Maybe I'll be able to be more present from now on. Truth is I'd really like to share more here on the blog but I keep second guessing myself about it and with everything else, blogging seems to be that one activity that always gets neglected.

Trying to fight that, today I'll share with you these two illustrations I did  last month, inspired obviously buy love. And what better excuse to post it that the fact that it is Valentine's day.
Hope you like them.

freebies: download december 2015 calendar

FINALLY!
Finally managed to finish the last calendar of the year!!!
The last few weeks have been crazy with work and I also had to finish this year's christmas card (the calendar was based on it) so the calendar had to be delayed.
This will also be the last calendar ever as somewhere along the way this year I lost my motivation and I realized I was only doing them because I had to.
Enjoy!
And Merry Christmas.

download: mobile pattern | desktop pattern

O Sonho do João

Earlier this month a book I illustrated got published, it's the first time I see my name on a published book, and I'me very happy about that.
Here are some photos I took of it.

freebies: download november 2015 calendar

I just realized this morning that we're in november! That's weird especially because it'll be my birthday in two days!
Until a few hours ago I had nothing ready for this calendar, you know, the usual. But I knew it had to be either about my birthday or about my trip to Paris next week. I guess you can see what I ended up choosing.
Only one more calendar to go!

download: mobile pattern | desktop pattern

freebies: download october 2015 calendar

Ok. Ten days late this time! It's a first!
Sorry for the delay but it's finally here!
Enjoy!

download: mobile pattern | desktop pattern

freebies: download september 2015 calendar

Hello there!

September calendar is already available. This time I reused a bee i did for a plate design and some flowers i drew and never used. Changed the colors and voilá: new pattern when you have no time to create something new.

download: mobile pattern | desktop pattern

freebies: download august 2015 calendar

Hello there.
The last few days have been a mix of a lot of work and some vacation time. That and the fact that I'm still adjusting my time between my job, illustration and our young puppy we're the reasons that led me to only finish the calendar today.
If you follow me on instagram you already met Tosta and since she's been a major part of my life for the last couple of months, it's no surprise I had to make a calendar about her.
I hope there are some dog lovers out there and I hope you enjoy this calendar.

download: mobile pattern | desktop pattern

freebies: download july 2015 calendar

Hello there!
July calendar is still quite on time, right?
As I told you before, it was not easy coming up with a theme to illustrate this month as my life has been revolving around one single small being and I wanted to think about something else with this calendar.
There was only one other thing... Summer! Of course!
Hope you like it! Enjoy!

download: mobile pattern | desktop pattern | desktop detail

meet Tosta

Se me seguem no instagram, já conhecem a Tosta. Ela chegou cá a casa este mês e tem sido tão central na minha vida que estou a ter dificuldade em pensar num tema para o padrão do calendário do mês que vem que não sejam diferentes cocós. Vou tentar esforçar-me. Enquanto isso, aqui ficam algumas fotos dela.

If you follow me on instagram you already know about Tosta. She entered my life this month and has been so central to my life that I'm finding it difficult to think about a theme for next month's pattern (a theme other than poop I mean). I'll try harder but in the meantime here are some photos of her.

freebies: download june 2015 calendar

Hello there!
New month, new calendar.
And this month there is no delay I'm actually a few minutes early! that's always a good thing.
My public promise this month is to stop posting only calendar posts on the blog.

Hope you like and enjoy the calendar.

download: mobile pattern | desktop pattern | desktop detail

freebies: download may 2015 calendar

Hello there!
This calendar comes almost three days late! Sorry about that!
Actually I finished it on may 1st but I've got be honest: I'm not sure about the end result so I just procrastinated until now.
It's a bit different from my other patterns (where are the characters?) but I hope you like it anyway. This month I have two versions of each wallpaper because as I said before I don't know if I like it enough as a pattern.

download: mobile pattern | mobile detail | desktop pattern | desktop detail