Having worked in McCann Dublin for just over a year now, Felipe has had the opportunity to meet incredible people and the pleasure of working on a variety of different projects for Dublin City Council, OFFSET, Norwegian, Beck’s as well as many other projects. Here, Felipe tells us a little more about his working life, inspirations and how he got to McCann Dublin.
First of all, if you’re reading this blog during the quarantine, questioning reality and what the future holds for us… take a deep breath and remember: DON’T PANIC! The words in large, friendly letters on the cover of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy have made a great impact on my personal life and my career.
If 14 years ago someone said to me (a geeky teenager from Rio de Janeiro) that someday I would be living in Dublin, working in Advertising as an Art Director… I wouldn’t have been surprised. That’s right. I had no idea what my life would look like in the future, and never really worried about it. Why? Because I’ve always relied on something that I consider to be one of my best traits: adaptability.
My first career choice was history. I wanted to learn and read as much as possible about the world that we live in, our past and what happened in every single era. History was a way to fixate my head around reality – something that I considered to be necessary in the past, because it could help to balance my constant daydreaming and give me some perspective. Always with my head lost somewhere in the clouds imagining something impossible, weird, funny (for me) or nonsense.
During my time in college, I had the chance to work in a student project to help digitise the content (books, articles and thesis from former students) of our terrible – really terrible – library. Someone had to code the application and create the user interface – and I said: ‘why not learn how to do this?’ I bought some books, learned how to code in some languages and did my first digital project. It was full of bugs, terrible design and questionable usability. But it worked – sort of, and I really enjoyed working on it.
After that first step into digital/design, I wanted more… I bought more books, studied a lot and improved my skills. I got my first internship in a really tiny design studio in my hometown, Niterói. and after a few months, I was first introduced to Flash. Dude, that was a mindblower for me! The chance to merge code with animation was something that really changed my focus towards design, and because of this course correction, I made the decision to drop history and start college all over again, this time, studying Digital Design. Best decision ever.
Then, after a few years working as a digital designer, I got my first experience in advertising, as a Junior Art Director. Guess what happened? Yup. Everything changed, again! I had finally found a career that I could merge my design skills with a college-history-thirst-for-knowledge and the daydreaming-head-lost-in-the-clouds. From that moment on, I’ve found my new, and I hope forever, passion.
Advertising gave me the opportunity to work with a lot of different themes and subjects. I’ve worked in projects about Politics, Corporate, Food, Environment & Sustainability, Pharmaceuticals, Beer, Music Festivals, Education, Business Intelligence, NGOs and the list goes on. Not to mention all the places I’ve had opportunity to see and work, such as Iceland, Chile, Portugal, London, Amsterdam… and of course, Dublin. This is something that makes me, a 32 y/o, still geeky, Brazilian guy very proud.
On a personal side, I’m always looking for inspiration, reading or learning something different. Photography is something that I really enjoy, and I’m always (well, not during quarantine) taking a stroll around Dublin with my camera – if you see me in the future, say hi! I’m crazy about video games, sci-fi/fantasy books and movies – as the big nerd that I am.
I’m not sure, but maybe this post was too long, and if you made this far, thanks for reading a little bit about my life and my story. I’m always ready for a chat, so if you want to meet me for a coffee or say anything, just send me an email!
Well, I guess this is it – I’m terrible with goodbyes. Tchau!