How would you describe your work? 

Branding is my strongest skills. I love to build a brand from scratch. The problem is that a lot of people don't understand what is branding in Mexico, so we have to educate the clients. The first part of my work is to educate them showing the case study of the branding of Airbnb, Uber and whatnot. I need to teach my client that to achieve their ambition and meet their business goals, they need to invest in their branding. The biggest misunderstanding here is that clients don't think that branding is necessary, they see it more as a luxury. 

Where are your clients mostly located? 

Mostly from the USA now, but before, all of our clients were based in Mexico city. Oh, one of them was French like you! 

What does a typical day look like for you? 

Here in Mexico city, we have a lot of traffic problems so if you start your day at the same time than everyone, you will get stuck and your commute will take forever. We decided to move our schedule so instead of starting to work at 9am we start at 12pm. For the same reason, we finish our day around 11pm.

The first thing I do in the morning is to check my mails to see if there is a new prospect. I start working directly after and what I do depends on the current state of the project(s) I'm working in. We also delay our lunch time to 3pm to avoid the crowds. Then we get back to the office, have a meeting with our clients via Skype or Google hangout and then work until 11pm. 

What are you working on at the moment? 

We have three different projects, the first one is a portfolio of a creative developer. One is a client from Texas called Modern Business. We helped on the branding and on the website.

Where do you find your inspiration? 

Most of the time, my inspiration comes from music covers. My biggest reference are Studio Dempsey, Stanley Donwood and Storm Thorgerson. I use to be a punk so I'm really influenced by that culture, that philosophy and this visual language. From my punk period, I try to maintain that attitude of always questioning things. 

What would you do when you get stuck creatively? 

I love to walk on the streets and punch walls sometimes.. If I could have a heavy bag in the office, it will help a lot to clear my mind. When I'm really stuck, I try to analyze projects that other designers have made to push me to do better. 

What is the best advice you ever received?  

The best advice that I have received is to fail harder and more times. It pushes me to get this philosophy of trying more things and not be afraid of failing. 

How do you keep learning and growing as a designer? 

I try to have those kind of rivals to compare myself to and to compete with them to push me to get better. It motivates me to want to do better and beat them.. in a healthy way. I would compete with them not to keep them down but instead growing with them and keep the pace. I also love the philosophy of Muhammad Ali who said that you need to believe in yourself even before you are capable of doing something; I would fake it until I can make it. 

How will you describe the design industry in Mexico? 

I think that the design industry in Mexico is a bit confusing. Right now when people think about design, the first thing that comes to their mind is illustration. They don't see the big picture of design. If you try to think about great Mexican designers, most of them are illustrators. In Mexico, some students think that because they are good at drawing they will be good designers but that's not true. Also, for too long, we've been telling people that design is to make something pretty and now it's hard to change the mentalities. I take it as a challenge to change that mindset in Mexico. 

Was being designer a path that you think you could take growing up in Mexico? 

When I was a kid, I didn't think about being a designer. I was more into cooking, I wanted to be a chef but then I switched my mind and I wanted to be a musician. I had this vision of being creative but didn’t realize I wanted to be a designer until I saw my brother working. More than just design, he also helped me to grow as a person and to have a more mature vision of life.

Who are some of your favorite designers and agencies? 

As a designer, I love Stefan Sagmeister. I also admire the founder of Ueno, Haraldur Thorleifsson, he really inspires me. I can't understand how he built Ueno so quickly and so well. I also love Bjarke Ingels that was recently featured in the Abstract documentary on Netflix. 
I love Nick Slater, the illustrator, Dieter Rams, Paula Scher and Massimo Vignelli.
In terms of agency, I really like Fantasy Interactive, Ueno, Pentagram, Your Majesty, North Kingdom, Unit9, Firstborn, DogStudio, Hello Monday, Active Theory, Resn and Stuurmen. In Mexico I like Foo studio.