more about rui
rui as a person
I would describe myself as calm and balanced person; in tune with the rational and the emotional side of myself. I’m often described as a chameleon, as I have the ability to adjust myself to my surroundings and do what is needed at any given moment.
I am a goal-oriented person with long term planning in mind and a drive to fight for what I believe in. But when situations call for flexibility, embracing changes and finding opportunities are something I do well.
As a multi-cultured person with African and Portuguese heritage, and having lived in Angola, the Netherlands, the United States, and Germany, I have developed a deep curiosity in people’s life stories, cultures and drives. Being able to learn more about people and what has brought them to this point in life, is very interesting to me.
My calm and balanced approach helps me to create a positive work environment that fosters collaboration and creativity. Where my chameleon-like ability to adjust to different environments and situations helps me to navigate changes and uncertainty with ease. This will be particularly useful in the fast-paced and ever-changing world of design.
My long-term planning skills and drive to fight for what I believe in helps me to set ambitious goals and lead the project to achieve them.
And my multi-cultural background and deep curiosity in people's life stories, cultures and drives will help me create designs that are more inclusive and empathetic. I can leverage my experiences to bring diverse perspectives to the design process and create designs that resonate with people from different backgrounds and cultures.
before edson design
Dura Automotive Systems
I worked for almost a year at Dura Automotive in Auburn Hills, USA, where I was responsible for creating an interior concept for Dura to showcase at the 2018 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas and 2018 CES in Shanghai.
For CES Las Vegas, I designed the instrument panel of the interior to showcase the infotainment system and the many use cases it could offer. For CES Shanghai, I designed a full interior concept, which utilised the instrument panel from CES Las Vegas with an added second row infotainment.
This was a 9 months project with a tight schedule and strong collaboration with internal engineers. Both the instrument panel and the full interior where designed from sketch to prototype.
HARMAN International
After Dura, I moved to HARMAN International where worked for 3 years in Novi, USA, and 2 years in Munich, Germany. At HARMAN, I managed 2 of their Premium Audio brands, collaborate closely with OEM design teams, and led the CES design activities of HARMAN International.
In the USA, I was responsible for AKG, which was an audio company entering the Automotive field for the first time and their products were being exclusively offered in Cadillac vehicles. AKG was a great opportunity to explore and define what AKG Automotive could and would be in Cadillac, as well as supporting Cadillac executing the AKG design in vehicles such as the LYRIQ (Cadillac’s first EV) and CELESTIQ (Cadillac’s new flagship vehicle) and many others.
In Germany, I worked on Bang & Olufsen Automotive, which was a more established brand with several partnerships such as Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley etc. Here a more strategic approach was required to differentiate between all the collaborations in order to give each OEM a unique execution.
rui’s toolbox
languages
English
Dutch
Portugese
skills
Sketching
Rendering
3D Modeling
Strategic Design
Concept Design
Storytelling
programs
Rhino
Sketchbook
Grasshopper
Photoshop
Illustrator
Indesign
Figma
Maya