Broadening Horizons

During my university years, I had the privilege of being awarded a scholarship for an exchange program with CAPES in Germany. This experience was a significant turning point in my career, marking my first trip abroad and fueling my desire to seek experiences outside Brazil.

I studied at the Köln International School of Design (KISD), a cutting-edge German university. While web design was still considered a "novelty" in Brazil, KISD was already teaching design management and service design.

The university's methodology was project-based, focusing on real briefs. My project for Coca-Cola was showcased at an innovation fair, and another project participated in the major event on the future of nature, Next Nature.

I also enrolled in a design information project led by Professor Heiner Jacob. In collaboration with the Cologne city museum, I developed an informational map that complemented the different sections of the museum.

During my first exploratory visit to the museum, one photograph caught my eye. It depicted two children clearing rubble in a war-torn city after World War II.

Noticing my lingering gaze on the photo, Professor Jacob approached me and shared that this scene was all too familiar to him. After the war, many men had perished, and children and women rebuilt the cities. He was one of those children, growing up in East Berlin, which remained surrounded until 1990.

Living in Germany and learning at KISD greatly broadened my horizons as a designer. I discovered that design is much more than a discipline; it's a mindset that can be applied to various problems.

On a personal level, immersing myself in a new culture transformed my worldview. More than that, it instilled in me the essence of empathy—the understanding that our realities are not the same, that everything is contextual, and that each individual is a universe unto themselves.