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Mao who?

A brazilian designer living in Portugal, with a lot of stories to tell from the last 20 years. Husband, father, coffee addict, remote worker.
Picture of Mao Barros

What led
me here?

Fearing God.
Loving family.
Valuing life.
Having a thing for Design.
Going bankrupt a few times.
Being always curious and thirsty.
Staying around the right people.
Learning things without a teacher.

Tools I’m
currently using

Illustrator
empowers my
creative process
Figma
holds my
prototypes
Webflow
proves my design works just fine
Medium
lets me write my crazy ideas
Notion
keeps me
organized
Keynote
makes all my proposals clear

Life of a
entrepresigner

Leading a Design Team
I have the amazing job to create, keep and evolve our product with incredible and talented people.

Curating Portfolios
It's not about saying it's good or bad, but showing the way so it can be more effective.

Writing Articles
My latest skill, and I have to say, I'm loving it. Writing is how you document your ideas.

Helping to recruit
As we value people instead of jobs, it's very satisfying to see people reaching their goals.

Working remotely
I'm loving to be more close to my wife and kids, and having my own studio at home.

Where wisdom
came from

Lisbon Challenge Fall’18
Startup Acceleration program

The Webflow Masterclass
Ran Segall, Flux Academy

Hello Design Thinking
IDEO, on Ideo U

UX Fundamentals
Joe Natoli, on Udemy

UX & UI Master Course: Strategy, Design, Development
Joe Natoli, on Udemy

UX Requirements Made Simple
Joe Natoli, on Udemy

Build a Powerful Portfolio
Joe Natoli, on Udemy

Social Media Strategy for Business Growth
Dot Lung, on Domestika

Storytelling for Marketing and Entrepreneurship
Alex Glod, on Udemy

Build Successful Long Lasting Brands

Oxford Learning Lab, on Udemy

Industrial Design, with emphasis on Visual Design
Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil

Graphic Arts, with emphasis on Graphic Design
SENAI Theobaldo de Nigris, Brazil

Advanced English
IELTS Certificate, Cambridge (2018)

Digital Media Advertising
EDIT – Disruptive Digital Education

Teach.able
Teachable U

Adobe Premiere Rush
Joseph Adam on Udemy

UX Essencial
Daniel Furtado, on Aela.io

Design System Specialist
Meiuca

Composition with Figma
Pablo Stanley, on Domestika

Extra gigs
o'mine

Webflow Chapter Leader
As one of Portugal’s chapter leaders, I’m allowed to promote Webflow events (online of offline). It’s amazing to be part of this.

Product Designer for Mobo
It’s an old flame that has been awaken after almost 20 years: To create physical products. It’s been a journey, I’m a kid on this.

Advisor at Primo da Cidade
As I’m an illustrator since early 2000’s, I keep my skills alive as advisor on this amazing art studio based in São Paulo, Brazil.

Latest articles

Freelance UX Designer or Employee UX Designer?
How different hiring formats influence your professional career

What's wrong with the term UX/UI?
How does this gray area affect hiring

Do I have what it takes to work abroad?
How UX/UI Designers can plan their career abroad

How good are you at learning?
A reflection on the professional value sought in UX/UI Designers

How good culture helps retaining talent
After Hiring, keep your best UX/UI Designers

Brands I relate to

It's amazing how brands affect people's lifestyle. Not only the buying choices, but everything the brand represents that relate with people who are attracted by the culture they bring. These are the brands I relate to and make a point about telling it:
Apple BrandStarbucks BrandIKEA BrandSamsung BrandCoffeeLab BrandWebflow Brand