A humanist designer with a 360º approach to problem solving. Inês uses design as a shifter of society, through visual identity, concept and community. Recognized by Forbes for the list of 30under30. Born in São Miguel Island in the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and America, she graduated in 2016 from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon in the Communication Design course, where in the final year she was part of the development team of the finalist exhibition and collaborated with the atelier TVM designers. In 2017 she left for Berlin to do an internship at Superunion.
After this period in Germany she decided to embark on a volunteer project at a school in Thailand. On her return to Portugal, she came back with greater motivation to invest in new social initiatives such as Decoding Creativity Barcelona, High Potentials ADCE, The Design Kids Lisbon, OFFF Academy powered by Adobe, Próxima Geração Apolitical Academy, Girls in Tech Columbia University and United Nations SDG. Programs that influenced and defined her path to build her independent design atelier, founding Studio Ayer in 2019, a practice that in 3 years of existence collaborated with 12 countries in building +80 projects. She has also pursued a Post Graduation program in Applied Management and Economics at the NOVA business school in Lisbon to reinforce her leadership skills. She holds an MFA in Design Entrepreneurship from School of Visual Arts and Master in Design for Distributed Innovation, a Worldwide experience from Fab Academy and Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.
Currently she is based in New York working as a Creative Manager at Google Deepmind, having worked previously at AKQA, Instrument for Google projects and at Pentagram. She is also developing project Aliquoti, focused on reducing neonatal mortality for BIPOC women in the U.S. She keeps her scope of interests broad with a keen interest in culture and engineering biotech. Advocating to generate discussions about democracy, climate change and social equity. Inês is also a member of Global Shapers Lisbon, an initiative of the World Economic Forum.
PHOTO BY GONÇALO F. SANTOS
AZORES >>>> LISBON >>>> BERLIN >>>> BARCELONA >>>> NEW YORK >>>>
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Design for Change: System Design
Speaker at Tama Art University, Tokyo 🇯🇵
2025
Young Design Generation
Exhibitor for Lisbon Design Week at MUDE Museum
2025
Parsons School of Design
BA Thesis Guest Critic
2025
School of Visual Arts
MFA Thesis Advisor
2025
Legacy by design
Speaker at Future Days
2025
27º Festival CCP
Design Judge at Clube da Criatividade
2025
TEDx Lisboa
Speaker at Culturgest
2025
DAZED
Honoroble Mention Live Pitch
2025
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
Selected as D50 Top Young Global Shaper Voice Speaker at Davos Annual Meeting
2025
FORBES PT
Listed as Forbes 30under30
2024
JAGRITI YATRA
Selected as Mentor/Facilitator for the train journey around India
2024
NOVA BUSINESS SCHOOL
Alumni Speaker at Graduation Ceremony / Outstanding Young Alumni Award
2024
ONE YOUNG WORLD MONTRÉAL
Young Ambassador for Grace Farms Foundation
2024
GIRL MOVE ACADEMY
Speaker and Mentor
2024
WIX PLAYGROUND NYC
Speaker at Screen to Screen
2024
TYPOGRAPHICS
Speaker Call to Action: Unlocking Advocacy
2023
AIGA NY
Speaker at Fresh Grad
2023
THE ONE CLUB OF CREATIVITY
Portfolio Shortlist YOUNG ONES
2023
SVA NEW YORK
Paul Rand Achievement Award
2023
THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS
Creativity in the Workplace Talk
2023
COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL
Hack For Good With Girls In Tech — 1st Prize Team Winner
2022
WIX PLAYGROUND ACADEMY
Selected for Europe Online Edition
2022
YOUNG LIONS PORTUGAL
Silver award on design category — 2 times winner
2019 & 2021
OFFF ACADEMY MENTORSHIP
Powered by Adobe & Vasava Studio — Graphic Power Project Winner
2019 - 2020
ADCE FESTIVAL'18
High Potentials — Portugal Representative
2018
ELISAVA BARCELONA
Decoding European Creative Skills — Selected Portfolio
2018
PENTAGRAM LONDON & GOOGLE
The Dots Portfolio Masterclass — Selected Portfolio
2017
GULBENKIAN YOUTH ORCHESTRA
Junges Orchester Junge Deutsch-Franzosisch-Ungarische Philarmonie
2012 - 2015
I BELIEVE THAT LABELS ARE OVERRATED.
HERE ARE MY OPEN JARS OVERFLOWING WITH DIVERSE SKILLS & INTERESTS.
360º approach to problem solving.
Using design as a society shifter.
SERVICES
Branding — Identity — Strategy — Storytelling— Naming — Art Direction — Web Design — Ecommerce — Wordpress Development — UX / UI — Illustration — Packaging — Typography — Print — Signage — Research — Social Media
FEATURED
INTERVIEW
Forbes Portugal
PODCAST INTERVIEW
NOVA School of Business and Eco.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Homebound — AIGA eye on design
RADIO INTERVIEW
Apanhados na Rede RDP