Fabiano Souza, Senior Product Designer

Since I used to be somewhat child I cherished to attract. I keep in mind by no means asking for toys to play, I’d all the time most popular comedian books and exercise magazines. My mother and father would purchase them for me each week or so, and that influenced me so much. I assume you possibly can say I’m a part of the creative-kid-becomes-a-designer cliché, but it surely wasn’t that simple. When I completed highschool, I wasn’t certain about what I wished to do—I simply knew I wished to create. In my hometown, the design course simply did not exist, and my mother and father did not have the assets to ship me away to check, so I began finding out promoting as an alternative. But by way of work, from promoting cell subscriptions to illustrating catholic books, I made my approach into design. 

What motivates me to design is principally individuals. I really like the thought of making use of creativity into making individuals’s lives simpler and fixing issues that may actually make a distinction to them. It’s only a pleasure to have the ability to use what makes me glad to make others glad too.

I collaborate with some sensible people from probably the most various cultures and backgrounds—from Sweden, London, and New York—to attach individuals with creators on Spotify in methods they do not anticipate or have not imagined but, whether or not they’re there to be impressed, entertained, or simply for enjoyable. All of this by way of the magic of audio.

This is my WFH setup, a.okay.a my bed room desk. It’s a loopy feeling to suppose that what I create in my bed room is gonna be utilized by hundreds of thousands of individuals, so I attempt to make it look as skilled as I can—however with a enjoyable twist, as a result of why not?

1. Monitor. I really like having an even bigger display screen. When I solely use my laptop computer I really feel trapped and I am unable to focus. I normally open my laptop computer solely when I’m in conferences the place I would like to show my digital camera on.

2. iPad Pro. That was a present from my husband to encourage me to attract extra. Illustrating is my ardour, my interest, and my evening job. I illustrate on Procreate and use that to sketch when we’ve got distant workshops too.

3. Animal Crossing Amiibos. To be trustworthy, I’ve by no means performed Animal Crossing, however I discovered these figures in a retailer in Ireland (the place I’ve lived for some time prior to now) and thought it was cute and it could look cool on my desk.

4. My telephones. As I design for each iOS and Android, I’ve two gadgets—one being my private cellphone—to check each new function we create earlier than it reaches your cellphone too.

5. Monopoly Dublin Edition. I’m very dangerous at enjoying Monopoly, however this was really a goodbye memento. When I used to be transferring out of Dublin, I wished to convey one thing with me, and this was good. It’s additionally a pleasant coincidence you can see the condominium I used to reside in printed on the board.

I assume this one just isn’t very particular and it is nowhere close to overwhelmed, however I’ve to say designing for podcasts—my present job. Designing for a fairly new audio format for an app that was initially thought and formed round music is a each day, massive problem. 

Music and podcasts are very totally different: when you needn’t suppose an excessive amount of to hearken to music, and it goes with principally any vibe and exercise, podcasts require extra mind funding—but each codecs reside in the identical house. This dynamic makes us designers attempt to create an expertise that fits such totally different habits and consumption patterns on the identical time. Besides that, most options we created for podcasts had been one thing new for Spotify, for our customers, and for us as designers. Our work entails numerous exploration within the workforce to make it possible for issues we need to make work within the Spotify system, numerous testing, and numerous tweaking after transport.

Spotify is changing into an increasing number of an audio platform. And it makes me so rattling proud to see I’ve been a part of that!

Christine (& the Queens)

I completely love her fashion and her bravery. Apart from being an absolute Queer icon, I really like how she speaks her soul by way of her lyrics—I simply hook up with her songs in a really particular approach. The film she made for her final EP, La Vita Nuova, is a murals. I hearken to her songs nearly each morning once I open Figma.

Kevin Feige

This will sound humorous, however may even communicate up for my nerdy facet. Every time I’m engaged on one thing complicated that requires me to work with totally different groups throughout Spotify, I prefer to think about how Kevin Feige would do it in the event that they had been Marvel Movies. I discover the best way he related totally different films alongside 10 years and ended up with a masterpiece that’s Avengers Endgame to be actually, actually spectacular. 

Tarsila do Amaral

I may be dishonest somewhat bit right here, however Tarsila is somebody I am unable to miss on my record. She was a Brazilian painter and performed an necessary function in bringing modernism to Brazil. She used references and aesthetics from worldwide actions to color the Brazilian tradition. Her fashion and Brazillian pleasure strongly affect me as an illustrator and designer.

First of all, Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈 

A shout to all of the Queer creators on the market, who’re utilizing their expertise to create and their voices to talk up for themselves and for our brothers and sisters. We’re residing a loopy second and we have to love and defend one another, particularly probably the most weak ones. May we by no means overlook that we owe so much to trans girls of coloration and that #BlackLivesMatter!

Also, shout out to my household and associates, and to my beautiful husband, Elton, who’s my finest fan, good friend, and supporter, and who helps me to be a greater human daily. And to Bento, our canine youngster. 

Finally, try my illos at @fabs.png, and discover me on Twitter @iamfabiano and Instagram @fbnsz.