Rui Pedro Esteves, Behance’s Lisbon Ambassador. [see his work]

Describe what you do in a few words.
I’m a communications designer and illustrator, working for clients like Discovery Channel Magazine, Women’s Health, Diesel and others. I love to teach creative people (both young kids and adults!) and do cultural events production, such as art and design exhibitions, conferences and workshops.

Who, dead or alive, would you love to collaborate with?
I would have loved to collaborate with Jim Morrison and The Doors, perhaps contributing to a poster design or album cover illustration. Someone alive – I’d love to collaborate with a very talented American Illustrator named Josh Cochran – I think he’s one of the greatest contemporary illustrators out there.

What 3 things should any Behancer visiting Lisbon do?
Any Behancer visiting Lisbon should do a town tour or surf experience to get the local flavor. Lisbon also has some great art museums with very good international exhibitions. Two I recommend visiting: the Electricity Museum or the Museu Colecção Berardo.

What’s your favorite project that you’ve worked on professionally?
One of my favorite projects I’ve worked on is Diesel. It’s the one that describes who I am as a designer and illustrator best. It’s a brand I personally admire, and the creative director gave me total freedom to develop this campaign, and I gave all I had from my personal expression into it.

What creative work are you obsessed with right now?
So many! The list is long, but three that I’m obsessed with now are:

Josh Cochran: Josh is a traditional editorial illustration, but he has something unique and special about his work that’s hard to describe, but easy to notice.

Studio Kxx: These guys do excellent work with different disciplines – they’re able to mix graphic design, illustration, editorial design and branding so well. I’m impressed with everything they put out.

Moma Design Studio: I think this goes without saying, but they have great designers, excellent thinkers and great content to communicate. And what do they do with it? The best design work you’ll ever see. It would be a huge honor if i could collaborate with them one day.

What’s the best thing about working in the creative industry?
The best thing? The power of communicating with images. Working in this industry, I feel like I’m able to make the world a better place and fill it with more happiness and color.

What have you been doing as a Behance Ambassador in Lisbon?
I have done as much as possible to connect the Portuguese creative community, creating synergy and helping them get involved in the philosophy and mission of Behance. I hosted a series of 6 creative lectures (called Be-In-Talks) with many creative leaders and studios from the Portuguese industry.

In this lecture series, the speakers I invited were heads of design studios, freelance designers and students, including: Alva Designers, Silva!Designers, P28, Triplesky, MMStudio, Push FWD, Vilma Costa Pin Up Photographer, Rodrigo Gonçalves – Illustrator, André Meca – Designer student, Mauro Carmelino – Designer And Illustrator, Rafael Matos – Designer, Miguel Sousa – Designer student, and others.

This year, I decided to change the events, and began to produce workshops, so I invited some of the best names in our industry to teach the creative community, connecting young people with professionals to learn from their experiences.

I invited  Filipe Carvalho AKA Random Thought Pattern, Trollback + Company and other international motion design houses to teach about concept motion design and how this industry works. After this workshop, I had two more, one about creative writing and book illustration for young kids with Planeta Tangeria, and other about Creative Direction in brand design with one of our remarkable Creative Directors Mário Mandacaru.

The events were great successes – people loved it and was and honor do this for my community. If you want you can see some pictures on our blog or on our Behance In Portugal Facebook Page.

What are you working on now?
I’m teaching visual arts, working for Discovery Channel Magazine as a illustrator (and always looking for new clients!). As a Behance Ambassador, I’m hosting a sketchbook workshop next weekend, and preparing a few surprises. I want to make big international art & design events here in Lisbon, which I’m thinking about for the future!