Interview with Jesmynny Morais
Jesmynny Morais is a Brazilian Creative Director who combines a global perspective with a distinctly Brazilian essence.
Interview about Orla 55 Brand Identity Design Interview
Design Legend Interview
3 September 2026
I'm Jesmynny Morais - most people call me Jes. I hold a degree in Advertising and Graphic Design, and I built my foundation in branding, art direction, and strategic marketing. Before founding my own studio, I worked at an agency, where I developed my experience in team and design management. Today I'm the founder and creative director of JESMORAIS, a branding and marketing studio based in Itajaí, Brazil, serving clients both nationally and internationally.
I'm motivated by the moment a brand finally recognizes itself. Design, for me, is not decoration - it's clarity. I became a designer because I wanted to give businesses a voice that feels true to who they are, and to translate strategy into something people can feel, not just read. Seeing a client go from uncertainty to confidence in their own identity is what keeps me doing this.
It was a choice, and one I keep making every day. Nobody pushed me into it. I was drawn to the intersection of strategy and creativity, and building my own studio was a deliberate decision to work on my own terms and my own standards.
I design brand identities and strategic marketing - naming, art direction, visual systems, and the positioning behind them. Much of my work is with architecture studios and real estate developments, which I love. I'd like to design even more ambitious, long-term brand systems for companies that treat identity as a strategic asset rather than a one-time project.
Learn strategy, not just software. A beautiful layout with no idea behind it doesn't survive. Study business, listen more than you speak, and respect the discipline of doing the unglamorous work well. And protect your point of view - the market rewards designers who think, not just execute.
A good designer solves the brief. A great designer questions whether the brief is even the right one. Great designers understand the business behind the request and design for the outcome, not just the deliverable.
Good design is honest, strategic, and inevitable - once you see it, it feels like it couldn't have been any other way. I evaluate it by asking whether it communicates clearly, whether it serves the client's real objective, and whether it will still hold up years from now.
Good design is a business decision, not an expense. It builds trust before a single word is exchanged, it makes a company legible to the right audience, and it protects value over time. Investing in design is investing in how clearly the world understands what you do.
I'd love to work on cultural and social-impact brands: institutions, foundations, projects that shape how a community sees itself. Design that carries meaning beyond commerce.
A complete brand system for a large-scale cultural or urban development - something that lives across architecture, print, digital, and physical space, where the identity becomes part of the landscape itself.
Strategic pause. I even carry it into my own identity as a signature comma - a symbol of stopping to think before acting. The best decisions come from that deliberate pause between the problem and the solution.
I draw inspiration from strategic branding thinkers and studios that treat identity as an intellectual discipline - people who balance rigor with beauty like Ana Couto and Tátil Design (from Brazil).
One of my favorite works is the Amazônia identity by FutureBrand São Paulo. Instead of the usual green-leaf clichés, they traced the logotype straight from satellite imagery of the Amazon River basin - the territory literally drew its own letters. I love that it goes beyond aesthetics: co-created with artists from all nine Amazonian states, with a "Feito de Amazônia" seal that turns the brand into a real economic tool for local entrepreneurs.
My greatest design is Orla 55, a real estate branding project that earned a Silver A' Design Award. What makes it great to me is that the idea, the aesthetics, and the strategy all point in the same direction - the concept drove every visual decision, so the identity feels inevitable rather than decorative, and it stayed coherent across every touchpoint from strategy to final execution.
Study relentlessly and stay curious about business, culture, and people - not just aesthetics. I invested in understanding marketing and strategy, learned to manage teams, and kept refining my point of view. Improvement comes from combining craft with critical thinking.
I'd probably have worked in strategy or brand consulting - anything that lets me help businesses understand and express who they truly are. The thinking behind the design is what fascinates me most.
Design is strategic communication made visible. It's the discipline of turning intention into form - giving ideas clarity, structure, and a voice.
My journey has been shaped by the clients who trusted me, the team I've built, and the people who believed in my vision before it was proven.
Discipline, strategic thinking, and never separating creativity from purpose.
I had to start from absolute zero. I paid for my own education without any financial support, and to build my first portfolio I took on projects for free just to prove what I could do. From there, it was a matter of earning the trust of good clients one at a time. Nothing was handed to me - every step was built through persistence and by consistently delivering quality before anyone had a reason to bet on me.
With the reasoning, not just the visuals. Present the strategy first, the problem you were solving, and then show how the design answers it. Work presented without its thinking is just decoration.
I'm continuing to build long-term brand systems for architecture and real estate clients, and expanding my studio's international reach. Expect more strategically grounded, conceptually strong identities.
To make JESMORAIS a reference for strategic branding - a studio known not just for beautiful work, but for the depth of thinking behind it, recognized internationally.
Clarity, consistency, and results. Clients come to me expecting not only strong visuals but a strategic partner who understands their business and elevates their position in the market.
Design organizes information, builds trust, and gives ideas a fair chance to be understood. When done responsibly, it makes communication clearer and more honest - and that benefits everyone, not just the client.
I'm especially energized by my branding work with architecture and real estate developments - projects where identity, space, and strategy come together.
The ones where a client couldn't articulate who they were, and we gave them an identity that finally felt like them. That moment of recognition is the most satisfying part of the work.
I'd like design to be valued as strategy, not styling. Too often it's treated as the last step instead of a driving force. The industry should keep pushing to be at the table where decisions are made.
Toward deeper integration of strategy, technology, and identity. Brands will need systems that adapt across countless contexts, and designers who can think strategically - not just produce assets - will lead.
It depends entirely on scope, but a full branding project typically unfolds over weeks - because the strategy and discovery phase deserve as much time as the execution. I don't rush the thinking.
I start with the strategic pause - understanding the client's business, their audience, and their real objective before touching a single visual. The idea always comes before the image.
Pause, then create. Strategy before beauty and beauty in service of strategy.
Great design sets trends; average design follows them. But the strongest work often ignores trends altogether in favor of what's true and lasting for the brand.
Technology is a powerful tool, but it serves the idea, never the other way around. It accelerates execution and expands possibilities, but the strategy and concept still come from human thinking.
I work primarily with the industry-standard creative and design tools for branding, art direction, and marketing, alongside strategic and collaborative platforms to manage projects. Mac, Adobe & Figma.
They carry emotion and meaning. Color, texture, and context are how a brand feels before it's understood rationally. In branding, they're strategic tools - every choice signals something about who the brand is.
"Why?" I wish people asked more about the reasoning behind the work - the strategy and intention - instead of only reacting to how it looks.
I immediately look for the thinking behind it - the strategy, the decisions, the "why." A great design makes me want to understand the mind that shaped it.
Absolutely. My ideal partners are clients and collaborators who engage in the strategy, not just approve visuals. The best work comes from genuine collaboration between designer and business.
The clients who challenged me and the teams I've led - every collaboration sharpened how I think and work.
I love to read, and I have a habit of seeing art in everything - so I gravitate toward books that leave me with a personal lesson, like Flowers for Algernon, as well as neuroscience books like Behave by Robert Sapolsky. That mix shapes how I design: I'm always looking for the human insight and the deeper meaning beneath the surface, which is exactly what strong branding has to capture.
Through formal education in marketing, hands-on agency experience, and the constant challenge of running my own studio. Real growth came from doing the work, leading people, and refining my strategic thinking project after project.
I'd love to sit with the pioneers of strategic branding - the thinkers who defined how identity and business intersect - and exchange ideas about where design is heading.
Recognition is meaningful because it validates the strategic depth behind the work, not just its appearance. But I stay grounded - the real reward is a client who trusts you and results that last.
My favorite season is autumn, and my favorite place is anywhere with nature and silence. My favorite color is green, and my favorite food is pancakes. I don't have a single favorite brand - I appreciate any brand that treats its identity as something meaningful and intentional.
The funniest part of being a designer is realizing you can never turn it off. I catch myself mentally re-kerning restaurant menus, redesigning street signs in my head, and judging the packaging of everything in my kitchen. My friends have caught me staring at a badly aligned label for far too long. Seeing art - and design flaws - in everything is a beautiful curse I wouldn't trade for anything.
A great day is when a client sees their new identity and instantly recognizes themselves in it. I motivate myself by remembering that every project is a chance to give a business the clarity it's been missing.
Even as a child I was drawn to organizing ideas and making things look right - the instinct to give form to thought was there long before I had a name for it.
I believe the need to communicate identity will never disappear - the tools will change beyond recognition, but the human desire to be understood, to belong, and to express who we are will remain. Design, in some form, will always exist because of that.
My work is built on one belief: design without strategy is just decoration. Everything I create at JESMORAIS starts with a pause - a moment to think - because the most powerful ideas come from intention, not impulse. That signature comma is my whole philosophy in a single mark.
Designer Interview
3 September 2026
I'm Jesmynny Morais - Jes. I hold a degree in Advertising and Graphic Design, and I built my foundation in branding, art direction, and strategic marketing. Before founding my own studio, I worked at an agency where I developed my experience in team and design management. I became a designer because I was drawn to the intersection of strategy and creativity - the ability to give a business clarity and a voice. It grew from a natural instinct to see art in everything and to give form to ideas.
I'm the founder and creative director of JESMORAIS, a branding and marketing studio based in Balneário Camboriú, Brazil. We work in branding, naming, art direction, and strategic marketing, with a strong focus on architecture and real estate clients, serving them both nationally and internationally. Our philosophy is captured in our signature comma - a symbol of the strategic pause, the moment of thinking before acting that shapes everything we create.
Design is strategic communication made visible. It's the discipline of turning intention into form - giving ideas clarity, structure, and a voice. Design without strategy is just decoration.
I love building complete brand identities - naming, visual systems, and the strategy behind them. Working with architecture studios and real estate developments is especially rewarding, because identity, space, and strategy come together in a single vision.
One of my favorite projects is Orla 55 - a branding project where strategy, identity, and a strong sense of place came together. It reflects exactly what I value most: an identity built on real thinking, where every choice has a reason and the result feels inevitable.
My very first design job was at a printing/apparel shop, creating prints for company uniforms.
My real material is strategy and language — naming, positioning, and visual identity. Beyond that, I work with the standard professional creative tools for branding and art direction. But the most important "technology" I use is the strategic pause: thinking before creating.
In silence and in nature. My favorite place is anywhere quiet and surrounded by nature - that's where my mind clears and the strongest ideas come. Creativity, for me, needs space and stillness, not noise.
Strategy first - the client's business, their audience, and their real objective. Then clarity: whether the design communicates the right message instantly and whether it will still hold up years from now.
A mix of focus and curiosity. There's a calm concentration during the strategic pause, and then real excitement when the concept clicks into place and I know it's true to the brand.
Deep satisfaction - especially in the moment a client sees their new identity and instantly recognizes themselves in it. That moment of recognition is the most rewarding part of the entire process.
When it's honest, strategic, and inevitable - once you see it, it feels like it couldn't have been any other way. A successful design serves the client's real objective, communicates clearly, and lasts.
I ask whether there's a real idea behind it. Does it communicate clearly? Does it serve the business objective? Is every choice intentional? A beautiful layout with no thinking behind it doesn't survive.
Designers organize information, build trust, and give ideas a fair chance to be understood. Our responsibility is to communicate honestly and clearly - never to manipulate - and to be intentional about the impact of what we put into the world.
It's moving toward deeper integration of strategy, technology, and identity. Brands increasingly need systems that adapt across countless contexts, and the designers who can think strategically - not just produce assets - will lead. Design is finally being recognized as a driving force, not the last step.
I haven't held solo exhibitions of my own - my work lives in the market and in the brands I build. That said, I've worked as art director for architecture exhibitions, leading the visual communication for an architecture studio at CasaCor/SC, one of Brazil's most respected design and architecture events. I'd love to bring that experience into more cultural and exhibition-based projects in the future.
I have a habit of seeing art in everything, so inspiration comes from everywhere - nature, reading, human behavior. I love books that leave me with a personal lesson, like Flowers for Algernon, as well as neuroscience books like Behave. That mix of art and human insight feeds how I think about branding.
My style is strategic, intentional, and clear - never decoration for its own sake. Every element has a reason. My approach always begins with the strategic pause: understanding the business before touching a single visual. I explored this direction because I come from marketing, so I've always seen design as a business discipline first.
I live in Balneário Camboriú, Brazil. Brazilian culture brings warmth, creativity, and adaptability to my work - we're used to solving problems with limited resources and a lot of heart. The main challenge is that design is still often undervalued as strategy here, but that also motivates me to raise the standard and prove its real business value.
I work as a strategic partner, not just a supplier of visuals. It starts with understanding the client's business and objectives, then moves through strategy, concept, and execution - always with the reasoning shared alongside the work, so the client understands why, not just what.
Look for a designer who asks about your business before talking about visuals. Choose someone who presents the thinking behind their work, not just pretty images. And treat design as a strategic investment, not a last-minute expense - the partnership works best when the designer is at the table where decisions are made.
It always begins with the strategic pause - discovery and understanding of the business, audience, and objective. From there I develop the strategy and positioning, then the concept, and only then the visual execution. The idea always comes before the image.
Framed art on my walls, my books, my plants, and my lamps - the light and atmosphere they create. These are the things that bring calm, nature, and inspiration into my space, which is exactly where I feel most creative.
My day balances strategy and creativity - client work, art direction, guiding my team, and the business side of running a studio. I try to protect quiet moments to think, because that's where the best ideas come from. It's the life of a founder: creative, manager, and strategist all at once.
Learn strategy, not just software. Study business, listen more than you speak, and respect the discipline of doing the unglamorous work well. Protect your point of view - the market rewards designers who think, not just execute.
The greatest positive is giving a business the clarity and identity it's been missing - that moment of recognition is unmatched. The challenge is that design is often undervalued as strategy, and running a studio means wearing every hat at once. But that pressure is also what makes you grow.
Pause, then create. Strategy before beauty - and beauty in service of strategy.
Strategic thinking, clear communication, and the discipline to understand the business behind the brief. Craft matters, but critical thinking is what separates a good designer from a great one.
My toolbox combines the standard professional creative and design software for branding and art direction, strategic and collaborative platforms to manage projects and teams, and - just as importantly - books, nature, and human insight as sources of inspiration.
I protect the thinking phase and stay disciplined about process. Running my own studio taught me to allocate time and resources wisely - giving strategy and discovery as much room as execution, without rushing the ideas.
It depends entirely on scope, but a full branding project typically unfolds over weeks, because the strategy and discovery deserve as much time as the visual execution. I don't rush the thinking.
Clients often ask how long it will take and how much it will cost - but the question I value most is "why did you make this choice?", because that's where the real value of the work lives.
Founding and building JESMORAIS from the ground up. It forced me to grow beyond design into leadership, strategy, and business - and it's where everything I believe about design came together. My earlier experience at Brandfost Marketing also shaped my foundation in team and design management.
I work primarily with architecture studios and real estate developments, serving clients both nationally and internationally.
Complete brand identities - because they let me combine strategy, naming, and visual direction into one coherent vision. I especially enjoy work with architecture and real estate, where brand and space reinforce each other.
To make JESMORAIS a reference for strategic branding - recognized internationally for the depth of thinking behind its work. I'm continuing to build long-term brand systems and expanding the studio's global reach.
Both. I lead a team and believe strongly in collaboration, but I stay closely involved as creative director, guiding the strategy and creative direction on every project.
I'm currently focused on branding work for architecture and real estate developments - projects where identity, strategy, and space come together.
website: www.jesmorais.com.br
instagram: jesmorais
WhatsApp: +55 47 992013446
instagram: jesmorais
WhatsApp: +55 47 992013446
Only this: everything I create starts with a pause - a moment to think - because the most powerful ideas come from intention, not impulse. That's the belief behind my work and behind the signature comma that defines JESMORAIS.