Making Cool Sh*t!
A reflection on the strange paths of creativity
Today’s my birthday, so let’s get a little personal. I promise there’s an insight waiting at the end, trust me 📝
Last week I went to the Figma conference in San Francisco. Great talks. Inspiring keynotes. And most refreshingly, a break from the gaming industry bubble I’ve been in for the past few years.
What stood out most wasn’t the tools or workflows, it was the people.
Architects turned product designers. Physicists now leading creative teams. Artists who found their way back to tech through unexpected side doors. No straight lines. Just honest, messy, winding paths.
Maybe you’ve had that moment too when someone asks how you got into your field, and your answer sounds like: “Honestly? It just sort of happened.”
I used to think that was a red flag. But hearing all those stories helped me realize that detours aren’t a bug. They’re the feature.
When It Clicked
A lot of people in games grew up obsessed with them from the early age. That wasn’t really me. I spent most of my childhood drawing (badly), reading Tintin, Wolverine, TMNT, and watching Thundercats on VHS in an infinite loop. I didn’t dream of working in games. I didn't even dream about a future job. I just wanted to make cool stuff.
Then came the Super Nintendo. That Christmas, Super Mario World flipped a switch.
It wasn’t just fun, it was immersive (not that I knew that word back then). The first few rounds already made me fall in love with games, but what truly opened my eyes was watching someone else play: my mom.
She tilted the controller to jump. Flinched when enemies appeared. Her whole body reacting to what was happening on screen. We were playing the same game, but having totally different experiences. That moment stuck with me.
If you’ve ever watched someone interact with something you made, and saw them feel something, you know that moment. It’s a reminder that good design isn’t just about how things work. It’s about how they make us feel.
Building a Creative Compass
Games were expensive in Brazil. Renting was my only option… and a risky one. Pick the wrong game, and you were stuck with it for two weeks, basically an eternity for a kid. So I started keeping notes. Literally! Scribbled reviews like: “Too hard.” “Shooting is fun.” “Space is awesome.”
I didn’t know it then, but I was building a UX mindset. Trying to understand what made things feel right, and what didn’t (kind of like what we do in Tales From The Couch 🤯).
Maybe you’ve done something similar. Rethinking broken systems. Reverse-engineering why something clicked or why you hate something else. That urge to break things down to understand them doesn’t go away, it just evolves.
As I got older my path wasn’t linear. I studied Portuguese Language in university right after school because I wanted to be a writer (that didn’t last long). Switched to photography. Then graphic design. Motion graphics. Cinema. Websites. Apps. Eventually, I stumbled into UX, Cognitive Science and later games, my old passion. It’s funny to think I never saw it as a realistic path—until one day, it just popped up.
I kept applying the same logic from my childhood notes: breaking things down, spotting patterns, and coming up with ideas and solutions for each of these jobs.
If your career feels “all over the place,” maybe that’s not something to fix. Maybe it’s a sign you’re expanding your creative range. Collecting tools, information and stories. Shaping the way you solve problems and build new things.
So, What’s the Point of All This?
For the longest time, I thought I lacked focus. That I was just chasing novelty without direction. But I see it differently now.
What we often call “messy” is exactly what creative growth looks like.
The odd jobs. The half-finished projects. The pivots that didn’t make sense at the time. That’s where the learning happens. Quietly, consistently, and often without us noticing. So if you’ve ever questioned whether your path makes sense, I want you to know: it probably does. And if you’ve achieved things but never stopped to appreciate them, maybe today’s the day to pause.
Here’s my birthday wish:
Take a moment, not to plan or optimize, just to reflect. Think about the messy, winding, deeply human story that got you here. I bet the younger version of you would be pretty damn proud. 🔥
P.S. Back to Our Regular Programming
This post was more personal than usual, but I think these moments matter. And I hope something in it resonated with you. We’ve got more design-focused content coming up soon. Until then just keep making cool sh*t, ok?
Great writing <3
And happy birthday sir!
Happy birthday Rafael! Thank you for sharing and inspiring us 🫶