This year marks a decade since I stepped into a university classroom—not as a student, but as a professor.

I was 26. Fresh out of my second degree in Graphic Design, I was invited to teach Editorial Design and Print Production at UJMD, my alma mater and the place where I had just finished a beautiful double academic journey in Communications and Design.

Ugly on purpose, sad on the feed, and spiritually glittery: welcome to the new aesthetic order.

Let’s face it. A new wave of aesthetic standards has taken over, and it’s not here to please your mom, your design professor, or even your inner minimalist.

Most brands that come to Capitol Circle don’t need a new logo.
They need clarity, coherence, and direction.

Yes, good design helps. But if what’s underneath is messy, disconnected, or half-baked, a rebrand will only give you prettier confusion.

Sometimes ideas arrive in the quietest moments—on a random Tuesday when I’m calm enough to notice them. They don’t wait until I’m sitting at my desk, though that is where I prefer to be. My office is my refuge, a place where I can lay out the words like small offerings. But more often than I’d like to admit, I end up writing on my phone, collecting sentences before they slip away.

My first job was as a correspondent for a magazine from La Prensa Gráfica. Looking back, it seems writing has always been there for me. I did it for two years, until the format evolved and I started working with one of the most famous cooks in my country. That project didn’t last long, but it showed me how much I loved cooking.

In therapy, I kept circling back to the same kind of crushes. You know the type: sharp, magnetic, well-put-together. Emotionally compelling and intellectually charged — almost like looking into a mirror, in the best (and worst) ways.

We’ve all been there—stuck with a melody in our heads, no lyrics, no title, and no way to find the song. These days, we have Shazam, Siri, and Google to save us, but back in the early 2000s, if you missed a song’s name on the radio, it was gone.

For a long time, I believed in the saying that "there's no accounting for taste." However, I have realized this is more myth than reality over time. Taste is not purely arbitrary or entirely personal. Criteria, theories, and principles define what looks beautiful or unattractive, luxurious or inexpensive. While personal preference does play a role, it is not the sole determining factor in how we perceive design, aesthetics, and value.

Life is a journey filled with experiences that shape and challenge us to evolve. Along the way, we face situations that test our strength and offer opportunities to learn and grow. Recently, I found myself reflecting on these moments after experiencing a personal loss. In November 2024, my beloved dog Milo passed away. His absence made me think deeply about the experiences that connect us all—grief, change, and personal challenges. Though difficult, these moments are universal and remind us of our shared humanity.

When three talented women—Elisa, Sara, and Carolina—came together to create UnBasic Lab®, they envisioned more than just an image consulting studio. They dreamed of a space where women could embrace transformation, confidence, and self-expression. As the creative behind their brand’s visual identity, my role was to bring this vision to life through design.