My Leadership style.

I believe the best design organizations are built on mentorship, not management. My job as a leader is to elevate the people around me — to turn production artists into product designers, junior ICs into confident decision-makers, and cross-functional teams into genuine collaborators.

My approach – give people the tools, context, and trust to do their best work. Then get out of the way.

But before the magic, there's the framework.

What I Bring to a Team.

  • Leaders who stop making lose touch with what makes design hard. I'm a player-coach — I lead strategy and ship pixels, and I think that combination makes both better.

  • In the AI era, crossing the aisle isn't optional. I work directly with engineers to translate prototypes into production and with executives to align design decisions with business outcomes.

  • At Humble Bundle, I transformed a team of production artists into product designers. At Casetext, I built the design function from scratch alongside the CEO. At Gridspace, I established design practices for a company that had never had a design process.

  • Two acquisitions. Multiple restructures. Building in uncertain markets. I know how to keep a team focused and productive when the ground is shifting.

What others have said about working with me.

  • “Bernardo is a truly exceptional designer. He was consistently able to take high-level discussions about the idiosyncratic world of legal research and turn them into beautiful and functional design. Lawyers are generally not an effusive bunch, but time and time again, our users told us how much they loved the design of our platform. Bernardo took on the big challenges while always attending to the small details that separate great design from good design.”

  • “Bernardo is a pleasure to work with. A superb designer who understands technical resource constraints, can work around them, and can prototype directly with engineers to bring his vision to life. On top of this, he also built processes for the design department and transitioned his reports from Graphic Design roles into Product Designers under his mentorship. A rare combination of talented individual contributor and adept manager.”

  • “Bernardo is an incredibly talented designer whose work is always beautiful. I was impressed by him time and time again, whether he was improving old UI or creating something entirely new. He's able to effectively collaborate with engineering to come up with designs that not only look great, but also make implementation quick and easy. Any organization would benefit from Bernardo's help.”

  • “Bernardo is hands down one of the best designers / creative directors I've worked with. He's relentless in making sure that creative vision comes through on every project and merciless about quality. He's an artist in a pragmatic world of techies and puts a much-needed polish on any project.”

  • “Bernardo is a very creative and talented designer with a knack for pushing the envelope. His design sensibility is both playful and sophisticated. He has a deep understanding of interactivity and pays close attention to emerging web trends and technologies. Bernardo's best asset is the ability to turn an ordinary concept into something great.”