Rafael Bessa
Brazilian Designer and Art Director
Visual Systems / Brand Identity / Digital Design
Brooklyn, NY

Currently
Principal Designer
(Innovation Team)
at
PayPal

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Main Experience


PayPal
Principal Designer
New York

BUCK
Art Director
New York

Work & Co
Senior Designer
Sao Paulo

Aruliden
Graphic Designer
New York

R/GA
Visual Designer
Sao Paulo

+

Select clients


Apple
Amazon
Audi
Google
IBM
Itaú
Mastercard
Meta (Facebook)
Microsoft
Nike
OpenAI
PayPal
PepsiCo
Ray-Ban
Samsung
Stripe
Venmo
WhatsApp

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Book Pre-sale (ᴘᴛ)

Book Pre-sale (ᴘᴛ) ★

My book (ᴘᴛ)
Design: Global Crítico Negro Prático‍ ‍Pre-sale

Selected Press, Publications, Interviews, Podcasts

Fast Company
Dynamic Logo‍ ‍Book
14th Brazilian Design Biennial Catalogue
Computer Arts Magazine‍ ‍UK
Computer Arts Magazine‍ ‍Brazil
AIGA 50 Books 50 Covers
Aprender Design
UOL Tab ᴘᴛ
The Inspiration Grid
Freela School ᴘᴛ
CCSP ᴘᴛ
AD News ᴘᴛ
Suplemento Pernambuco ᴘᴛ
ArchDaily ᴘᴛ
Diagrama ᴘᴛ
Coexist ᴘᴛ
Fala Colega ᴘᴛ


Awards

ADC Awards‍ ‍Silver Cube‍ ‍
ADC Awards‍ ‍Shortlist
D&AD‍ ‍Shortlist
LAD Awards‍ ‍Silver
Creative Review Annual Awards
Communication Arts Award of Excellence
Brazilian Design Biennial
GDUSA‍ ‍Branding
GDUSA
Interactive
IDEA‍ ‍Finalist
BDA‍ ‍Jury

Lectures & Courses

Ongoing
Design Visual para Produtos Digitais ᴘᴛ
2025
CLIP Open Evening - Portfolio Reviews
2025
Design e Libertação: Lutas Anticoloniais ᴘᴛ
2024
Sonhos de Autonomia no Design ᴘᴛ
2023
Guest Critic @ Brand-Driven Interfaces
2023
Curso D:GCNP ᴘᴛ
2022‍ ‍Espaços do Design no Contemporâneo ᴘᴛ

In 2017, I created the design research project 148 Designers (ᴘᴛ), and since then, I have been invited to speak at universities and design events such as the World Interaction Design Day (IxDD 2019). I have written for various design publications, including Revista Recorte, where I also serve as a guest editor. I teach at Aprender Design School and frequently co-host the Brazilian design podcast Diagrama.



Speaker engagements

2025
‍ ‍DiaTipo SP 2025
2025
‍ ‍Inspira Design, UFF
2025‍ ‍UniFil
2022
‍ ‍Design Ativista Panel
2022
‍ ‍Recorte Launch Event
2022 Belas Artes
2021‍ ‍Anhembi Morumbi
2021 ESPM
2021
‍ ‍INSIDE, UnP
2020 Charneira,PUC-PR
2020
‍ ‍EBAC
2019‍ ‍World Interaction Design Day (IxDD/IxDA)
2015 GAMPI Design,Univille



Published Articles

2021‍ ‍Design Radical ᴘᴛ
2022‍ ‍Designers ou Militantes? ᴘᴛ
2023‍ ‍Livros sobre Emprecariado ᴘᴛ



Guest Critic Engagements

2025 Harvard University
‍ ‍Graduate School Of Design
Final Review for the Master's in Design Studies
Open Project: Experimental Infrastructures
Students: Gustavo Borges, Nathalie Attalah,
Ella St. Hilaire, Jules Bernstein, Sijia Ma

2021 USP · Universidade de São Paulo

FAUUSP
Final Graduation Assessment Examining Board
Thesis: Agitprop gráfica - Atelier Populaire
e propostas para o agora
Student: Lais Matias

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Contact: