I initially interviewed Marcelo Marfil back in 2010. I decided to catch up with him recently to see what’s new – here’s what he had to say:

Tell us a bit about yourself. What are your hobbies? Where have you traveled to?

Hello, I’m a 27 year old visual designer from Brazil. When not working, I study english, read some books and watch lots of TV shows and movies. I recently visited Portugal and loved it. I’ve been there before but this time it was completely different, I was with my newlywed wife and we had time to visit some beautiful places and discovered some delicious food.

What was your first job? First freelance gig?

Voices app from Taptivate. That was a really fun project to be part of, and fortunately, it was a huge success in sales and critics judging by the feedback I’ve had from press and users.

How’d you get into graphic and user interface design?

Well, long story short, I’ve worked as graphic designer for 6 years in a number of advertising agencies in Sao Paulo, Brazil (which is where I’m from). Some day, I woke up and I had a feeling that I wasn’t being honest with myself, I was doing something that gave me no pleasure. When the first gen iPhone was released, I bought one, in that moment it sparkled my interest for Interface and Iconography even more. So I started designing my own app icons and customizing some bits of the apps I used, and then when I realized this, I was into this market designing apps. I think, the difference between designing for advertising agencies and designing for software companies is very huge though. It’s so good when you see someone having fun with an app you helped create, when you see a smile in their face you can call that a day. 

Any formal training, or mostly self taught?

I did some design training when I was in the University but mostly I’ve learned by myself. I’ve always liked to deeply explore software, and that helped me a lot to develop my skills. I still am learning something new every single day and maybe that’s the reason I like what I do.

Are there a lot of Mac users in Brazil? How’s the design scene over there?

It has increased significantly nowadays. I think the iPhone, the iTunes Store, the Apple Store Online and the local retails are helping a lot in this process. Also, Brazilian’s economy has expanded a lot in the past couple years and it has been possible to afford Apple products but they still very expensive here though.

Regarding the design scene, there are a plenty of talented designers here. I just hope it keeps growing, specially the software market.

Which do you find more challenging – designing for Mac or iOS? Any preference between the two?

I honestly don’t mind which OS I’m gonna work on, or which is more challenging. I’m a Mac user since 2001 and iOS user since the beginning. I think both are equally challenging to me.

Do you have a favourite project that you’ve worked on?

Well, the one I’m working on right now? … haha. I always try to be better today than I was yesterday. This is what keeps me motivated. Very cliche, I know, but it’s true.

What do you enjoy reading?

I’ll list my favorites:

Blogs:

• The Big Picture
• The Loop
• The Verge
• Apartment Therapy
• io9

Books and Magazines:

• Being Peacy by Tgich Nhat Hanh
• Simplify Your Work Life by Elaine St. James
• Focus by Leo Babauta

If you had to pick one person as being the most influential person in your life, who would that be, and why?

Sorry, I can’t pick just one. I’d say my parents and my wife. They’ve always trusted and supported me in everything. I’m really proud to have them near to me.

What’s your hardware/software setup look like? Any favourite applications?

My weapons of choice are a 27-inch, Mid 2011 i7 iMac powered with a Vertex 3 SSD and an Intuous 4 Wacom tablet.

Overextending about the whole computer usage my favorites are:

• Apple Mail
• Billings
• Byword
• Espresso
• Fontcase
• Notational Velocity

And lastly, if you had to pick another career, totally out of the design realm, what would it be?

I really love music and movies. I can’t live without it. Anything related to any of these two would be great.

You can follow Marcelo on Twitter or check out some of his awesome work on his personal website.