MEET THE
HUMAN
BEHIND IT.
Handcrafted Design João Santos
Portugal EST. 2011
Projects
Served
designing
Nominations
I know. It's a cliché.
I didn't choose design. DESIGN CHOSE ME.
And I have been obsessed ever since.
I started being invited by my own professors to teach ... and I said yes! Then came the talks, the workshops, the competitions. I became one of the top-ranked designers on Design Contest and Logo Arena, collecting awards and building a portfolio that opened doors I hadn't even imagined yet. Every gig was a lesson. Every client was a new world to understand. Every brief was a challenge to solve from scratch...and the problem solving on paper, with a pen, before anything else.
I'm always chasing knowledge. Always chasing the next trend, the next reference, the next challenge and meet the next culture. I believe great branding starts before the screen! It starts with understanding the place, the people, the competitors, the market. Only then the concept, Only then the craft.
“Great brands are not built to please everyone. They are built with the courage to stand for something and the conviction to matter to the people they were created for.”— João Santos · Thesis on brand identity and strategy
Designer, illustrator,
educator and creator.
I'm João Santos, a graphic designer and illustrator based in Oliveira do Hospital, Portugal. My background spans Communication, Marketing, Advertising, Design and Multimedia, with a lifelong fascination for human psychology, brand strategy and visual storytelling.
Sketch first.
Always.
My process is simple and non-negotiable: paper and pen before pixels. I believe in going to the source by visiting the place, talking to the people, studying the competition. The concept only emerges after genuine immersion.
I was vice-president of FORDOC, the National Association of Young Trainers and Educators and spent years as a professor, trainer and public speaker before fully committing to design and content creation. That experience of teaching while learning shaped every aspect of how I work today.
I am a defender of creativity from scratch. Of authorship. Of craft. And I never stop studying.
FIELD RESEARCH
Know the ground. Know the people. Understand the market and the competition before anything else touches paper.
SKETCH & CONCEPT
Pen and paper first. Always. The concept is born analogue — rough, honest and free from the constraints of software.
STRATEGY & STORY
Every visual decision has a reason. Brand positioning, tone, personality and ID built before a single pixel is placed.
CRAFT & REFINE
Precision execution. Hand-crafted from start to finish. No AI. No shortcuts. From ZERO to HERO Only intentional, original work.
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2011
THE BEGINNING × Teaching Before Learning Was Over
Invited by my own professors to teach. Said yes. Started giving lectures and workshops while simultaneously building a portfolio — competing on Design Contest and Logo Arena, where I became one of the top-ranked designers. Countless awards. Countless doors opened. With FORDOC Co-founded CreativeLAB — a national community for young creatives in advertising, design and communication.
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2013
→
2018BUILDING THE CRAFT × Brands, Books & Real Clients
Worked as professor, public speaker and brand designer simultaneously. Built a client portfolio across local and national brands. Developed a digital magazine. Published books. Launched a merchandising store. Served as vice-president of FORDOC. Every project — every single one — started with field research, a sketch, and a genuine desire to understand before creating.
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2016-2018
2 Years Project for PMBOK® e PMP® Certification × LPLOL
Liga Portugal de League of Legends. The project led me to Twitch — and ultimately changed the course of my career. What started as a professional design brief became a genuine creative turning point, introducing me to the world of live broadcasting and livestreaming years before its explosive growth during the COVID-19 era.
At the same time, I was entrusted with an exclusive outsourcing collaboration for Germany on an exceptionally ambitious project that would span over two years. During that period, I was responsible for creating the official iconography for Project Management and the PMBOK® Guide, contributing to one of the most recognised publications in the profession and directly associated with the globally respected PMP® Certification.
It remains one of the most demanding, rewarding, and significant projects of my career, reflecting not only long-term commitment and precision, but also the trust placed in my work at an international level. -
2018-Now
STREAMLAB × Teaching Design Live, In Front of Everyone
On 13 January 2018, StreamLAB became a solo project: a live stream on Twitch where I create art and design in real time — more like a live lecture than a traditional broadcast, for an audience of strangers who gradually became a community. Currently the #1 most-watched Art stream in Portugal for the fifth consecutive year and the #1 Portuguese-language Art stream worldwide, StreamLAB was nominated three times before winning the 2025 Streamer of the Year award, earning recognition for its creativity, entertainment value, and community impact in a platform predominantly driven by gaming content. The experiment proved that you can build an audience simply by doing the work out loud.
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2026-Now
HUMANO DESIGN ART ® × The Next Chapter
The studio. The name. The standard. After years of building brands for others, this is the space dedicated entirely to the craft — with the full weight of 14+ years of experience, hundreds of projects, and a relentless commitment to handcrafted, human-made work. No AI. No compromise.
THE ILLUSTRATION BOOK
Hundreds of illustrations made live. Characters, caricatures, cartoons, doodles and visuals done over almost 8 years of livestrams. A publication that documents the full range of a practice built entirely by hand.
Coming soon.
THE BRANDING BOOK × 50 Industries
A published collection of brand identity work spanning 50 different sectors and industries. The goal that drives every new client, every new brief. A book that proves handcrafted branding belongs in every industry, without exception. Currently at +30 industries.
The countdown is on.
IN THE NAME OF × Against the Tide
After years of building StreamLAB into one of Portugal's most-watched creative platforms, the next challenge is clearer than ever: establish HUMANO DESIGN ART ® as a benchmark for handcrafted brand creation .
Within a direct opposition to the AI wave that is flooding the industry with generic, soulless output.
Streams and GRAPHIC SOCIAL CHRONICLE × Ongoing
A monthly limited-edition visual chronicle created live on stream, inspired by social commentary, sharp humour and editorial illustration. 5 units per edition. First day of every month. Where illustration meets culture and craft meets limited supply.
WHAT I DO ×SERVICES
HIRE MEBRANDING × BRAND IDENTITY
Full brand creation from strategy to visual system. Logo, typography, colour, brand guidelines — everything a business needs to build recognition and authority that lasts.
ILLUSTRATION × CHARACTER DESIGN
Original illustration for brands and editorial. Caricatures, mascots, emotes, character design and custom artwork — all hand-drawn, all original.
GRAPHIC DESIGN × VISUAL COMMUNICATION
Print and digital design, packaging, social media, advertising and infographics. Making complex ideas simple, elegant and impossible to ignore.
CREATIVE DIRECTION × BRAND ACTIVATION
Creative direction and content strategy. From concept to execution — bridging design thinking with real audience engagement and measurable results.
Every line, every concept, every brand... made by hand. No generative AI is used in any part of my work. Not as a starting point. Not as a finishing step. Not ever. This is not a policy. It is who I am.