Growing up, I struggled with learning challenges and adapting to a traditional education based on standardized tests and neurotypical academic goals. I was always a bit too energetic because of my hyperactivity, distracted because f my ADHD, and a bit slower at reading because of my dyslexia. So I became a teacher. But different from the kind of teacher that you may have in mind. I became one that would teach with empathy, acknowledging all the different learning styles and disabilities—comprehending that play and exploration are essential for teaching-learning processes. I became a kid again, rediscovering the world in complicity with my students. I learned that I could re-learn with them. My hands and their hands started making and expressing ideas through the art of loud exploration. Through trial and error, Design, and different plastic languages, I would allow children and myself to share our thoughts in divergent ways.

 

This teaching methodology jumped into designing and creating spaces and exhibitions that would show parents and the educational community how children learn in unexpected ways. Here is where I had the eureka or "ajá" moment and started discovering that Design is the tool that would help me design for those children that needed a different approach, for those adults that needed to become kids again and rediscover the world.

 

After eight years of working in the educational field, I decided to pivot and Study Design. The tools I learned inform and enhance my educational knowledge, and my expertise in early childhood education influences my Design. Graphic Design is a malleable practice that serves as a vessel to carry and communicate a message. In my particular case, I use Design to create divergent, creative, outside-of-the-box, engaging, ludic, and educational experiences for children and adults. My work is experiential because it requires the audience to engage with it and feel something through a physical encounter or a spark of imagination.