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Q&A with Marcelo Marfil

Interface designer from Brasil | Studio SuperMegaUltraGroovy

Ol?! My name is Marcelo, and I’m a 30 year old designer living in Brazil.

How did you get started in design?

Long story short, when I was a kid I wanted to be a comic book artist, but it turns out I’ve always been terrible at hand-drawing — and still am. I needed something to fulfil my artistic vein, so that’s where design came in, thankfully.

After a few years of training and freelance work, I had the opportunity to work at many different advertising agencies. It was great for some time, but I just wasn't feeling it. Either way, that was all I had, so I kept it going.

One day everything changed – that one day in 2007 when the iPhone was introduced. It was a blast. I wanted to be part of it. I needed to be part of it.

Weeks later, I dropped my somewhat stable job, delighted with what the future had to offer me in this new era. Since then, I’ve been designing apps for iOS and Mac. I don’t look back often, but it has been a fun ride!

What are you working on now?

Right now, I’m working with the awesome folks at SuperMegaUltraGroovy building outstanding audio apps for people that want to learn to play music – all the way to powerful analysis tools for audio studios. It's been a joy. I’ve always loved music, and combining it with my other passion (design), is a dream come true.

What tools and software do you use for your work?

What is your ideal work environment?

You can call me a weirdo, but I do like the loneliness of working from home. I appreciate the noise-free environment when I need to get things done, so 99% of the time this is where I choose to work from. For the moments I need to be sure life’s still happening, I have my wife and our little daughter to shake things up a bit – and to turn the house upside-down.

Where are your favorite places for art?

To be completely honest, in the past few years I’ve avoided looking for design inspiration in the usual places. I try to gather a wider variety of inspiration, outside of my. From anywhere really: sci-fi & indie movies, books, graphic novels, Japanese architecture books, comic book conventions, stand up comedy shows. Anyway, I try to find art anywhere I go or in anything I consume.

Who are the designers, artists you admire most?

This is a trap, I have too many talented designer friends and they’re all a source of inspiration to me, so I’m not going to risk forgetting someone. Let me break the rule here, I’m going to list a few people that inspire me in my life:

  • Michael J. Fox (Actor)
  • Shigeru Miyamoto (Video game designer and producer)
  • The Brazilian twins Fabio Moon and Gabriel B? (Comic book artists)
  • Scott Snyder and Matt Fraction (Writers)
  • And obviously, my wife Karina, my daughter Bianca and our two cats Frida and Frederico