Three friends who'd known each other for years, but never worked together, came to me with an idea: an architecture studio that only takes on offices worth talking about. No gray carpets, no cubicles. The kind of spaces that end up on design blogs. They already had the name: OFF-SE.

The name
OFF-SE blends two ideas. "OFF," as in off-road, off the beaten path, away from the standard. And "-SE," a Portuguese suffix that turns a verb into something personal, with the warmth Brazilians bring to that kind of embrace. Put together: make the office yours, entirely.

Taking on the challenge
I said yes at a point in my career when I wasn't sure I had the creative chops left. Three founders, three months, and a name that needed to earn its place in two languages. This project became the answer I was looking for.

The process
Started with a kickoff to map expectations and roles with the three founders, followed by a market scan to make sure we weren't repeating what was already out there. From there came concept development: a wide moodboard of references, then dozens of logo directions sketched out before narrowing down to a shortlist worth refining.

Organic: curved, natural lines with no fixed pattern, shaped to follow landmarks like Pão de Açúcar and Copan.

Modern and Bold: angular, thick, minimal, commanding. The direction that won.

Narrowing dozens of sketches down to these two finalists was the real test: knowing which ideas were strong enough to survive a second look.

With Modern and Bold as the foundation, I built out the full identity: logo, slides, Instagram templates, business cards, envelopes, the complete printed and digital toolkit the studio needed to launch.

Feel at home, even if you aren't.

My office is at the beach.

Exhale and Inspire: Our brand is beautiful and inspiring. So give it the space it deserves, because nobody likes a cramped place.

"Our brand is about truly wearing each client's colors. That's why we refer to client projects with an emphasis on the '-se' This isn't an official version of the brand, just a visual play to be used in project presentations (both for clients and on the website). Other than that, it's OFF-SE, period."

No metrics here, no launch numbers. Just proof, bold and unmistakable, that I could still build something from nothing.

Role: Brand Identity Designer.
Context: Independent project, 3 months (2023).
Collaborators: OFF-SE's three founders.