They say you should never reveal your sources. We believe differently.

There is no secret that Studio Bruto were responsible for the first visual identity of The Sandy Times — yes, the neon-green, slightly savage version. They also connected us with calligrapher Hugo “Xesta” Moura, who created our signature logo and helped define the visual language that followed.

Founded in 2018, Studio Bruto is a visual design studio, communication consultancy, and ideas workshop led by João Santos and Jonathan Tavares. Working across art, editorial, retail, web, and motion, they build identities rooted in culture rather than trends. Their practice spans music, events, hospitality, and beyond, with collaborations ranging from cultural institutions to global brands.

We sat down with João and Jonathan to talk about building brands from scratch, navigating uncertainty, questioning trends (or the absence of them), and, inevitably, the question on everyone’s mind: will AI really take designers’ jobs, or will it simply change the way we think and work?

— Let’s start with a brief story of Studio Bruto. How did you start? How did you meet each other? Where does it come from?

João: It started a long time ago with me and Jonathan. We had already worked together for a while, doing events and parties in local clubs. After that, we created a radio project called The Why Radio, where we invited DJs and artists to record mixes. It was more related to soul, funk, which is a bit different from what we do now, as our focus today is more electronic and connected to the electronic scene.

That is why I always like to tell this story — it is really the beginning. Later, I went to Amsterdam for a couple of years, and when I returned, Jonathan invited me to start a project with him. We basically put our ideas and experiences together and decided to build something of our own. That is how we developed Studio Bruto. Music played an important role in the beginning, but other projects quickly started coming in as well. I already had some clients, Jonathan had his network too, and we combined everything. It wasn’t something that happened overnight; it was a gradual build-up until it became this specific project called Studio Bruto.

Jonathan: I think João summarised it quite well. The main thing is that we were already working on a project that took a lot of time from us, which was the club. We were sharing the same space and working very closely, so it made sense to create something that carried the same feeling. What really motivated us was our interest in building brands from scratch. Someone comes with an idea and a business model, and we help think through everything else — communication, PR, and design. Those are the projects that truly excite us, and we created the company to keep doing that. Even though a studio can’t survive only on projects built from scratch, that approach is still something we are very fond of.

— So you started as just the two of you. What was the first big project when you realised you needed more people, more creative minds?

Jonathan: We started collaborating with other people quite early on. One of the first moments was when we were invited to work on a wine fair in Porto called Essência do Vinho. It wasn’t just one deliverable — there was an event, a website, and a whole system that needed to be built. We brought in Ricardo Leite, a friend of ours, who at the time was focused more on illustration.

In the beginning, it was just the two of us. Today, we see the studio more as a triangle. In 2022, Ricardo Silva joined us as a consultant. Through a combination of patience, vision, and collective effort, he helped us shape what Studio Bruto is today: a more assertive and contemporary design studio, one that understands the market clearly but responds with agility and responsibility to every challenge brought by our clients.

That was also when we realised we needed more structure. We brought in a part-time project manager to help keep things moving, because at that time I was still partly involved with the club. We also hired someone to support João on design, and we had a junior designer as well. That project marked the transition from a two-person studio to a small team working together around the same table.

— What was the most challenging project so far? Maybe there is a crazy story or a particularly difficult situation.

João: It is a difficult question, because every project has its own kind of challenge — timing, expectations, scale, or complexity. But if I had to choose one that was especially challenging, both emotionally and practically, it would be the very beginning of the studio.

We officially opened Studio Bruto, and one week later the world shut down because of COVID. Suddenly we were questioning everything: whether it was the right time to open a studio, how we would handle rent and bills, and what the future would look like. At the same time, we were working on the Neopop identity, which is a major festival in Portugal. It was exciting to have such an important project, but also strange, because we were designing an identity for something that we didn’t even know would be able to happen. In the beginning, it was just me and Jonathan in the studio, trying to keep everything running and maintain the quality of our work during a very unstable moment.

Around the same time, we also designed a 3D virtual experience for a wine company connected to a museum in Porto. It was something completely new for us, and we were doing everything remotely with a very small team. We had to record the space, translate it into a digital environment, and build the full experience with sound and interaction. It was challenging, but the final result was very strong.

That period really defined something important for us: we like to take risks, but not the kind of risks that endanger the outcome of the work. We accept challenges, but we commit fully to delivering something solid and meaningful. During that time, everything felt challenging. After that, things became easier by comparison.

— I am interested in your creative process. We worked together on The Sandy Times branding, and it was striking how a very small brief turned into a complete approach. When you have a brand with an idea, what happens next? How do you brainstorm and develop concepts?

João: It is a complex process, and it isn’t easy. Over the years, we developed our own system. One of the most important things for us is truly entering the mindset of the client and the project. Without that level of understanding, the outcome is never the same.

Every studio approaches this differently, but we invest a lot of time at the beginning to understand what people actually want. Sometimes a company has multiple partners, and everyone has a different vision. Our role is to organise those ideas, even when some of them initially don’t make sense. That early phase is the core of the process. If you understand how people think and what they are trying to build, the rest becomes much easier.

For me, there are three essential elements. The first is deep understanding. The second is respecting the narrative behind the brand — the story is fundamental, and it shouldn’t be overwritten by a designer’s ego. Designers sometimes believe they know the best solution and stop listening, which creates friction and misdirection. In the end, it is about translating meaning, not imposing style.

The third element is longevity. We want to create identities that can last. Trends are part of culture and part of the process, but our goal is to build something that holds value over time. Collaboration is also central to our work. When we don’t have a specific skill in-house, such as custom typography or calligraphy, we work with people who can bring that expertise. Collaboration enriches the identity and makes it more precise.

Jonathan: I would add that the briefing for The Sandy Times was unusually clear and complete, which made a big difference. The relationship with the client is fundamental. There is an empathy component — we need to understand the client’s perspective and context.

Then there is a creative phase where our more intuitive side clashes with our analytical side. We explore ideas freely and then ask how those ideas serve the purpose of the project. There is always a negotiation with the client, balancing their needs with our role as designers in expanding the project beyond the obvious. Sometimes there is enough time to go through all phases properly, and sometimes the process is compressed. That negotiation is one of the constant challenges of studio work.

— You are often associated with the music industry, but your work goes far beyond that. What is the full scope of what you do?

Jonathan: Music is a very visible part of the studio because those projects are highly exposed. They often involve promotion and reach large audiences. But we aren’t limited to music. We work broadly within urban culture, which is something we are deeply connected to.

Many of our visible projects involve record bars, clubs, festivals, vinyl, and similar spaces. At the same time, we also work on projects that are more academic or technical, including healthcare, real estate investment, and international consultancy projects. We have clients across very different sectors.

What connects everything is our approach: strong professional ethics, pragmatic workflows, clear deadlines, and solid relationships, combined with a deep creative focus. From real estate to blockchain, from healthcare to events and hospitality, we operate across many fields, even if people initially discover us through music and urban culture.

João: As Jonathan mentioned, we are fundamentally a branding studio. Branding allows us to work with a full 360-degree view of design — from web and editorial to typography, identity systems, and visual language. Brand design brings together almost every discipline within graphic design, and that is something we really love.

That range is important to us. Early in my career, I focused almost exclusively on editorial design, which I enjoyed, but it felt limiting. I wanted to work across disciplines, understand their challenges, and collaborate more deeply with specialists. That curiosity and range of knowledge allow us to collaborate better and push projects further.

— You mentioned design trends earlier. What are your thoughts on what is relevant today?

João: Well, it is very different from when I started in graphic design. Back then, we didn’t have many resources, so we bought a lot of books. Graphic design trends around 20 years ago felt much more narrow.

When I was at university, there was a very strong trend here in Porto. The city was well known for its graphic design school, with a more manual and tactile approach. People were drawing from the same references, not because of the internet, but because teachers were passing on those ideas and showing us how to use them.

Nowadays it is different. There are so many trends, in every field of graphic design, that it is almost impossible to define what is happening today or to say that in 2026 design will be about one specific thing, like handmade or hand-printed typography. There are simply too many places to look — from Instagram to Pinterest.

When I taught at university, I saw how confusing this was for students. That is why I focused more on teaching how to think, rather than what trends to follow.

So I can’t really answer the question in a direct way. I could mention things like techno-style graphics or bold, heavy visuals, but even those are already shifting. Graphic design is no longer tied to one dominant style.

Today, as the world becomes more multicultural, graphic design reflects that. We are drawing from many cultures at once, and I think graphic design is becoming one shared ecosystem. You can be in Brazil, Australia, Portugal, the UK, or the United States, and everyone is influencing the same visual conversation.

With all these changes, especially with AI, I think design thinking itself is becoming the most important value. Your ability to analyse, decide, and create meaning will matter far more than following any specific aesthetic trend.

— It is nice that you mentioned AI, because I wanted to ask you about it. Many designers dislike AI and say that anything made with it isn’t real, not good, not art. What is your take on AI? Should we be using it? Can it help the design process? Can we rely on it?

João: If we think about AI in a very superficial way, it has already brought many good things and it will also bring many bad things. I can give you a simple example. In Photoshop, for instance, AI helps a lot with very practical tasks. Something that used to take a long time, like removing an element from an image and making it look clean, can now be done with a click.

That isn’t really a shortcut in a negative sense — it genuinely helps the process. But if AI is used as a shortcut so that you stop thinking, then it becomes a problem. The big difference between AI and other technological evolutions is speed. AI is evolving extremely fast, and because of that, it is very difficult to set boundaries. It can feel like everything is possible and that AI is a shortcut for everything.

If it makes you think less, it doesn’t make sense. If it helps you achieve something that was genuinely complicated before, then it does.

I often think about photography as a comparison. When photography first appeared, painters who worked in a very realistic way were deeply affected. They were spending weeks or months painting something that could suddenly be captured in seconds. Today, photography is in museums. This kind of shift is part of how culture evolves.

The complicated part with AI is that it isn’t evolving at a human pace. It is much faster than photography ever was. Because of that, boundaries aren’t established in time, and that creates problems.

Jonathan: If I can add something: I teach at a design and arts school in Barcelona, where I give a short course on copyrighted media. What I see very clearly is that there is still very little understanding of how intellectual property works. Many people don’t fully understand how their work is protected, or how it can be used — especially in relation to AI.

AI works with what already exists. It is trained on content created by people. If that content isn’t properly protected or registered, it can be used in ways that create infringements. Because of this, there needs to be much stronger regulation around how AI is trained, especially on the side of the companies developing these systems.

At the same time, users also need more knowledge. Responsibility goes both ways: to the people using AI and to the companies building these tools. Most students don’t want AI to replace their work — they want it to support their process — but there is still a lot of confusion.

Right now, AI companies are economically incentivised to evolve as fast as possible, often without enough legal or ethical constraints. That will inevitably create more confusion. We will probably need to go through a difficult period to understand what the best path forward is.

Jonathan: One of the main problems is that AI was developed in reverse. Usually, you set boundaries first and then build a system. With AI, we fed the machine without boundaries, and only later started thinking about rules — when problems were already happening.

Of course, AI is very helpful and, in many ways, amazing. In two years, it will be completely different from what we have now. But setting clear ground rules is essential, not only for design, but for society as a whole. You can already see the effects with fake news and AI-generated videos. People who don’t understand the technology can easily believe that what they see is real.

And beyond misinformation, there is also a human cost. Imagine someone who built a career as a 3D artist, invested years in education, software, and practice — and suddenly a similar result can be generated in minutes. That is very complicated. These issues go far beyond design alone.

— So, to conclude: if a company is thinking about branding, design, or creative campaigns, the best approach is still to invest in creative minds — human beings — even if they use AI as a tool. Why should people work with Studio Bruto? Why should they trust you?

Jonathan: For us, everything starts with building meaningful relationships. We really value working with different visions, perspectives, and cultures. The Sandy Times is a good example of this. Working with the Middle East required sensitivity and a real effort to understand cultural nuances.

That kind of work changes you. It makes you grow both as a human being and as a professional. We are very interested in working outside our immediate cultural context, beyond national or European boundaries. Different perspectives, languages, and communication styles challenge us, and that challenge makes us design better and think more deeply.

We work with many international clients, and we don’t see ourselves as a studio that only operates locally from Porto. We enjoy working here, but our mindset is global. We approach projects with an international perspective and a strong sense of responsibility.

We also don’t impose a fixed style on the people we work with. While we have certain shared sensibilities — what we sometimes call a Mediterranean warmth — we try to absorb what is interesting and meaningful in each context. We listen first, and then translate that understanding into strategy and design.

That openness, combined with experience and professionalism, is what defines Studio Bruto.