Learn from Bráulio Amado’s Unfiltered Design Style

Embrace the Chaos

You get the raw, unapologetic, unforgettable work of Bráulio Amado.

A Portuguese designer based in New York, Amado has carved out a space where spontaneity, disorder, and even mistakes aren't flaws — they're essential parts of the process. His work is loud, aggressive, playful, and free from the constraints of clean design trends.

If you've ever felt stuck in polished, safe, and expected design, there's a lot to learn from Amado's approach.

The Value of Messy Beginnings

Most designers start with clean wireframes or tidy moodboards. Amado begins with chaos. He sketches without a goal. He tosses textures on the page to see what sticks. He lets the early stages stay messy, and sometimes those messy bits become the final design.

This raw energy makes his work feel alive. It's not about being neat. It's about capturing a moment, a feeling, a reaction. You can do this too, even in structured projects. Start with what feels honest. Don't rush to fix the rough edges. Let the work lead you, rather than trying to control it.

Chaos with Purpose

While Amado's designs look wild, they're never thoughtless. Every distorted typeface, brushstroke, and colour clash is placed with emotion in mind. His work triggers reactions — sometimes humour, sometimes confusion, sometimes defiance. That's the point.

Design doesn't need to be neutral. When you let emotion guide your decisions, your work connects more deeply. Before choosing your next layout or colour, ask yourself: how should this make someone feel? Then let that answer shape what you do.

Imperfection is a Signature

We live in a design world obsessed with polish. Especially with AI tools, it's easy to generate work that looks smooth and technically flawless. But something gets lost in that process — your voice.

Amado embraces the opposite. He keeps the scratches. He exaggerates the errors. The ink blot that smears, the photo that warps, the type that shifts off-grid—these are marks of presence. They remind you that a human made this.

You can apply this idea in your work by allowing imperfections to remain visible. Scan a hand-drawn texture and use it in your layout. Let your alignment be off by a few pixels. Don't fix every rough edge. These decisions can make your design feel more personal and more real.

Constant Reinvention

One reason Amado's work feels fresh is that he doesn't lock himself into a signature style. He resists repetition. If he finds himself doing the same thing too often, he changes direction.

This mindset can be liberating, especially if you've been working in the same design space for a while. Try switching up your tools, your formats, or your clients. If you always design in colour, go black and white. If your work is minimal, try clutter. Even small shifts in your process can help you find new energy.

"I love imperfection. It reminds us we're not machines — there's a real person behind the work," says Amado

Design with Cultural Voice

Amado's background as a Portuguese designer living in New York adds another layer to his work. He brings tension, humour, and disruption into the mix — not to fit in, but to speak from where he's been.

Think about where you come from. What visual references shaped you? What's happening in your world right now that you want to react to? When you pull your personal story into your design, your work gains depth. It becomes harder to imitate because no one else has your exact perspective.

Applying This to Your Client Work

If your projects are primarily client-driven, you may wonder how far this approach can take you. You don't have to go full Amado to bring some of this energy into business design.

Try introducing one expressive element — a texture, a hand-drawn icon, a background with rough edges—into an otherwise clean layout. Let your typography play a bit. Move away from the grid occasionally. When used with care, these choices can make even professional work stand out.

You don't need to abandon structure. You need to loosen your grip on perfection.

Creative Prompts to Explore

If you want to experiment with this approach, start with a short creative challenge. Make a poster in 10 minutes with no undo button. Take a client layout and redesign it using only scanned textures and hand lettering. Or pick one emotion — frustration, joy, nostalgia — and create a visual that captures that feeling without relying on stock images or templates.

These exercises aren't about making finished products. They're about waking up new parts of your process.

Final Thoughts

You don't have to become Bráulio Amado. You don't have to abandon clean design or stop using grids. But you can learn from what he does so well.

He trusts his instincts. He embraces what others might call mistakes. He lets emotion lead the way. He keeps evolving. And most importantly, he makes the kind of work that refuses to be ignored.

If you've been playing it safe, now's a good time to loosen up.

Let your next design breathe. Let it surprise you. Let it get a little messy.

References: booooooom and ccmagazine

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