I think of design as a vehicle for progression, a window of opportunity to leave things better than we found them. Everything around us has been designed in one way or another. It permeates culture, business, society and can influence the future and even human behaviour: the pinch and zoom gesture is now a universal language, for example. This altered my perception of what design is and what it can stand for.
In 2007 I took my first design job after working on a few small projects on the side for friends and bands. My first goal was to become a graphic designer but I was quickly pulled in different directions and grew an appetite for other design disciplines. I dabbled with illustration, got obsessed with typography, learned to code, researched UX and eventually tried my hand at entrepreneurship. I am a self-taught generalist and I owe most of what I know to the internet. Thank you www.
I later founded Hangar, a studio I run to this day. Hangar went through its own metamorphosis and is today a branding and design studio for tech startups and scaleups, with a strong portfolio in fintech, AI and edtech among others. Hangar introduced me to entrepreneurship and during my career I launched and failed other businesses. I have been involved in various startups that included a healthtech product for gynaecologists, an event organisation app, a book summary app and a job search website. Between 2015 and 2017 I was part of a music collaboration app called Kwaver. Kwaver secured a seed round from an Angel Investor and was also showcased as a case study during Google IO 2016.
I enjoy writing and sharing experiences from my design career. This usually takes the shape of blogs on my website and content on my newsletter The Pilcrow. In rarer cases, I have organised workshops about branding and typography for design teams and designed and lectured Designing for Intent: A Design Process from Lead to Launch, at the University of Malta.
Whether they’re mine or others’, new business ideas excite me. Today, I advise startups and help them refine their message and positioning, making communication clearer for investors and consumers alike.
Outside the tech space, I have recently co-founded Stradalia, a clothing brand inspired by car culture and a Mediterranean lifestyle — a brand that stands for slow living and fast driving.