[New Project] I was walking through São Paulo when I spotted a newly opened bar called Cajá. The bar had no logo, no sign, nothing—but it did have one thing: a cheerful bird singing upstairs. That became the primary inspiration for this logo and the project's overall design. As this was a personal project, I had freedom to explore new possibilities, but I also faced the challenge of being my own client and finding myself in a position familiar to designers: never feeling that the work is truly finished.

Being your own client is such an accurate way to put it, that's exactly the trap. The bird stamped across the napkins and bread cloth already feels lived in. What made you finally decide it was done enough to post?

Project Link: Fondly So, I've always had this issue: I don't know what to give my friends that they'll genuinely like. I also never know what to say when people ask what to give me.

The problem isn't the gifts themselves: it's the loss of a nice surprise. Wishlists take the surprise away, and saving my own gift ideas in Excel sheets takes it away too. I didn't know how to keep track. So, I built Fondly.

It sends you random suggestions: it could be a friend asking, or the app just trying to get your vibe. You never know! You can also add gifts for yourself or a friend into Vaults. Vaults remain unseen, only when it's for someone else do you get to use it to find the perfect gift.

It's basically using a recommendation algorithm, but instead of downright selling things, it's about surprises! A surprise could be bought, made by hand, or just spending time together. It preserves that moment of giving someone exactly what they want, and that shared, happy surprise.

The workflow:

Brainstorm with ChatGPT and Claude > Despair > Design with Canva > First Draft > Iteration > Find out I could have edited manually instead of wasting my messages > Final Draft! Enjoy (the surprise)! 😄

❤️❤️