Dr Crystian Cruz

CRYSTIAN CRUZ - BIOGRAPHY

I’m an award-winning senior multimedia designer, educator and lecturer, with a Master in Typography and a PhD in Design

With broad experience in multimedia content creation and typography, I have worked in various markets, such as design studios, publishing houses and advertising & marketing agencies. I hold a Master’s in Typeface Design from The University of Reading (England) and a PhD in Design from the University of Newcastle (Australia).

I have been a creative director of major Brazilian magazines and newspapers and designed custom corporate typefaces for major Brazilian brands. For the last decade, I have focused on multimedia projects such as companies based on e-commerce, corporate presentations, events and digital marketing. Since 2003, I have also worked part-time as a lecturer in Brazilian and Australian bachelor and postgraduate courses.

As a multimedia designer, I enjoy combining technology with content-producing skills to create innovative products and services. I’m proud of being part of projects such as the rebranding of the largest web news provider in South America (UOL), the creation of a multimedia magazine for the largest cosmetics company in Brazil (Natura), but most of all for being a pioneer in designing digital publications for tablets, having designed one of the first digital magazines of the world (GQ Brazil), following the iPad launch in 2010.

As a type designer, I enjoy the challenge of solving specific design problems, so I have focused on the making of custom-made fonts. That led me to tweak the coding language to invent unique type features, such as the insertion of bar charts in fonts, a feature that makes letters get automatically condensed at the end of text lines or a self-censoring font. My PhD practice CENSURATIVA involved a self-censoring font to promote awareness around censorship.

I have won several design awards and have been featured in the last 7 editions of the Brazilian Biennial of Graphic Design (Bienal ADG), and was mentioned in many articles and books. I have presented talks at more than 70 design events in places such as Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Poland, USA and Thailand. I’m the former President of ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale), having served the Board of directors from 2017 to 2023.

I constantly participate in design competitions on the jury, and currently working as Multimedia & Marketing Manager at Medilogic, a leader medical supplier in the Australian healthcare industry.