A senior professional with over 25 years of experience in the fields of design, communication, and digital technologies, my career structurally intersects institutional practice and academic research.

Currently completing a PhD in Design at FAULisboa, I am driven by the mission to broaden access to culture, designing strategies that translate complex knowledge and heritage into the public domain effectively and inclusively. This ongoing academic pursuit further demonstrates my commitment to continuous learning and staying at the forefront of the field.

Throughout my career, I have thrived in diverse environments, collaborating closely with research centres, museums, and creative agencies. This versatility has honed my ability to adapt my design approach to various client needs, managing the complete cycle of results-oriented communication—from strategic planning to performance analysis. This continuous connection to academia provides me with a rigorous and systemic perspective when approaching each project.

To materialise this strategic vision and ensure maximum institutional amplification and genuine audience engagement, I integrate multichannel tactics supported by advanced training and international certifications in SEO, performance marketing, and social media management.

Furthermore, driven by a love for visual storytelling, my passion extends beyond professional design into photography. This diverse skill set allows me to approach projects with a unique perspective, ensuring a well-rounded and comprehensive design solution.

Key Competences

Languages

• Portuguese (native language) | English (C2 Proficient – EF SET) | French (Intermediate) | Spanish (Basic)

Selected Professional Experience

Atelier-Museu Júlio Pomar

• From 2013 to 2015 and since 2022
• Management and development of the museum’s digital presence, ensuring the visual and technological communication of the artistic heritage and cultural programming to the public.

Cozinha Divina / Chakall.com / @chefchakall

• From October 2024 to May 2025
• Development of the visual content strategy and management of digital channels.
• Execution of multichannel and social media campaigns aimed at growth and engagement, impacting a community of over 170,000 followers.

Foundation for Science and Technology

• From 2018 to 2021
• Advanced research in Design, developing analytical and scientific work focused on the structural understanding of visual communication and identity (under a PhD scholarship).

CFCUL – Centre for Philosophy of Sciences of the University of Lisbon

• From 2015 to 2017
• Conception of visual communication strategies for the dissemination of scientific knowledge.
• Responsible for the visual identity of academic events, editorial design, and the web presence of the research centre and its respective research groups.

TBWA LISBOA

• From 2012 to 2013
• Digital production and web development integrated into multichannel advertising campaigns, encompassing the creation of rich media pieces and email marketing strategies.

iPROF – Vocational Training Institute, Ltd

• 2012
• Trainer in the “Digital Media” course.

MUDE – Museum of Design and Fashion | Lisbon

• From 2008 to 2014
• Digital communication management and multimedia content production. Development of video and web materials integrated into the exhibition and mediation strategy of the museum’s collection.

Freelance Projects

• From 2006 to 2015:
• Freelance Projects (Lisbon Municipal Galleries, Museum of Lisbon | Santo António, EUROFER, among others).
• Consultancy and development of visual and digital communication projects (web and multimedia) for entities in the cultural and institutional sector at a national and European level.

Brinde Storm, Advertising and Communication Ltd.

• From 2004 to 2006
• Team leadership and communication project management, combining the development of web solutions with the coordination of technological infrastructures.

A Oliveira, Ltd.

• From 2001 to 2004
• Software development.

CICTSUL – Interdisciplinary Centre for Science, Technology and Society of the University of Lisbon

• From 1995 to 2012
• Conception of visual communication strategies for the dissemination of scientific knowledge.
• Responsible for the visual identity of academic events, editorial design, and web presence.

Academic Background

• Since 2014:
  FA ULisboa – Faculty of Architecture of Lisbon. Currently attending a PhD in Design (Advanced Training Course in Design in 2015).
• 2014 to 2016:
  FBA ULisboa – Faculty of Fine Arts of Lisbon. Curricular part of the Master’s in Contemporary Typographic and Editorial Practices (Postgraduate diploma).
• 2009 to 2014:
  FA ULisboa – Faculty of Architecture of Lisbon. Master’s in Communication Design.
• 2006 to 2009:
  IADE – Higher School of Design. Bachelor’s Degree in Design.
• 1998 to 2004:
  NOVA IMS – Information Management School (ISEGI/UNL). 21 subjects of the Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics and Information Management.

Other Relevant Training and Certifications

• 2025:
  Adobe Marketing Specialist by Adobe, offered through Coursera. Generative AI Content Creation / Digital Marketing / Social Media Content and Strategy / Multichannel Content Marketing Professional Certificate.
• 2025:
  Adobe Content Creator by Adobe, offered through Coursera. Design Fundamentals with AI / Social Media Content and Strategy / Multimedia Content Creation / Generative AI Content Creation Professional Certificate.
• 2025:
  Adobe Graphic Designer by Adobe, offered through Coursera. Design Fundamentals with AI / Image Editing / Graphic Design / Document Design Professional Certificate.
• 2025:
  UI Design for Web Developers by Scrimba, offered through Coursera. Learn UI Design / Build Websites with Figma, HTML, and CSS / Build a Multi-Page Website with Frontend Mentor, HTML, and CSS.
• 2025:
  Social Media Marketing in Practice by Digital Marketing Institute, offered through Coursera. Social Media and Digital Marketing Fundamentals / Social Media and Social Content Strategy / Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat Marketing / Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube Marketing.
• 2015:
  Photography Initiation Course, MEF – Movement of Photographic Expression.
• 2014:
  Mobile UI/UX Design by EDIT – School of Interactive Design and Technology.
• 2006:
  Macromedia Flash Rich Content Creation by RUMOS (Macromedia Authorised Training Program).
• 2004:
  MCAD.NET – Microsoft Certified Application Developer by RUMOS (Microsoft Certified Technical Education Center): Attendance in the courses: Visual Basic.NET / Building Com+ Applications / Developing Web Applications / Developing XML Web Services / Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Database.

Awards

• 2011:
  Honourable Mention in the Inaset Challenge 2010 PORTUCEL SOPORCEL / FA UTL.
• 2005:
  Diploma of Merit and Dedication, Storm Group / Brinde Storm, Advertising and Communication Ltd.

Publications

• 2014:
  Master’s Dissertation: Graphic Design for Television – Proposal for the classification of typologies of TV series opening credit structures, Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon.
• 2020:
  The ‘Place’ that Shows the Title of a TV Series: What to Name It and How It Has Evolved. Pestana, R. and Brandão, J.A. in F. Rebelo & M. M. Soares (Eds.): Advances in Ergonomics in Design Proceedings of the AHFE 2019 International Conference on Ergonomics in Design, July 24-28, 2019, Washington D.C., USA, Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20226-2, Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-20227-9, pp. 383-393.
• Brand Identity in Motion. Structural Models of Brand Identity on TV Opening Credits. Brandão, J.A., Pestana, R. and Raposo, D. in F. Rebelo & M. M. Soares (Eds.): Advances in Ergonomics in Design Proceedings of the AHFE 2019 International Conference on Ergonomics in Design, July 24-28, 2019, Washington D.C., USA, Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20226-2, Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-20227-9, pp. 136-146.
• 2017:
  The influence of TV series in the change of the public image of chemistry. Maia, E. and Pestana, R. in 11th International Conference on the History of Chemistry, Trondheim 2017: Book of Abstracts, ed. by Annette Lykknes and Ignacio SuayMatallana (Trondheim: NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Teacher Education, 2017). ISBN 978-82-7923-079-3. pp-51-52.
• 2016:
  Historical Evolution of Writing and Typography, Antunes, S. and Pestana. R. (2016). in Amado, P.; Quelhas, V.; Pereira, J. B. (Eds.). 6th Typography Meeting: Book of Proceedings. Aveiro: University of Aveiro. ISBN 978-972-789-508-3. pp-391-395. Available online at: http://6et.web.ua.pt/#pub
• Fiat Lux Typographica, Pestana. R. and Antunes, S. (2015). in Amado, P.; Quelhas, V.; Pereira, J. B. (Eds.). 6th Typography Meeting: Book of Proceedings. Aveiro: University of Aveiro. ISBN 978-972-789-508-3. pp-397-401. Available online at: http://6et.web.ua.pt/#pub
• 2015:
  Images of Science and Technology in TV series opening credits, Pestana. R. and Maia, E. (2015). in Bruno, I & Andrade, V (Eds.)., Book of Abstracts of the XVI ENEC (National Meeting of Science Education), Lisbon, pp. 343-347. Available online at: http://www.ie.ulisboa.pt/pls/portal/docs/1/557435.PDF
• 2006:
  A Data Base of Ancient Laboratory Material of Chemistry and Physics Existing in Old Schools and in the Science Museum of the University of Lisbon. Maia, E. and Pestana, R. (2006). Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on the History of Chemistry – Chemistry, Technology and Society, Lisbon and Estoril, 2005, pp 643-646, Aveiro.

Oral Communications

• 2019:
  The ‘Place’ that Shows the Title of a TV Series: What to Name It and How It Has Evolved. Pestana, R., Brandão, J. and Raposo, D., Talk at the 10th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics 2019, Washington D.C. USA, July 24-28, 2019.
• Brand Identity in Motion. Structural Models of Brand Identity on TV Opening Credits. Pestana, R., Brandão, J. and Raposo, D., Talk at the 10th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics 2019, Washington D.C. USA, July 24-28, 2019.
• 2017:
  The influence of TV series in the change of the public image of chemistry. Maia, E. & Pestana, R., Talk at the 11th International Conference on the History of Chemistry, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.
• 2016:
  Brand identity beyond shape – Ideals and elements of brand identity on TV opening credits. Brandão, J., Pestana, R. and Raposo, D., Talk at the 7th Typography Meeting, Lisbon, 25 and 26 November 2016.
  
• The importance of the opening credits in the emergence of Motion Graphics, Pestana, R. Talk at the I International Meeting Cinema and Other Arts, Univ. of Beira Interior, Covilhã, on 29 and 30 September 2016.
• Television entertainment series and public perception of science – the power of moving images, Pestana, R. and Maia, E., Talk at the 7th International Conference of the European Society for the History of Science (7th ESHS), Prague, from 22 to 24 September 2016.
• 2015:
  Images of Science and Technology in TV series opening credits, Pestana, R. and Maia, E., Talk at the XVI ENEC (National Meeting of Science Education), Lisbon, Book of Abstracts, p. 343.
• Graphic Design for Television – Proposal for the classification of typologies of TV series opening credit structures, Pestana, R.M. (2015) Talk at the Crítica do Objecto Class, of the Intensive PhD of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon. 2009
• The Mineral Chemistry Laboratory of the Polytechnic School of Lisbon and the Great 19th Century Chemistry Laboratories in Europe, Maia, E. and Pestana, R. (2009) Talk at the XXIII International Congress of History of Science, Budapest, Hungary, Book of abstracts, p. 495.
• 2008:
  Ancient chemistry equipment of old schools an important chemical heritage, Maia, E. and Pestana, R. (2008) Talk at the 14th Arab Chemistry Conference, Tripoli.
• 2005: A data base for ancient equipment of old secondary schools. Maia, E. and Pestana, R. (2005). Talk at the 40th International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Congress – Innovation in Chemistry. Book of abstracts, p. 987, Beijing.

Poster Communications

• 2016:
  Categorisation of Structures for TV Series Opening Credits. Pestana, R. and Antunes, S., presented at the 7th Typography Meeting, Lisbon, 25 and 26 November 2016.
• 2015:
  Fiat lux typographica, Pestana, R. and Antunes, S., presented at the 6th Typography Meeting. University of Aveiro, 4 & 5 December 2015, Aveiro. Abstract in Amado, P.; Quelhas, V.; Pereira, J. (Eds.), 6th Typography Meeting: Book of Abstracts. Aveiro: University of Aveiro. ISBN: 978-972-789-463-5, pp-30-31. Available online at: http://6et.web.ua.pt/
• 2015:
  Historical evolution of writing and typography. Antunes, S. and Pestana, R., presented at the 6th Typography Meeting. University of Aveiro, 4 & 5 December 2015, Aveiro. Abstract in Amado, P.; Quelhas, V.; Pereira, J. (Eds.), 6th Typography Meeting: Book of Abstracts. Aveiro: University of Aveiro. ISBN: 978-972-789-463-5, pp-29-30. Available online at: http://6et.web.ua.pt/
• 2005:
  A Database of Ancient Chemistry Material Existing in Secondary Schools, Maia, E. and Pestana, R. (2005). presented at the 4th DEDQ – Meeting of the Chemistry Teaching and Dissemination Division of SPQ-Lisbon. (National). Book of Abstracts, pp 113-114.
• 2005:
  A Data Base of Ancient Laboratory Material of Chemistry and Physics Existing in Old Schools and in the Science Museum of the University of Lisbon. Maia, E. and Pestana, R. (2005). presented at the 5th International Conference on The History Of Chemistry – Chemistry, Technology and Society, Estoril and Lisbon. Book of Abstracts p. 78-79

Congress Organisation

• December 2016:
  Third Lisbon International Conference on Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Issues organised by CFCUL – University of Lisbon. Member of the organising committee, responsible for graphic communication (including dissemination on digital media).
• November 2016:
  7th Typography Meeting – 7ET organised by CIAUD of the Fac. of Architecture of UL. Member of the Communication Design team.
• October 2011:
  VI CIPED – International Congress on Design Research organised by CIAUD of the Fac. of Architecture of UL. Organisation support team.
• May to June 2010:
  Design ao Cubo, at the Faculty of Architecture of Lisbon. Member of the event’s communication and secretarial teams.