Is it Design? Innovation? Entertainment? Direct? PR?
Nobody is completely sure. We just know it's good.
That's usually when you have something.
Everything else got easier. Almost anyone can make something look polished now. Tools can make things faster, cleaner, and more impressive in seconds.
But polished isn't the same as good.
The difficult part is still making something people actually notice. Something they remember. Something they wish they had made.
Attention today may be worth more than rare earths. Everybody is fighting for the same few seconds, which is probably why we've never needed creativity more than we do now.
I've been doing this long enough to see almost everything change.
I started with paste-up. Then came Photoshop. Now, AI.
I went from dial phones to mobile phones to iPhones. I watched offline and online become two completely different worlds, and then become the same world again.
I also changed cities, countries, cultures, and categories. Rio to São Paulo. São Paulo to New York. Consumer brands to pharma.
Every move forced me to learn new rules. And, more importantly, to find interesting ways around the obvious ones.
More than 30 years later, I still believe creativity matters most when everything else becomes easier.
I'm obsessed with craft until the last possible second. Not because everything needs to be perfect, but because the smallest decision can be the difference between an idea people understand and an idea they actually feel.
And now that we can generate almost anything instantly, the presence of a human hand matters even more.
I still see great work and think, "Damn, I wish I had done that."
Honestly, I hope I never stop feeling that way.
I want to keep chasing ideas that give me butterflies. Ideas that make every no, every dead end, every late night, and every version that almost worked feel worth it.
I'm not interested in repeating what I already know how to do.
I'm interested in the next thing I have no idea how to make yet.
THE PROOF
AWARDS
30 Cannes Lions — 3 Gold, 9 Silver, 18 Bronze, 49 Shortlists
7 D&AD Pencils — 1 Yellow, 3 Graphite, 3 Wood
14 One Show Pencils — 1 Grand Prix, 4 Gold, 1 Silver, 8 Bronze, 13 Merits
7 Effie Awards — 4 Gold, 3 Bronze
15 Clio Awards — 2 Gold, 6 Silver, 7 Bronze
12 LIA Awards — 1 Silver, 11 Bronze
1 Webby Award
1 Facebook Global Award
Named one of the world's 20 most awarded Executive Creative Directors by The Big Won Report, 2016.
Ranked the #1 Art Director worldwide by Lürzer's Archive, 2013.
CLIENTS
Health & wellness: Pfizer, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Listerine, Neutrogena (Kenvue).
Beverages: Coca-Cola, Sprite, Heineken, Amstel, Desperados, Dos Equis, Budweiser, Jack Daniel's, Brahma (the largest beer brand in Brazil).
Food & snacks: M&M's, Snickers, KitKat, Nestlé Chocolates, Pedigree, Sadia (one of Brazil's largest food producers), Café Pilão (one of Brazil's most popular coffee brands).
Beauty, fashion & home: Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Avon, O Boticário (the largest beauty company in Latin America), Grendene (one of the largest footwear companies in Brazil), Tramontina.
Automotive: General Motors (retail), Mitsubishi Motors.
Tech, finance & media: WhatsApp, Meta Quest, Samsung, ESPN, FedEx, Wells Fargo Cards, Itaú (the largest private bank in Latin America), Vivo / Telefónica (the largest telecom company in Latin America), Folha de S.Paulo (the largest newspaper in Brazil).
The work I want to be known for still hasn't happened.
hfernandez73@gmail.com · +1 646 578-2399 · hfernandezwork.com
hfernandez73@gmail.com | +1 (646) 578-2399