Welcoming Manoel do Amaral, our new Brand Designer

Say hello to our newest team member, Manoel do Amaral.

Manoel brings over a decade of experience across product design, motion, and branding, with work spanning companies like Google, Airbnb, and Accenture.

He’s one of those rare designers who makes everything he touches feel special. Thoughtful craft, strong visual taste, and deep attention to detail are present across all his work. I’ve also been a longtime fan of his photography and his sensibility for capturing subtle details, mood, and atmosphere.

We’re incredibly excited to have him joining the design team at Resend.

How did you get into design?

It’s in the blood.

Growing up, my brother worked with software at my uncle's company. I didn't fully understand what he was doing, but I admired him deeply and wanted to do creative work on a computer.

At 13, I got my first computer with Photoshop and Illustrator installed. During that time I was also doing manual work: construction, collecting recyclable materials, footwear manufacturing and more random stuff to make money. So in the hours between work and school, you'd find me watching tutorials on YouTube or reading blog posts on Abduzeedo, learning and replicating effects in Adobe tools. My friend Diego, who was already working from home as a designer, would let me come over to watch him work and ask questions about Photoshop and design taste.

From those tutorials and late experiments, I built my first portfolio and landed my first design job at an agency in southern Brazil. I was 17. I've been designing ever since.

What does your desktop/home screen look like??

Why are you at Resend?

Quality and simplicity.

During my journey at Savee, we’ve adopted Resend as the main tool for sending emails to customers and prospects. And being more specifically, I’ve been using it to create our weekly inspiration newsletter. I remember the first time I logged in, right after switching from a competitor, and telling Andre (my brother and Savee's founder) how cool the sidebar icon animations were.

That attention to detail at small interaction moments stuck with me. Combined with how simple the tool is to use, and the brand creative work the team has been putting out, like the Fabulous Launch Week back in April, I knew I wanted to be part of it.

Where do you find #inspiration?

Daily things and saves.

I'm very visual. And taking photos of random things that catch my eye is a way of staying inspired and connected to creativity in everyday moments.

That same eye carries into how I curate inspiration from brands and products I admire. I use Savee daily, and have been building my feed there for almost ten years.

If you weren't designing, what would you be doing?

If not design, I'd definitely be somewhere in the sports world.

Growing up in Brazil, my dream was to become a soccer player. Sports have been part of my life since I was a kid, swimming early, running races at school, biking with my mom. More than the activities themselves, sports have shaped how I think about work ethic and what it means to keep showing up. That thread has followed me all the way to today: I compete in triathlons as a hobby.

Favorite tool?

Granola for work, Strava for sports.

I just found out Granola and it’s been very useful for capturing meetings speech and turning scrappy notes into insights. Strava has been addicting in terms of features, I think they do a really good job on documenting all your training and workouts data.

Favorite hotkey?

Command + Tab for quickly jumping between different apps.

I use it almost every other second to jump between different apps. But I also love hiding UI controls everywhere, always looking for that hotkey in between different apps.

Favorite place to visit?

Yosemite and its big rocks.

Nature is my where to go on my free time, for exploring, training, or just relaxing. Since I moved to the US, Yosemite has become my go-to for recharging. It's stunning, and the scale of the rocks never stops being shocking.

Advice for ambitious software engineers?

Chase Greatness and be close to nice people.

That idea you go sleep and wake up thinking of - follow it till the end. There’s nothing we can’t learn or achieve with hard work and perseverance.