Helder Filipov

Leader, Creative Direction

Singapore, Singapore
Design Director highly regarded for 14+ years of progressive experience in helming the design of innovative, consumer-centered industry leaders like Lixil, Lenovo, and Whirlpool. Sought for global mindset and capacity to align strategies to create robust design identities and cohesive brand DNA across all touchpoints with consumers, fostering customer engagement, and providing consistent and exciting portfolios to the brands.

Respected as a motivational, creative, influential leader and collaborator who flawlessly orchestrates projects, upholds design thinking principles, understands consumer’s pain points, and establishes unique, engaging solutions. Forges critical stakeholder relationships, driving insights, and novel approaches through a people-focused approach.

Interests: design direction, industrial design, product development, creative direction, conceptual design, design thinking, creative strategy, business development, electronics, music production, culture, arts.

Work Experience

LIXIL

Leader, Creative Direction

- Working as a Creative Director, heading design projects alongside the VP of Design, while acting as the primary stakeholder liaison, leading creative processes within the design group and providing directions to enable the team to deliver best-in-class solutions that consistently rise above goals.
- Driving continued excellence for LIXIL’s brands in Asia, creating and consistent and cohesive design stories across the entire portfolio of products.
- Champion design language philosophy within the company, promoting continued improvements in the product portfolio and organizational coordination to deliver truly meaningful solutions to our consumers.
November 2018 - Singapore

Motorola

Creative Director

- Built a business case and created a new team from scratch to internalize the creative and visual developments used in marketing materials.
- Oversaw all activities of the BXD team (Brand Experience Design) to convey the design strategy and brand positioning on all customer touchpoints; established reliable avenues to transfer information and maintain team alignment between product development and marketing communications.
- Governed branded environments and user experiences to improve cohesion across online and offline channels; worked with leadership to visualize strategies and create visually consistent MKT campaigns.
- Earned multiple promotions due to stellar performance, elected as the design advisor for all marketing and communication, enhancing product storytelling, and championing a consumer-focused mindset.
August 2017 - October 2018 Brazil

Motorola

Advisory Industrial Designer

- Drove the design language that became the visual reference for Motorola’s 2018 product portfolio, in addition to crucial input concerning the complex launch strategy and communication plan for Moto Z² Play, resulting in a 40% increase in market share on the product category.
- Conceptualized and executed the launch event presentation for Moto Z² Play, as well as organized actions and partners during the generation of all visuals, effectively replacing outside agencies usually hired for these projects.
- Provided direction to the retail spaces and branded environments in Latin America, improving more than 250 kiosks in the region.
December 2016 - August 2017 Brazil

Motorola

Senior Industrial Designer

- Joined the global team as a source of regional input from Brazil and Latin America, sharing insights and trends with global teams to foster new product ideas and more relevant global design strategies.
- Led the ID portion of Motorola’s 2017 design language, which became the DNA of the entire product portfolio.
- Responsible for leading the design of Moto Z² Play, working alongside stakeholders in Chicago, China, and Europe to develop the concepts till mass-production. The project was highly successful, improving the business and expanding the user base of Motorola’s modular platform (Moto MODs).
December 2014 - December 2016 Brazil

Whirlpool

Industrial Designer (Development Design)

- Worked initially within the Advanced Design team, developing concepts and visualizing mid-term and long-term scenarios to drive the future of the organization. Moved in 2014 to the Development Design group, focused on roadmap projects, global initiatives, and design language developments.
- Designed several conceptual projects, participating and coordinating the actions of different groups of designers depending on the demands.
- Led the development of “Liberty”, a conceptual initiative focused on universal design principles and contemporary living behaviors. The project was exhibited in several fairs and events, gaining global exposure online and recognition on the design community.
- Drove the discovery phase of a new product category, later named “B.Blend”, opening the company to investigate new business models based on user-research findings and technology opportunities.
- Managed the entire creative process of the Experience Brand Language for Consul, leading a group of 12 designers on the discovery and development of a new design DNA for the brand, that later was reproduced in different ways in the entire product portfolio.
- Replicated the Experience Brand Language process to Brastemp (in Brazil) and Whirlpool (globally).
The design language developed for Whirlpool (W-Collection) won several of the most important global design awards and aligns visually the company’s product portfolio in all regions.
January 2010 - November 2014 Brazil

Education

Pontifícia Universidade Católica Do Paraná

Postgraduate's Degree, Emotional Design

During my MA Emotional Design course, I studied deeply how products we design everyday affect emotionally our consumers, connecting not only with their environments but also with their memories, desires and senses.

Mains subjects: Emotion in industrial products, Emotional impact analysis, Emotion, Strategy and Market, Emotion and business
January 2010 - March 2012 Brazil

Universidade Federal Do Paraná

Bachelor's Degree, Industrial Design

While doing my BA Industrial Design graduation from UFPR, I had the chance to work on several personal/academic projects that led me to a very broad understanding of what it really means to be a designer. I was able to practice and develop all skills required to perform my job on a high quality level, and this expertise was recognized with several awards in national and international design competitions.

Main subjects: Industrial Design, Product Design, Product Strategy, Materials & Processes, Research Program
January 2005 - December 2009 Brazil

Languages

Portuguese (Native),
English (Fluent),

Skills

3d Rendering, Creative Process, Design Thinking, Illustrator, Keyshot, Photoshop, Project Management, Rhino, Sketching, Team Management,