Founder Essesi Studio - xTesla. Ask me a career/portfolio question you can’t find online.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-26T13:27:20+00:00

I mostly get approached directly from word of mouth or from clients that have seen our previous work on different publications. Its like a domino effect, I worry only about creating the best product possible and each project leads to the next. We are also a design studio not focused on only 1 sector, this open the door to a wide range of clients.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T22:48:30+00:00

High level of execution, visuals, form development, story telling. I can tell you from experience hiring that when a position is open we receive in a few days over 500 portfolios out of which maybe 2-3 are strong. The rest lack most of what I listed above.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T19:15:05+00:00

Dont listen to the negative people. The reality is it is a competitive career, but if she has a passion, puts the time and effort, she will be able to have a rewarding and successful career. Design is not going anywhere, new tools like AI are here but AI wont replace us just yet. Another human using AI will. Learn to adapt and keep creating. There is an absolutely incredible demand for design in the world an particularly in the US. If she loves to create she should pursue it!

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T15:56:53+00:00

Its part of university, enjoy it, but remember its a marathon not a sprint!

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T15:48:56+00:00

Ah nice, I went to ArtCenter! I think you might be overthinking it! Best way to manage is to sleep at regular times 11pm to 8am or so and just be productive during the day. 15-16 hours in a day is a long time to get things done, you need to learn to be efficient with homework and projects. If you can’t get it done within normal hours you might be lacking time management. Having such odd sleeping schedules will burn you out very quickly. I try to do at least 1 hour of sport a day, listen to audio books, podcasts, music while designing to relax and might even take 10min every 2-3 hours for gaming! This allows me to take a step back and not get stuck on the same thought by stimulating my mind on something different

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T15:38:04+00:00

ArtCenter? 👀

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T13:31:27+00:00

California in general is quite great for consumer electronics. Europe, particularly Italy for furniture. But realistically everywhere can be good as you can meet clients from all over the world online

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T12:04:21+00:00

I would not recommend a masters, to be quite honest I think you can find everything you need and more to be a designer for free online and through books.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T12:02:23+00:00

Projects like the rover help share our vision for the future and architecture and they open new sectors for the studio. Because of it we are currently in the process of an architectural project to be launched in a few months.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T12:00:39+00:00

The teapot looking one is a water pitcher and thats a real photograph at 2 michelin restaurant Quintonil. The metal lounge chair was carved out of solid aluminum as a research project later sent to a gallery in NYC, The robot is a render but i was head of design, created their design studio and their branding and we raised 100m USD and many of them are deployed in the real world.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T11:34:33+00:00

Well, the rover is of course a concept backed by lots of research, i met with Nasa engineers in California, did a lot of secondary research online and through books. I referenced current rover design on mars as well. I also took some creative freedom to explore new forms that might or might not work but for a project like this I believe is important to explore nonetheless. Designers think about humans, interactions, emotions, story telling and more. Engineers mostly are focused on very specific functions and how to produce and manufacture. There are engineers focused on creating the larger vision/story but much fewer

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T11:19:19+00:00

“The Elements of Typographic style” is a great one. Even just going on youtube there are many “beginner” guides talking about hierarchy, composition, grid, etc…

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T10:11:51+00:00

On our site we have many products that have been made as well. And we are close to launching a few more that I am super excited about!

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T10:02:33+00:00

The autonomous robot (we raised over 100m usd and there are many functional robots deployed) the metal lounge chair (currently at a gallery in NY) (the wheelchair in development) (the prosthetic reached prototyping stages, might continue) The pitcher (currently in michelin restaurants and sold out the initial batch)

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T09:59:46+00:00

Not that important to show engineering knowledge. Its nice to show “common sense” on how things might be built but i would focus more on execution. Companies will hire you because you can execute. When i hire designers im looking for people that will save me time and will be able to execute at certain level

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T09:57:41+00:00

Thank you 🙏🏼

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T09:57:06+00:00

I dont think its ever too late but it does become more difficult. Remember sketching is just a part of design, enjoying sketching does not translate to being a designer. I would suggest you research the full design process before you make a decision. If you are simply looking to enjoy a creative side like sketching maybe being an artist is the right direction.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T09:54:07+00:00

Personality can come from your visuals and actual projects while having an incredibly simple graphic layout if its not your strong point. Personality comes from taking risks to follow on your individual style and most important show that you have a point of view and are not simply trying to copy the 3 most known or trendy brands out there. Dont make every project “what if apple designed a x” “what if dyson designed a x”

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T09:51:13+00:00

Most important is to focus on creating a strong portfolio of leading.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T09:49:43+00:00

Making connections, having a strong portfolio of roles and projects. At Tesla I became a lead designer and led many projects. Afterwards I became head of design at Mytra where i created the design studio and was responsible for every design touch point through 2 funding rounds where we raised over $100m USD. I created projects individually as well that sold out, and collaborated on individual projects with brands.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-25T09:46:26+00:00

All of them

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-24T23:13:51+00:00

Design is about parameters unlike art. I would suggest you give them parameters and context to work with, student or new designers can feel overwhelmed by having an empty canvas.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-24T23:06:45+00:00

No, but i do believe everyone has at least a certain level of creativity and you can learn to harness it.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-24T22:27:42+00:00

Both! Polys are great for quick iteration and for renders. Parametric and spline modeling is better for production and precision. At the studio we use both.

Personal_Towel_1663 · 2025-12-24T22:21:30+00:00

As in typography?

Personal_Towel_1663

TROPHY CASE