Designer who builds.

A Brazilian product designer, now Paris-based, who takes ideas all the way to shipped software: brand, interface, and the front-end code in between.

Mayara Sousa, product designer and builder, on a Paris street with hand-drawn doodles overlaid

I'm Mayara, a Brazilian product designer and builder based in Paris. For the past six years I've worked as a full-time freelancer, designing and building digital products for startups and boutique businesses: brand systems, UX/UI, and the production websites that bring them to life. I started out as a brand and web designer and grew into someone who takes a product all the way to shipped code. I care about the whole thing working: not just how a product looks, but how it's built, how it performs, and how it feels to use. More and more, that means building with AI in the loop, and it's where I'm headed: from designing products for others to building my own.

Professional Experience

Product Designer & Builder

Self-Employed • Paris, France

03/2020 – Present

I design and build digital products for startups and boutique businesses, from brand systems and UX/UI through to shipping the real thing on WordPress and Shopify, with custom PHP and MySQL when a project calls for it. Recent work includes EverSafe, a first-aid training platform, and Mimoo Baby, a baby-shower gifting platform, both designed and built on WordPress. A full project runs six to ten weeks end to end, because design and build happen in the same pass rather than across a handover. I work in git, design component systems rather than one-off screens, document them so someone else can build against them, and keep the front end semantic and accessible. I build with AI in the loop (Claude Code, Codex) and can read, shape, and debug the code I ship.

Marketing & Sales Assistant Manager

MSC Cruises • Italy

09/2019 – 01/2020

Executed high-revenue marketing campaigns for onboard retail platforms. Created aligned visual assets and oversaw merchandising to maintain a premium brand experience across a global, multicultural audience.

Skills & Tools

Design

UX & Product Design
UI & Visual Design
Design Systems & Documentation
Wireframing & Interactive Prototyping
Accessibility
Brand Identity

Build

WordPress & Shopify
Custom PHP & MySQL
Semantic HTML, CSS & JavaScript
Git-Based Workflow
AI-Assisted Development
Reading & Debugging Code

Tools

Figma
Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop
Claude & Claude Code
ChatGPT, Codex & Gemini

Languages

PortugueseNative
EnglishFluent, professional
ItalianConversational
SpanishConversational
RomanianBasic reading & writing
FrenchCurrently learning

Education

MBA in Artificial Intelligence for Business

Faculdade Exame, Brazil • Part-time, remote • 2025 – Dec 2026

Deepening how I build with AI, turning generative tools into real, responsible products rather than just faster workflows.

BA in Multimedia Arts

Centro Universitário Belas Artes de São Paulo • 2021 - 2023

Specialized in the intersection of digital media, design principles, and interactive content creation.

Cybersecurity Certification

Upcoming

My next step: formal training in cybersecurity, deepening the technical, under-the-hood side of building for the web.

Achievements

The Break Fellowship: Top 10% Selection

EU-funded program supporting women entrepreneurs with international business training and a strategic development residency in Spain.

Employee of the Month, MSC Cruises

Recognized for high-impact performance and leadership, Oct 2019.