About
Hi, I’m
Manuella.
I’m a game UX/UI designer from Rio de Janeiro, with roots in product design and 3D. I’ve built a B2B platform from scratch, modeled props for games on Steam, and implemented game interfaces straight in the engine.
Most recently, at ARVORE Immersive Experiences, I worked on UX/UI strategy and design for a mobile game under NDA, from wireframes and prototypes to the UI style guide, QA rounds and implementation in engine.
At Bellona Studio, I worked as a 3D environment artist on games and animation: 5 environments and 250+ modular props for Skroyder Rumble, on Steam, and sets for Joy Joy World, alongside concept artists, riggers and animators. Earlier, I spent four years at Whats designing conversational products for brands like L’Oréal and Coca-Cola, and leading Zapper from zero to launch for clients like GSK, Servier and Eurofarma.
I bring in AI where it helps: to structure, to speed things up and to test ideas early. The creative decisions stay mine.
TL;DR.
- Career
- 4+ years in digital product design · 4 years in 3D production for games and animation
- Based in
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Experience
- Mobile games, B2B SaaS, conversational products, 3D for games and animation
- Skillset
- Game UX/UI, UX research, design systems, visual design, 3D props & environments, AI-assisted workflows
- Tools
- Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, Unity, Blender, Substance Painter, Claude, ChatGPT
- Education
- Industrial Design, PUC-Rio · Postgrad in Game Development, IBMR · Postgrad in User Experience and Beyond, PUCRS (ongoing)
- Languages
- Portuguese (native), English (advanced, EF SET C1)
Where I’ve worked.
- Game UX/UI Designer ARVORE Immersive Experiences 2026
- 3D Environment Artist Bellona Studio 2022–2026
- Product Designer Whats · Zapper 2020–2022
- UX/UI Designer (Intern) Whats 2018–2020
Designing with AI.
- 01
Design systems
On a recent mobile game, I built a design system using AI as a central tool for structuring and documentation, keeping it consistent and scalable.
- 02
Playable prototypes
Every game in the Mini Game Series starts as a rough build Claude codes from my rules, so I can test flow and pacing before drawing anything.
- 03
My own tools
Custom Figma plugins for my own workflow: I define what each one should do, and AI agents write them.
- 04
Built with AI
I design the layout, interactions and visual direction, then build them with AI-assisted coding. This portfolio is one example: designed by me, coded with AI.
What I bring.
-
Game UX/UI
- Menus, navigation and onboarding flows
- Narrative text boxes and tutorial screens
- States, feedback and game feel
- UI style guides
-
Product Design
- Discovery and user research
- Information architecture and UX writing
- Usability testing and accessibility
- High-fidelity prototyping and dev handoff
-
AI-Assisted Workflows
- Design systems and documentation structured with AI
- Playable prototypes with Claude to test flow and pacing early
- Synthetic user interviews to stress-test ideas
- Custom Figma plugins made with AI agents
-
Brand & Visual Design
- Visual identities for products and games
- Design systems
- Landing pages
- Illustration
-
3D Props & Environments
- Spaces that guide players and support the story
- Modular props and environments (Blender, Substance Painter)
- Production asset libraries and naming conventions
- Pipelines with concept artists, riggers and animators
Off the clock.
Playing since before my first console, a Super Mega Drive 3. Happily outnumbered by two cats.
Games that shaped me
Sonic the Hedgehog Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy Spyro Reignited Trilogy World of Illusion God of War II The Sims 2 Tibia Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 5 Pokémon Emerald League of Legends and many more.
Your doubts, cleared.
Are you open to remote or hybrid?
Are you open to relocating?
What about freelance or contract work?
How do you work with developers?
Open to new opportunities
Let’s make it work
in a game, on mobile, on the web, in 3D.
Have a game, a product, or something in between?
I’d love to hear about it.