This freelance project for professional surfer Alexia Monteiro was developed with YUZA Branding, a Brazilian company that helps athletes develop their brands. It includes a brand strategy and identity guide, and a pitch deck for potential partners. Both were created in Portuguese for YUZA’s work in Brazil and are shown here in their original language.
YUZA developed the strategy and wrote the content. I was responsible for the visual direction and page layouts for both pieces.
Designed in Adobe InDesign and Illustrator, with image treatments and mockups created in Photoshop.
Brand Strategy & Identity Guide
The guide introduces Alexia’s background, values, and positioning before moving into her verbal and visual identity.
Because the guide contains a lot of written material, I varied the layouts through changes in type size, spacing, and image placement. Some pages use simple grids and open space, while others give more room to photography or a single statement.
I designed the guide as an example of the identity in use, applying its typography and color palette throughout the layouts.
Clash Display carries the main titles, while Inter keeps the longer text easy to read. I used Cormorant Garamond and Allura more selectively to add contrast and a more personal tone, including the handwritten treatment of “Trust the Process.”
The palette combines deep blue, graphite, ice white, stone grey, and sand, with brighter blue accents.
For the imagery, I combined athlete photography with ocean views, natural textures, and warm light. The Visual World page uses a collage to show the range of images and moods that inform the brand, from underwater scenes and open water to sand, palm trees, and morning light.
PITCH DECK
The pitch deck introduces Alexia to potential partners through her story, values, and possible areas for collaboration.
I carried the identity from the guide into a warmer, more editorial format, using sand-colored backgrounds, serif headlines, and larger areas of photography. The opening pages use beach and surfing imagery to establish the wider context for the presentation.
The middle pages shift from the wider context of women’s sports to Alexia’s own story and values. From there, the deck moves into her defining themes and possible areas for collaboration. I alternated warmer portraits, darker ocean imagery, and structured icon-based layouts to create changes of pace throughout the presentation. The line icons from the guide return here, helping connect the two pieces.
