About 99 Place

A year in the making.
99 started to pop up in my mind about a year ago. 

I'm an architect turned entrepreneur, turned product manager in tech. My professional path has been nothing but linear, and I was craving an outlet for my creativity again. When I finished architecture school back in 2015 I never expected to do anything more than being an architect, little did I know about all the turns my profession would take - I put a stop to the world of design and jumped into business, and I fell in love with digital products, the speed, the iterations, the impact. 

And in all the years that I've been doing this, 2 things are certain: 
I've always missed design. 
I've been to many places, physical and emotional ones. 

When I started 99 I didn't know where it would go, I just needed a creative outlet, a place with no constraints to let my creative side explore whatever it was I needed to create. 

This is how, between life, work, responsibilities, heartbreaks, love, fun, laugh and tears I started designing a coloring book. Something to give to myself, a space to remember that painting and coloring is something I love, a soothing activity that gives me time to think and take a step back. During all these years I've chosen movement over design every time I needed to let something go or process a life event. Which let's be honest, there are always many. 

So I started where I know best: planning. 
I'm in an era of stability, and creative stability is also a part of that. But how do you build it? 

I decided to take the first step and register a company, I always aim to get the administrative part done first as it makes the commitment real. I enjoy when there is a mix between the operational and creative tasks, because for me one feeds the other. While creating a company the first question they ask is: 

"Your company name" 

What a great way to kick off a creative process, right? 
You're left there with nothing but a blank page. And I love that feeling, I had been looking for it for a while. A place for my creativity. 
And that's how 99 place came along. In our path to excellence or perfection as creatives, we always strive for a 100%, refining, polishing, changing things to the last minute - but a 100% perfection is never real when you're creating something, and often times it stops us from putting ourselves and our work out there. I wanted 99 to be a constant reminder of that. The 1% that you might be looking to reach, can be the exact thing that pushes growth and iterations, and allows you to move forward. 

Uncomfortable right? 
To be thinking about perfection, taking a step forward, committing, changing. 

Well, this is why it all starts with: SAY IT - unpleasant emotions. 
There is so much that we don't say, shouldn't or simply don't want to share, but that we need to express somehow. 

I needed that space, so I created a book for it, to explore all the uncomfortable emotions, process the anger, the frustration, stress, anxiety and sadness. To simply let them pass, and then be thankful for the insights they left. You'll find in it months of digital design, illustrations, AI explorations, prompt refinements, drawings again to get to the designs you'll see. These graphic explorations made me realise that I wanted this to be part of my day to day life and yours in multiple formats, and so - during a flight back to Paris from Lisbon, I started drawing adaptations of the book designs into clothing, notebooks, bags. Some of them will be paintable, and some others can be loved just as they are. 

I hope you enjoy them as much I did creating them. Let them be a more definite, refined and tangible way to grasp your emotions. 

Two things I wish for the future of 99: 
-Sharing and working with other creatives. So if you're one and want to submit your designs for publication or work on a project together, contact us.
-Multiple, vibrant, fun and honest experiences together (Still cooking these), so you can subscribe if curious. 

Welcome to 99 place,
Thank you for being here!