19+ years of art direction. New tools. Same judgment.
Campaigns, brand experiences and films for Google, Adidas, YouTube and Pinterest, with Generative AI in the toolkit.
Available now · Head of Art / Senior Art Director roles · freelance · international remote
I’m a senior creative leader with 19+ years of experience turning ideas into campaigns, brand experiences and visual stories.
My work brings together art direction, creative strategy and leadership, across advertising, digital, live marketing, experiential and branded content. Today, I also integrate Generative AI into the creative process, expanding how ideas are imagined, visualized and brought to life.
As Senior Art Director & AI Lead Artist at 1896, I created sponsorship projects and commercial decks that brought new brands into Brazilian sport, for Time Brasil / Brazilian Olympic Committee and Kings League.
A selection across film, brand experience, campaign art direction, new business and AI-led visual development.
As part of production designer Carol Ozzi’s team, I brought Generative AI into the process when 3D wasn’t reaching the conceptual images needed to build the real sets. The AI concepts became the creative blueprint for set construction, then filmed with talent and completed in post-production.
AI CONCEPT → PHYSICAL SET → FILM
Director: Alaska · Production Company: Iconoclast · Production Designer: Carol Ozzi
After Pinterest, Carol Ozzi invited me to create every product prototype with AI. The challenge: give personality to fashion made only of cardboard. With full creative freedom, I designed the collection, and the exact pieces I created were built as real prototypes and worn by the actors in the film.
AI DESIGN → PHYSICAL PROTOTYPE → FILM
Agency: GUT · Director: Manu Mazzaro · Production: Landia · Production Designer: Carol Ozzi
I led a team of 10 creatives and producers, working directly with the client, account and production. Together we built the concept, visual language, scenography, graphic elements and activations, translating YouTube culture into a cohesive live experience at Ibirapuera Auditorium.
CONCEPT → VISUAL SYSTEM → ACTIVATIONS → LIVE EXPERIENCE
Agency: Hands · Production: Na Base · Video Content: Asteroide.TVAs Head of Art at Agência EA, I led the team creating the visual concepts for campaigns, shooting and film, defining a consistent language from the original idea through execution.
CONCEPT → SHOOTING → FILM → CAMPAIGN SYSTEM
Agency: Agência EA
As Creative Head, I led the project and created, together with the team, the entire Negroni Week festival, including a custom Negroni serving display that turned the serving ritual into a functional branded experience. The pieces were awarded at POPAI.
POPAI → GOLD 2023 · BRONZE 2024
Caixote, my original short film, plus self-initiated spec ads and Avesso, my independent fashion brand: storytelling, image direction and film outside client briefs.
Animation · Drama · 2'00" · No dialogue · Brazil 2026
Some dreams are made of wood. An animated short inspired by the Peruvian legend of the cajón, an instrument born from discarded wooden fruit crates. It follows Biu, a boy living through the harsh realities of the Brazilian semi-arid backlands. Finding emotional refuge in rhythm, Biu dreams of playing the real cajón displayed in the window of Seu Zé’s workshop. Rather than offering empty charity, the craftsman honors the boy’s dignity: for every coin Biu earns through tireless work, the price on the tag drops a little more. A visual fable about resilience, honest effort and the resonance of hope.
Written, directed, art direction, editing & sound: Paula Carro Maia · HayAlgo Studio
Magnific · Suno · ElevenLabs · Claude
Spec Ad · Generative AI + Photoshop
Spec Ad · Generative AI + Photoshop
Personal project · Brand concept · Creative & art direction · Film · In development
Creative Concept · Campaign Art Direction · Mutato (freelance Head of Art)
Led the event creation: concept and structure, leading 3D, production and art direction teams · Hands
Creative Concept · Poster Campaign · Agência EA
Art Direction · UI Concept · Fictional Content Design
Led concept, creation and production with the team · 6-month engagement with the client · Bullet · 2019
I’m Paula Carro Maia, a Head of Art and Senior Art Director with 19+ years of experience in the creative industry.
My career has moved across agencies in São Paulo and Madrid, through advertising, digital, live marketing, branded content, film and brand experiences, always with art direction at the center.
Over the years, I’ve created for brands including Google, Adidas, YouTube, Pinterest, Mercado Livre, Heineken, Campari, Waze, Samsung, Unilever, Nestlé, iFood, Facebook (Meta) and Ambev.
I’ve developed creative concepts and visual languages, led multidisciplinary teams and taken ideas from the first sketch to campaigns, films, physical environments, products and brand experiences.
More recently, Generative AI became part of my creative toolkit, not as a replacement for craft, taste or creative thinking, but as a new medium.
Senior Art Director & AI Lead Artist · Sports & brand partnerships (Time Brasil / COB, Kings League)
Co-founder & Head of Art · Launch featured by Clube de Criação
Creative Head / Head of Art · Samsung, Unilever, BRF, Cargill, Nestlé, iFood
Head of Art & Creative Strategy · Adidas Football Clubs, Grupo Campari
Freelance Head of Art · YouTube Brandcast, TAG Heuer, Ambev, Waze, L’Oréal, Jeep, Fiat
Senior Art Director & Creative Strategy · Google, Mastercard, Bradesco, Embraer, Beats
Senior Art Director, Live Marketing · Facebook, Itaú, Ford, Havaianas
Senior Art Director, Live Marketing · Ambev, Itaú, Uber, Warner
Founder & Product Designer · Own furniture and lighting brand, Casa Cor
Senior Art Director, Digital · Santander, Heineken, NET, Bavaria
Senior Art Director, Digital
Art Director · Warner, Sony, Xbox, Fox
Art Director
Master in Art Direction
Specialization in Advertising Design
AI Image & Video Creator
Native · Native · Professional working
Years of art direction give me the judgment to know not only how to generate an image, but why an image should exist in the first place.
Open to staff roles, freelance projects and creative partnerships, including international remote opportunities.