About me
Sonia Loká · Portfolio

Sonia Loká · Portfolio

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Visual Designer UX&UI

Welcome! :) I guess if you are here, it’s because you want to know a bit more about me. Can I tell you my story? SCROLL DOWN, there is a great deal to read!

I am a multidisciplinary designer focused on building interfaces and branding. As a creator, I have always been passionate about Art in all its aspects.

Within the digital industry, I am seeking to further my background & skills as well as grow my personal development to become a well-rounded designer.

Over the last 10 years of experience, I have worked for both Agencies and Companies, where I have been able to develop a sense of aesthetics and acquire a profound understanding of design principles and the user’s experience.

I consider myself to have an active mind, and to be pro-active, communicative, and highly reliable. Chasing new challenges and finding diverse ways of exploring new possibilities is something that has always interested me.

On a personal level, I am truly grateful. In recent years, I have experienced considerable growth that has been vital for me, and now I have a different approach to life, seeing my future from another perspective.

From my view, travelling is a substantial way to boost a personal development. It broadens your mind. I love travelling as much as I love sports. I have been playing tennis and competing for one decade since I was 8 years old. Afterwards, I became a professional tennis coach, teaching this sport to children and adults for 14 years in a row. I have passed on my mindset about the importance of fighting alone in the tennis court, and the significance of being relentless and competitive; but above all, being respectful of the opponent. I practice other sports such as diving, rock-climbing, cycling…and laughing! :D

Whenever I listen to music, I am totally engrossed in the rhythm, the beats; it just transports me to another world. I am passionate about brazilian, african, argentinian and french music… and I absolutely adore dancing. Oh! it’s in my blood! I continuously discover new singers from what spotify offers me based on my endless playlists. Not long ago, I decided to teach myself, and I am now playing the guitar. I am also learning new languages, as it facilitates the understanding and communication with other citizens of the world and it is always a brain challenge.

All this mixture makes the person I am today: full of life and episodes, open-minded and a dreamer. I feel close to people, and I consider myself a friend of life, a friend of my friends, an empathetic human being.

In 2016 I embarked on an adventure to Australia where I had unforgettable experiences that lasted 5 years. I have met inspiring people from around the world and I had many chances to travel extensively.

How is Australia as a country? Breathtaking when it comes to NATURE. I walked around the Uluru (Australian Northern territory), surfed the waves in Bondi beach, Sydney; and I have seen 4 meter-long crocodiles in Cairns. I had the astonishing experience of diving in the Great Barrier Reef, as well as skydiving in the well-known hippie town Byron Bay (NSW state) jumping from a little airplane at 15.000 feet high! I travelled around Tasmania driving a campervan with my closest friends for 2 weeks. Only after I’d lived in the “Down under” was I able to tell the difference between a wallaby and a kangaroo.

Very close to Australia, I found out that New Zealand is as inspiring as her Aussie neighbour. On my own, I drove around the whole country with just a car, my backpack and a tent. I have rafted in Shotover River (Queenstown, New Zealand), and visited Hobbiton movie set in the north island. I climbed “Mordor” (The Lord of the Rings), also known as “Tongariro Mountain”; and I attended a Maori dance in the middle of nowhere! Have you ever heard of the “Haka Maori dance”? Visiting the seal colony in Tauranga Bay, or the sea lion in the wild that I once caught sight of, are moments that took my breath away. Additionally, I understood the meaning of a glacier, or what it feels like to witness an active geyser.

It goes without saying that the Pacific Island cultures are absolutely magnificent. I swam with the Humpback whales in Tonga; I learned how to say “Nofoa” which means “bye bye” in the Tongan language. Apart from that, I dived with Thresher Sharks (vulnerable to extinction) in a secluded island called Malapascua in the Philippines; and drove down to watch marvelous sunsets while touring Siquijor Island with my rented tuk-tuk.

What’s more, I have eaten the best mouthwatering display of sushi in the Tokyo Fish Market, a life-changing experience. Walking along the streets of Chiba (a district of Tokyo), is something I will never, ever forget… At some point, I wore a Yukata being encouraged and accompanied by my beloved japanese friend, Haruna. Moreover, I cycled through all the Shinto temples and streets around Kyoto, such a lovely city! What can I tell you about Hiroshima? Speechless… I was able to enrich my culture in the Hiroshima Museum, about the events occurred not long ago with the atomic bomb. In reference to the Mount Fuji? Sincerely, I was extremely lucky, since my japanese friend Yuki, who I lived with back in Australia, was happy to drive me, and both in her car, we visited this spiritual mountain.

I have seen a river increasing its flow by 7 meters within 5 hours, after a Typhoon hit the city of Luang Prabang (Laos). However, playing cards in the middle of the night with my Italian friends, helped to ease the frightening situation.

I have been lucky enough to see the sunrise at 4am in front of the Temples of Angkor Wat (Siem Reap, Cambodia), plus, I have learned the true meaning of spicy Hindu food in Sri Lanka. The cherry on top was when I saw the real Sri Lankan mountain elephants on a Safari tour, up in the north (Minneriya National Park). At that stage, I realized how much I love nature and animals. From Sri Lanka, I flew to the Maldives, so as to swim with the big whale sharks in the wild.

Sailing, sailing, sailing… I have sailed on a boat around the islands of Indonesia and witnessed impressive events such as the combination of sunset and the flying foxes flapping over our heads looking for food surrounded by the Flores Sea. And last but not least, I was tremendously happy when I got to walk near the Komodo Dragons!

Thank you for taking your valuable time to read about me. I hope you have enjoyed my portfolio as much as I have enjoyed building each piece of myself in it.