Name and surname: William Afonso Cantu
Title/Academic titles: Master of Arts: PhD candidate
Graduated from: IADE – School of Design, Technology and Communication / Universidade Europeia
Current position: MSKPU; IPAM – The Marketing School; Universidade Europeia
Osiągnięcia: He is a teaching assistant at IPAM – The Marketing School; Universidade Europeia and at MSKPU. At the University of Lisbon, he is a PhD student in the program of Culture and Communication (Trends Studies); researcher at the University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies (CEAUL) and member of the Laboratory of Trends and Cultural Management. At Universidade Europeia, he is a researcher at the Research Unit for Design and Communication (UNIDCOM/IADE) and the coordinator of the Pre-University Programme. He holds a Master in Design and Visual Culture from IADE – Creative University and a BA in Design. His main research interests are related to Trend Studies; Strategic Communication; Visual Culture; Fashion and Branding.
He has published articles on Consumer Culture and Trend Studies, highlighting a book chapter on Brand Culture and Fashion published by Springer. He has been participating in research projects while developing activity as an independent designer and lecturer in trends and communication. He is connected to the Cork International Workshop in partnership with Dalhousie University in Canada and the School of Architecture from the University of Lisbon, where there is an exploration of new uses of cork at a multidisciplinary level and deep analysis of the cultural environment related to this sustainable material.
As an independent designer, he developed projects from several countries, which brought him closer to the universe of entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. He is the author of a book about trends (Os Estudos de Tendências e o Branding/Trend Studies and Branding (2019) published by Novas Edições Académicas), which is the result of his master research regarding trends, fashion branding and communication. Also, he has been curating diverse exhibitions and has been participating in various artistic projects.