JOSE BESSEGA

Jose Bessega, half of AMATEUR, is an Argentine creative director based in Berlin. Since 2013, he has collaborated with creative studios and leading agencies, including McCann London, Mother London, TBWA/Neboko, 72andSunny Amsterdam and Uncommon London. Known for translating strategy into bold, provocative visual communication, he brings a highly conceptual, hands-on approach to every project. His work sits at the intersection of storytelling, culturally relevant ideas and craft.

Alongside commercial projects, he develops self-initiated work that explores social issues and sparks collective conversation, using these projects as a space to experiment, explore ideas and develop his own creative voice.

His global perspective has led him to collaborate across advertising, design, fashion, music, film and architecture, with brands including Adidas, Nike, Samsung, Netflix, Audi and Chivas Regal, as well as cultural figures such as David Beckham, Lisa Manoban, Maisie Williams and Camila Cabello.

His work has been recognized internationally by Cannes Lions, The One Show, New York Type Directors Club (TDC), Tokyo Type Directors Club and the Latin American Design Awards (LAD). It has also been featured in publications such as It’s Nice That, Creative Boom, Computer Arts, The Brand Identity and AIGA. He has been invited to exhibit and speak internationally, including in Tokyo, Lima, Manchester, Vienna, Hamburg, Munich, Zurich and at Bauhaus University Weimar.

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Contact

jose(at)amateur(dot)rocks

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Work Experience

• AMATEUR, Global, 2016 - present. Creative Director.
• Cleo, New York, 2025. Freelance Creative / Art Director.
• Die Zwei, Nuremberg, 2024-2025. Freelance Creative Director.
• GUT Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 2024. Freelance Creative / Art Director.
• Zalando, Berlin, 2023. Freelance Art Director.
• Uncommon, London, 2023. Freelance Creative / Art Director.
• Highsnobiety, Berlin, 2022. Freelance Creative / Art Director.
• Klarna, New York, 2022. Freelance Creative / Art Director.
• McCann, London, 2021. Freelance Creative / Art director.
• SantosDilone, New York, 2021. Freelance Art Director / Designer.
• Die Zwei, Nuremberg, 2020 - 2024. Freelance Creative / Art Director.
• TBWA\Neboko, Amsterdam, 2020 - 2022. Freelance Creative / Art Director.
• 180, Amsterdam, 2020. Freelance Art Director / Designer.
• HALAL, Amsterdam, 2020. Freelance Art Director / Designer.
• Mother, London, 2020. Freelance Art Director / Designer.
• 72andSunny, Amsterdam, 2019. Freelance Art Director / Designer.
• Studio Lore, Amsterdam, 2018-2019. Art Director / Designer.
• The Juju, Buenos Aires, 2014-2016. Creative / Art Director.
• Lisboa Estudio Creativo, Cordoba, 2013-2014. Co-founder / Creative Director.

Awards

• Cannes Lions 2024, Outdoor, Local Brand - Shortlist
• Cannes Lions 2024, Outdoor, Social Behaviour with & Cultural Insight - Shortlist
• The One Show 2024, Out Of Home, Craft / Art Direction - Merit
• The One Show 2024, Out Of Home, Billboards & Transit / Series - Merit
• Latin American Design Awards 2021, Branding - Gold
• Tokyo Type Directors Club Annual Awards 2021, Prize Nominee Work
• CreativePool: Emerging Talent of the Year 2020, Shortlist
• TDC66, Type Directors Club 2020, Certificate of Typographic Excellence
• ADCN (Art Directors Club Netherlands) 2020, Craft & Art Direction - Bronze
• Latin American Design Awards 2018, Packaging - Finalist
• ADCN (Art Directors Club Netherlands) 2018, Craft & Art Direction - Finalist
• TDK Awards ’17 - The Design Kids, Winners
• Latin American Design Awards 2017, Posters - Gold
  

Selected Press and Interviews

• "AMATEUR(DOT)ROCKS Tries to Put Faith Itself in a Tincture Bottle" The Dieline (US), August 14, 2024
• "Sarcastic Branding and Creative Direction in Modern Design" Abduzeedo (US), July 11, 2024
• "You’ve got to have Faith: AMATEUR(DOT)ROCKS’ tiny bottle brimming with ‘faith’ will get you thinking" The Brand Identity (UK), July 03, 2024
• “Amateur(dot)rocks on the power of graphic design to incite political, social and cultural changes” It’s Nice That (UK), October 9, 2019
• “Branding that's literally so lit it's on fire” Creative Boom (UK), February 18, 2020
• “Daft studio name, very smart campaign for Adidas” Creative Boom (UK), April 8, 2019
• “Jose Bessega & Ivo Pallucchini” Muse by CLIO (US), May 15, 2020
• “A studio that helps clients think creatively also needs a good skin” TOPYS (China), April 30, 2019
• “TDK Awards ’17 Winners, AMATEUR(DOT)ROCKS” The Design Kids (Australia), April 30, 2018
• “The bold graphics of Amateur(dot)rocks” OSSO Magazine (Italy), October 4, 2017
• “Amateur(dot)rocks’ identity for Studio Lore is based around a phonetic alphabet-inspired typeface” The Brand Identity (UK), December 18, 2020
• “From Argentina, Amateur(dot)rocks, a nomad design duo who wanders around the world” Amix (Japan), October 17, 2020
• “Each of These Beers Come With a Unique Label To Match Their Personality”, The Dieline (US), September 21, 2017
• “adidas Decode Posters UB19” Ads of the World (US), April 28, 2019
• “9 design trends that defined the year of rebellion” Creative Bloq (UK), December 19, 2019
• “Festival Periferia by Amateur(dot)rocks” The Brand Identity (UK), February 15, 2019
• “Adidas posters picked up from the junk pile are quite advanced” TOPYS (China), April 30, 2019
• “Amateur(dot)rocks: Visual identity for Studio Lore” North East (Japan), October 28, 2019
• “Amateur(dot)rocks – Kerze, The Brewing Family” World Brand Design, October 11, 2017
• “Amateur(dot)rocks – Kerze, The Brewing Family” Packaging of the World, September 20, 2017
• “No. 157: a Magazine of Magazines, Daring Dystopian Comics, a New ravelogue from Louise Fili + more” AIGA Eye on Design (US), September 1, 2017
• “Monet Urban” Mindsparkle Mag (Germany), May 29, 2018

Talks, Exhibitions & Workshops

• Tokyo Type Directors Club 2021 - Exhibition, Ginza Graphic Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, April 01 - May 29, 2021
• Projektil Festival 2019 - Speaker & Workshop, Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany, June 21 – June 23, 2019
• Latin American Design Festival 2018 - Speaker, Lima, Peru, March 10, 2018
• Moon Exhibition 2018 - Exhibition, Forward Festival, Vienna, Hamburg, Munich & Zurich, April – July, 2018
• Then There Was Us - Exhibition, Fred Aldous, Manchester, UK, June, 2018

Selected Publications

• GRAPHIC FEST 2, Identities for Festivals & Fairs, Victionary, Hong Kong, 2024
• TOKYO TDC Vol.32, The Best International Typography & Design, DNP Arts Communications, Japan, 2022
• BranD No.55 — Designer vs Foreign Typography, SendPoints, China, 2021
• The 41th Annual of The Type Directors Club-The World’s Best Typography, Verlag Hermann Schmidt, Germany, 2021
• Dot Line Shape - The Basic Elements of Design and Illustration, Victionary, Hong Kong, 2020
• Optimum Type - Custom Typography Design & Application, Sandu, China, 2020
• Computer Arts Issue 299, Future Publishing Ltd, UK, 2019
• Indie Type — Typeface and creative font application, Sandu, China, 2019
• Brewed For Taste — Beer Labels Around The World, SendPoints, China, 2019
• BranD No.37 — Just My Type, SendPoints, China, 2018
• Remarkable Graphic Styles — Rough, SendPoints, China, 2018
• Music & Design — Inspire意念圖誌, China, 2018
• Latin American Awards Book 2016, Lima, Perú, 2016
• It’s My Type, SendPoints, China, 2016
• Enjoy Your Stay - Branding for hospitality, SendPoints, China, 2016

Selected Clients

• adidas
• adidas Originals
• Audi
• British Airways
• Chivas Regal
• FC Bayern Munich
• Highsnobiety
• Lynk & Co
• Netflix
• Nike
• Olipop
• PepsiCo
• Samsung
• Zalando