Get to know Sofia Tramazaygues, our Strategy Intern, as she gives us a glimpse into the life of interning at FutureBrand UXUS. Learn how even the most intricate details of mosaics in Sicily can leave a lasting impression on your creative approach, and if you’re after a good book recommendation, Sofia has a 1965 true crime novel that she believes everyone should read.

Q: What’s the biggest thing that’s changed between your time at school and your time at FutureBrand UXUS?

Sofia: The biggest change is how I perceive my own work. At university, most of my projects were solo or with a partner, making the work feel very personal and limited by my own perspective and skillset. However, at FutureBrand UXUS, I've had the opportunity to collaborate on projects with the team, incorporating different expertise and opinions from others, which I find incredibly rewarding. This collaborative approach brings the project to life in a much more well-rounded way which definitely makes me feel like the sky’s the limit.

Q: Tell us about a recent cultural event, exhibition or experience that inspired you recently.

Sofia: I recently went to Sicily with my family, and during the trip we went to the Villa Romana del Casale, a 4th century Roman estate covered in intricate mosaics on all the floors. To describe the experience as impressive falls short of how amazing these mosaics are. I was really inspired not only by the technique and its remarkable preservation, but also by how they used every surface as a vessel for storytelling. The way these narratives seamlessly blend from room to room left a lasting impression on me, especially considering the deliberate choices they made in what stories to tell.

Q: What is your favourite part of the creative process?

Sofia: As much as I enjoy the conceptual phase, where your imagination runs wild with ideas for a service, strategy, or experience, I find the co-design and prototyping phase especially satisfying. I love seeing how the concept is applied to real-world environments, but what I enjoy most is observing how users and consumers interact with the project—truly connecting with them and listening to what they hope for from an experience and then surprise them with elements they didn’t know they wanted. An in-depth research phase helps ensure these user interactions are considered, but it's the combination of the research and prototyping phases that I find particularly fulfilling.

Q: Everyone's career path is individual. What led you to become a strategist?

Sofia: Like many 17-year-olds, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life after school. I was interested in a variety of fields, ranging from marketing, communication, and literature to psychology—and even dentistry, oddly enough. However, I’ve always enjoyed creative activities like painting and designing my own clothes, anything that involved working with my hands. This led me to choose a multidisciplinary design course, where I explored fashion design, product design, and service design for two years before specializing in service design for the remainder of my degree. I love that service design and strategy can touch upon any industry and project, with the methodology having the potential to create positive impact and engaging experiences. During my studies, I completed several internships that eventually led me to join FutureBrand UXUS.

Q: What book or podcast do you think everyone should read/listen to?

Sofia: I’d say my biggest hobby is reading, with fantasy and fiction being my favorite genres. However, a book that really changed the way I see storytelling and narratives is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. It explores the 1959 murders of the Clutter family in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. Interestingly, Capote spent a considerable amount of time with the two perpetrators, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. I consider the story to have an unreliable narrator, as Capote’s portrayal of the complex relationships between Hickock and Smith, especially the more favorable light in which Smith is depicted due to his close relationship with the author, raises questions about bias. I think everyone should read it, as it offers food for thought on how we perceive objectivity and subjectivity within a story.