“Even after living in cities like New York and London, it’s to Nature that I return to!” 

Born in São Miguel, in the Azores, Manuel Lima has always seen the world as a place to explore and understand. This impulse has led him to leave his comfort zone time and time again: he left Lisbon to study in Scandinavia, gave up a stable job in London to spend six months working on his first book, and started over in cities such as New York. 
Today, he lives in Lisbon, is one of the world’s most influential figures in information design, and leads the design team at Interos.ai, an American startup that maps global supply networks, analyzing financial, political, and environmental risks in real-time. His work lies at the intersection of technology, visualization, and responsibility. Author of four books and an international speaker, he continues to be guided by the same restlessness as always: the desire to make sense of what surrounds us—and to make design a bridge between data, knowledge, and wisdom. 

“Information designers have a serious responsibility: to transform excess data into clarity—with ethics and transparency.” 

How did growing up in the Azores influence your way of seeing and representing the world? 
It had a considerable impact. Growing up in the Azores means growing up surrounded by stunning nature—and that shapes you, even without you realizing it. Later, I went to live in big cities, but it was only with time that I realized how much that connection to nature influenced my way of seeing the world. 
Another strong influence was my passion for maps, which began in childhood. My father had a large collection, and I remember spending an entire summer organizing it. I think that’s where my fascination with taxonomies, with making the complex simpler, was born. The sea, for me, was never a boundary — it was an invitation, a promise of discovery. 

Is there any childhood memory from the Azores that you carry with you wherever you go? 
Yes, being in touch with nature, undoubtedly. Growing up in the Azores means being surrounded by an immense, living nature that is impossible to ignore. Even after living in big cities like London and New York, that connection never disappeared. On the contrary, it became more conscious—and turned into a custom. Today, I meditate almost daily, often in connection with nature. When I return to the island and meditate in front of the sea, it’s as if I’m filling my lungs with light. I feel this constant call to my origins, to the sea, to the greenery, to tranquility. It’s a return but also a foundation. It’s part of who I am — as a person and as a professional. 

 

What was the most challenging or memorable project of your career—and why? 
Undoubtedly, my first book, Visual Complexity. I had never written a book before, and it was a leap into an entirely new territory. I had a good job in London at Nokia, but after giving a talk at TED Global in Oxford, I boarded the train with a firm decision: I was going to leave the company and devote myself to the book. The following Monday, I handed in my resignation. 
It was an intense six months, full of doubts — but deeply transformative. 
The book opened doors to everything that followed: new projects, conferences, and collaborations. 
It was also there that I realized something that has guided my journey to this day: “We grow when we dare to step outside our comfort zone.” Whenever I felt too comfortable, I knew it was time to change. And it was through change — sometimes painful — that I grew the most. 

What do you consider to be the greatest ethical responsibility of an information designer today? 
We are surrounded by data like never before, but many people feel more misinformed than informed. Information designers have a responsibility to transform this excess into something clear, useful, and true. 
In my latest book, I talk about design ethics and our responsibility as creators of the visual and physical culture that surrounds us. I grew up in the Azores, surrounded by nature, and that experience shaped my ecological awareness. 
I believe that sustainability and psychology should be at the heart of design education—but they are still missing, which is a serious flaw. 
It is also essential that we are transparent in our use of data: explaining where it comes from, how it has been processed, and avoiding manipulation. 
We lack a clear code of ethics, as already exists in journalism and medicine. Design, more than aesthetics, is a responsibility. 

Artificial intelligence is transforming design. For you, is it more of an ally or an obstacle? 
I see it as an ally. Just as photography liberated painting, AI can liberate design to explore more human dimensions. When photography was first introduced, numerous painters recognized that it could more accurately depict reality. However, expressionism and surrealism emerged, movements that delved into the subconscious, the intimate, and everything that photography was unable to capture. 
With AI, it’s the same: it will force us to explore more human, deeper territories. 
It’s an optimistic view, but I consider it the only sensible way to look at evolution. Like any tool, AI has risks. But if used well, it can expand—not to replace – the role of the designer. 

When you visit an unfamiliar country, what do you notice first? The visual differences or the invisible connections between cultures? 
I used to notice the differences more. However, over time, and after visiting around 65 countries, I started to see the similarities above all else. Food, for example, you will find variations of rice pudding everywhere and churros in almost every country. But there are also universal human patterns—dance, music, marriage, laughter. There’s a book I really like, Human Universals, which elaborates on just that: behaviors that cross cultures and show us how much we have in common. And that, to me, is fascinating. Differences are easy to point out, but the most beautiful thing is to realize what unites us as a species. The more I travel, the more I am convinced of this: we are all much more alike than we think. 

How do you imagine information design in 10 years? 
AI will continue to grow, but I believe that the future also lies in a more sensory approach. Most of our perception is related to sight, although there are already experiences that explore sound, touch, and even smell to convey information—such as a project at the University of California that associates sounds and aromas with scientific databases. 
We live in a multisensory world, but design still relies almost entirely on the visual. I hope that multisensory visualization will become a reality in the near future. 
What worries me is that we continue to teach design without talking about ethics, psychology, or ecology—and that has to change. Design transforms the world, and with that comes enormous responsibility. 

Manuel Lima is an information designer, author, and international speaker widely recognized for his work in data visualization and complex networks. He was named one of the “50 people who are changing the world of visualization” by Wired magazine and has presented his work at institutions such as TED, Harvard, MIT, Yale, NYU, and ENSAD Paris. 
He is the author of four reference books — Visual Complexity (2011), The Book of Trees (2014), The Book of Circles (2017), and The New Designer (2023) — published by prestigious publishers such as Princeton Architectural Press and MIT Press, and he is currently working on his fifth book. 
Currently, he leads the design team at Interos.ai, collaborating with organizations such as NASA, Apple, and Disney. His career is guided by a structural curiosity and an ethic that places design at the service of knowledge, transparency, and collective responsibility.