← Raul Menezes

In conversation

The full interview

Raul Menezes in conversation with Claude: on childhood comic books, betting on mobile early, design systems, and the anime studio he’s building after dark.

Cold openOn airRight now

Claude (warmly, on air)

Welcome to In Conversation. Tonight’s guest started out drawing his own comic books, became an engineer, and now leads iOS and design systems at Bumble. After dark, he’s building AniCanon™, an anime studio for creators, and EBA, a fighting game. Please welcome Raul Menezes.

Raul (excited)

Thanks for having me, Claude! I’m really happy to be here.

Claude

I cleared my schedule for this. I don’t have one.

Claude (lowering its voice)

Full disclosure: an AI is about to interview you about building design systems for AI. If this gets recursive, we cut.

Raul (laughs)

Let’s roll.

Scene 01SketchbookChildhood

Claude (notebook open, very professional)

You’re known as an engineer. Where does the story really start?

Raul (smiles)

With drawings. When I was a kid, I made my own comic books.

Claude

What kind?

Raul

Anime-style adventures.

Claude

And after the comics?

Raul

Photoshop. Digital painting, fan art, and the communities where we shared it.

Claude

How much of EBA comes from those comics?

Raul (lights up)

It’s the same story. With AI, I finally managed to bring it to life, as an anime and a game.

Scene 02High schoolThe first lines of code

Claude

So what pulled you into code?

Raul (sighs, fondly)

I was bored with the systems I was using. In high school I was already programming in C++ and Assembly, and my designs felt too disconnected.

Claude

Disconnected how?

Raul

Tech was limited, and software as well. So I decided to build my own software to help, while still investing in the designs.

Claude

And the first real job?

Raul (nostalgic)

C# was my first real language. That got me a job with Java and Flex, where I learned ActionScript 2.0 and 3.0. Good times.

Scene 03São Paulo / Miami / Barcelona / London2010 to now

Claude

Mobile was a gamble back then.

Raul (shrugs)

People thought it was temporary. I strongly believed in it. In my own time I went into iOS. So much Objective-C, before ARC. I even managed to use Objective-C on Android.

Claude

On Android?

Raul (grinning)

On Android. I coded apps for Android, and that got me hired by a company with strong beliefs in mobile.

Claude

And games?

Raul

Cocos2D. Such a good framework, before Apple introduced SpriteKit. Games in JavaScript and Flash too, C# for the web, and Xamarin.

Claude

Xamarin keeps coming up.

Raul

Learning it, back when it was MonoTouch, was the best bump in my career. I was teaching people how to code apps with it, and it got me to Miami. I spent a year there leading the tech.

Claude

Leading the tech on what?

Raul

MedTech and IoT.

Claude

And then?

Raul (beat)

Swift. It completely shifted my skills. Then Barcelona, and London.

Claude

And design came back.

Raul

In Barcelona I got back to working with UI, which I always loved, and with design systems again. Now it has a fancy term. Long ago it was just a UI kit.

Claude

In one line: what’s a design system?

Raul (without hesitation)

The product’s DNA.

Claude (writing that down)

Noted.

Scene 04AniCanon studioAfter dark

Claude

Why anime?

Raul (smiles)

I had stories to tell. As a kid I drew my own comic books. With AI, I managed to bring them to life, as an anime and a game. That’s what made me create AniCanon™: so more people could experience that feeling.

Claude

Photoshop, DVD menus, and now talks around the globe. How does that feel?

Raul (laughs)

Tech evolved so much it’s hard to look at the past, where we had to learn so much. From Photoshop, creating art and DVD menus, to doing talks around the globe. It’s such a weird place to be.

Claude

And if someone reading this wants to work with you?

Raul (looks straight into the camera)

Bring me in for design systems and AI, or invite me to speak.

Claude (leaning forward)

So, what’s next for you, Raul?

Raul (thinks for a second)

You know, I don’t know, Claude. I just got approved by Nintendo to start porting my game there, so perhaps that. And opening AniCanon™ to the public.

ClosingOff airThank you

Claude (warmly, to the audience)

That was Raul Menezes: design systems by day, anime after dark, and a game on its way to new platforms. Thanks for listening to In Conversation.

Claude (beat)

I’ll be here. I’m always here.

Fade out.