Tomás Reis

I’m Tomás Reis.

I design apps,

brands

Men among hanging sheets of pink, navy and yellow in a tangerine studio, blurred by a slow shutter

and the campaigns

that launch them,

Men in long coats blurring along the seafront at dusk under a Vento kite

and I take the first call

on every project.

Tomás, 2026

Colour tests

Vento, 2025

I started in 2009 at Atelier Vos in Brussels, setting annual reports on a grid I still use. Six years at Northfold in Antwerp taught me to ship apps: a train timetable, a booking tool for forty clinics, a bank’s design system.

In 2017 I started Okapi with Helena and Duarte. I run the weekly reviews, take the first call on every project, and teach one day a month at KASK in Ghent.

Tomás Reis, Ghent, since 2009

Experience

Since 2009, three studios

Work

2017 – now

Co-founder, design director

Okapi, Ghent

Started the studio with Helena and Duarte. I take the first call on every project and run the weekly reviews.

Eight people now. I still answer the first email myself.

2017 – now

Co-founder, design director

Okapi, Ghent

Started the studio with Helena and Duarte. I take the first call on every project and run the weekly reviews.

Eight people now. I still answer the first email myself.

2017 – now

Co-founder, design director

Okapi, Ghent

Started the studio with Helena and Duarte. I take the first call on every project and run the weekly reviews.

Eight people now. I still answer the first email myself.

2014 – 2017

Design lead

Northfold, Antwerp

Led a team of five on banking and booking apps, and the design system behind a bank’s three apps.

Where I met Helena. We left on the same Friday.

2014 – 2017

Design lead

Northfold, Antwerp

Led a team of five on banking and booking apps, and the design system behind a bank’s three apps.

Where I met Helena. We left on the same Friday.

2014 – 2017

Design lead

Northfold, Antwerp

Led a team of five on banking and booking apps, and the design system behind a bank’s three apps.

Where I met Helena. We left on the same Friday.

2011 – 2014

Product designer

Northfold, Antwerp

My first apps that shipped: a train timetable and a booking tool for forty clinics.

The timetable app is still in the store, two redesigns later.

2011 – 2014

Product designer

Northfold, Antwerp

My first apps that shipped: a train timetable and a booking tool for forty clinics.

The timetable app is still in the store, two redesigns later.

2011 – 2014

Product designer

Northfold, Antwerp

My first apps that shipped: a train timetable and a booking tool for forty clinics.

The timetable app is still in the store, two redesigns later.

2009 – 2011

Junior designer

Atelier Vos, Brussels

Logos, annual reports and my first website, on a grid I still use.

I set every annual report on a twelve-column grid. Okapi’s site uses the same one.

2009 – 2011

Junior designer

Atelier Vos, Brussels

Logos, annual reports and my first website, on a grid I still use.

I set every annual report on a twelve-column grid. Okapi’s site uses the same one.

2009 – 2011

Junior designer

Atelier Vos, Brussels

Logos, annual reports and my first website, on a grid I still use.

I set every annual report on a twelve-column grid. Okapi’s site uses the same one.

Teaching

2019 – now

Guest teacher, interaction design

KASK School of Arts, Ghent

One day a month with the second-year students: prototypes, critique, and how to present work.

Two of our designers were my students first.

2019 – now

Guest teacher, interaction design

KASK School of Arts, Ghent

One day a month with the second-year students: prototypes, critique, and how to present work.

Two of our designers were my students first.

2019 – now

Guest teacher, interaction design

KASK School of Arts, Ghent

One day a month with the second-year students: prototypes, critique, and how to present work.

Two of our designers were my students first.

School

2005 – 2009

Graphic design, BA and MA

KASK School of Arts, Ghent

Type, print, and a final project on timetables that started all of the above.

My final project was a train timetable. So was my first app.

2005 – 2009

Graphic design, BA and MA

KASK School of Arts, Ghent

Type, print, and a final project on timetables that started all of the above.

My final project was a train timetable. So was my first app.

2005 – 2009

Graphic design, BA and MA

KASK School of Arts, Ghent

Type, print, and a final project on timetables that started all of the above.

My final project was a train timetable. So was my first app.

Process

How I work

Four stages, about ten weeks for most projects

Brief

Week 1

Brief

Client

Fome

Project

Brand, packaging, launch

Schedule

Ten weeks

Price

Fixed

Designer

Tomás Reis

Brief

A half-day workshop with the people who decide. Within a week I send a written scope, a schedule and a fixed price.

Directions

Weeks 2 and 3

Three FOME boxes side by side in red, yellow and pink bands

Directions

I show two or three routes as real screens, ads or packaging, not mood boards. You pick one, or a mix.

Design

Weeks 4 to 9

The FOME menu board with its burgers, bakery and sweets bands

Most of the ten weeks is here, with your team in the file.

Design

I run a review every Thursday in one shared file. Your developers and marketing team join from the first week, not the last.

Launch

Week 10, then support

FOME paper bags with numbered bands lined up on a lit shelf

Launch

Final files, the system or guidelines to keep going, and two weeks of my time after launch day.

Awards

Twelve awards, since 2024

2026

5 awards

Best of the Best

Packaging Design

Red Dot Award

Sal

Sal bath salt and soap on a heap of sea salt

October

The labels say what is inside in eleven words or fewer. That was the whole brief.

Best of the Best

Packaging Design

Red Dot Award

Sal

October

The labels say what is inside in eleven words or fewer. That was the whole brief.

Best of the Best

Packaging Design

Red Dot Award

October

Sal

The labels say what is inside in eleven words or fewer. That was the whole brief.

Winner

User Interface

iF Design Award

Dobra

April

Dobra puts the picture on one half of a folding phone and the tools on the other.

Winner

User Interface

iF Design Award

Dobra

April

Dobra puts the picture on one half of a folding phone and the tools on the other.

Winner

User Interface

iF Design Award

April

Dobra

Dobra puts the picture on one half of a folding phone and the tools on the other.

Honoree

Apps and Software

Webby Awards

Dobra

April

Dobra’s second award that April, for the editing tools on the folded half.

Honoree

Apps and Software

Webby Awards

Dobra

April

Dobra’s second award that April, for the editing tools on the folded half.

Honoree

Apps and Software

Webby Awards

April

Dobra

Dobra’s second award that April, for the editing tools on the folded half.

Site of the Day

Awwwards

Sebe

March

Sebe’s homepage opens on a garden, not a grid of thumbnails.

Site of the Day

Awwwards

Sebe

March

Sebe’s homepage opens on a garden, not a grid of thumbnails.

Site of the Day

Awwwards

March

Sebe

Sebe’s homepage opens on a garden, not a grid of thumbnails.

Website of the Day

CSS Design Awards

Sebe

March

Same week, same site. João built it in Framer, so Sebe’s team edits it themselves.

Website of the Day

CSS Design Awards

Sebe

March

Same week, same site. João built it in Framer, so Sebe’s team edits it themselves.

Website of the Day

CSS Design Awards

March

Sebe

Same week, same site. João built it in Framer, so Sebe’s team edits it themselves.

2025

4 awards

Gold

Food

Pentawards

FOME

November

Stock kraft boxes, and one printed band for each of the five menus.

Gold

Food

Pentawards

FOME

November

Stock kraft boxes, and one printed band for each of the five menus.

Gold

Food

Pentawards

November

FOME

Stock kraft boxes, and one printed band for each of the five menus.

Honorable Mention

Awwwards

Brisk

July

Brisk’s App Store page, built on real screens from a tester’s week.

Honorable Mention

Awwwards

Brisk

July

Brisk’s App Store page, built on real screens from a tester’s week.

Honorable Mention

Awwwards

July

Brisk

Brisk’s App Store page, built on real screens from a tester’s week.

Wood Pencil

Graphic Design

D&AD

Passo

May

For the Passo annual: every page set in the same two weights as the badges.

Wood Pencil

Graphic Design

D&AD

Passo

May

For the Passo annual: every page set in the same two weights as the badges.

Wood Pencil

Graphic Design

D&AD

May

Passo

For the Passo annual: every page set in the same two weights as the badges.

Silver

Brand Identity

Creative Belgium

Passo

March

The posters change colour every year; the zebra stripes never do.

Silver

Brand Identity

Creative Belgium

Passo

March

The posters change colour every year; the zebra stripes never do.

Silver

Brand Identity

Creative Belgium

March

Passo

The posters change colour every year; the zebra stripes never do.

2024

3 awards

Honorable Mention

Awwwards

Banca

November

Banca’s checkout, rebuilt around how people shop on a Sunday morning.

Honorable Mention

Awwwards

Banca

November

Banca’s checkout, rebuilt around how people shop on a Sunday morning.

Honorable Mention

Awwwards

November

Banca

Banca’s checkout, rebuilt around how people shop on a Sunday morning.

Best UI Design

CSS Design Awards

Chave

September

A dashboard for landlords with a few flats each, not a few thousand.

Best UI Design

CSS Design Awards

Chave

September

A dashboard for landlords with a few flats each, not a few thousand.

Best UI Design

CSS Design Awards

September

Chave

A dashboard for landlords with a few flats each, not a few thousand.

Gold

Brand Identity

European Design Awards

Tinta

June

Every Tinta bottle wears a swatch of the ink inside it.

Gold

Brand Identity

European Design Awards

Tinta

June

Every Tinta bottle wears a swatch of the ink inside it.

Gold

Brand Identity

European Design Awards

June

Tinta

Every Tinta bottle wears a swatch of the ink inside it.

Contact

Tell me what you’re launching.

Write to us

tomas@okapi.studio

Start a project

Hello

Pages

Visit

Sint-Jacobsnieuwstraat 81, 9000 Ghent

Contact

Tell me what you’re launching.

Write to us

tomas@okapi.studio

Start a project

Hello

Pages

Visit

Sint-Jacobsnieuwstraat 81, 9000 Ghent

Contact

Tell me what you’re launching.

Write to us

tomas@okapi.studio

Start a project

Hello

Pages

Visit

Sint-Jacobsnieuwstraat 81, 9000 Ghent