Ways & Means Creative Director Felipe Lima on Ownership, Risk, and Creativity

The creative director of Ways & Means on the small conversations that create memorable work, growing up surrounded by art, and pushing creative boundaries as part of LBB’s Creativity Squared series.
Felipe Lima is a Brazilian-American director based in Los Angeles, and has been creative director of Ways & Means since 2012. His work ranges from high-profile brand campaigns to documentaries on some of the art world’s most influential figures.
This year, Hims & Hers tapped Felipe to direct their Super Bowl LX spot, which drew coverage from Ad Age, Adweek, Forbes, and Fortune. His Netflix film Farewell to DVDs (2024) won a Silver Clio, was named an Ad Age Editors’ Pick, and earned an AICP Awards shortlist and a Webby nomination. On the documentary side, he directed Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future for the Guggenheim, which won an ADC Gold Cube in 2019, and Ed Ruscha: Buildings and Words for MOCA, narrated by Owen Wilson and nominated for a Webby in 2017.
Felipe sat down with LBB to discuss performing adulthood, adolescent procrastination and creative ownership.
Person - What kind of creative person are you?
I’m probably an uneven one. I know some creative people who successfully prioritise positivity and good vibes above everything else, and I’m inspired by – and jealous of – that quality. I don’t always achieve it. I take it all too seriously sometimes.
Some of that comes from a lifelong instinct to perform adulthood: to be responsible, restrained, prepared. I’m not convinced that’s always a virtue, especially for creativity. I like distraction. I like weaving in and out of other people’s conversations while we’re ostensibly working on one thing. I love any process I haven’t done before. My adolescent procrastination now manifests as last-minute ideas and a constant question: what will I regret not trying?

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