Character Opens NY Office Led by R/GA Alums Manuel Dilone and Virgilio Santos

Full-service branding and design agency Character today announced the opening of its New York office and the hiring of Manuel Dilone and Virgilio Santos to lead operations. Manuel and Virgilio were named partners and Executive Creative Directors and will oversee all activities out of the new location in Brooklyn, such as for clients LG and The Stronach Group. Earlier this year, Character was acquired by the Dentsu Aegis Network, acting as the cornerstone of the group’s brand design offering.

Character co-founder Ben Pham comments: “We’d been following Manuel and Virgilio’s work for a long time. They both have an amazing track record of building a culture of fearless people who are not afraid to deliver bold work for clients. 

“We wanted to go from fans to collaborators, so we asked them to launch our New York office. We’re excited about the space in Brooklyn, where Manuel and Virgilio are experimenting with new immersive experiences and interactions with clients,” he added. 

Santos explains the harmony between the San Francisco and New York offices: “Character is doing what Manuel and I have been doing throughout our careers, leading with the idea that you can provide real value through digital tools and bridging that with what it means to be a brand. We both believe in creating dynamic brand systems: understanding brand as function and using it to explore how it then manifests itself in digital and in emerging interfaces.”

Santos and Dilone are spearheading what they anticipate will be the next generation of creative spaces, going beyond the traditional agency office to a multidimensional workspace. The space will include rich and diverse events from industry-related exhibitions and launch events, to one-off experimental shows and more. 

According to Dilone: “The Brooklyn space allows us to prototype living brands and invite clients closer into our process. We’re motivated to try new methods and experiment with how our clients experience their brands.”