MANILA , July 8, 2013 – Famed Philippine designer Lucille Tenazas zeroed inon “the importance of personal history in developing a designer’s voice” in her one of two masterclass sessions the AIGA Medal awardee conducted in Manila as part of the Ayala Museum’s Design Talks series.
The current Henry Wolf professor at Parsons The New School for Design in New York stressed the importance of “developing the ability to trust” in one’s own voice. As a profession that relies on collaborations between the graphic designer and his client, Tenazas said that belief and confidence in your own vision and voice will help the designer read his client in a way that they might not even be aware of. “So that when you’re listening to somebody,” she says “you can bottom yourself out and take their voices and take their needs inside you and be empathetic, empathize with them and say: This is how I’m reading your needs and how I think I can interpret them, and by virtue of opening yourself up to others, you’re able to begin afresh, and when you begin afresh, it is a place where you have strong self-confidence.” She advised relying on personal history as important in building that confidence, saying “I want them to be able to be confident that their previous life and accumulated experience contribute to what they will bring to who they will be, and not to forget that.”
Tenazas’ three-day workshop ended with a viewing of her work and ideas, which was open to the public and served as not only a send-off but also a celebration of this renowned designer’s accomplishmentsand contributions to the world of design.
