After successfully training and earning his Masters in Interior and Living Design from Domus Academy in Milan, Italy recently, Jigs is driven more than ever in following his artistic direction. And because creativity is a valuable skill, constantly evolving it through continuous learning is a responsibility that Jigs takes seriously as a designer with a passion and mission to elevate the craft and the profession.
Most importantly, Jigs regards his newly finished education abroad as a preparation for the challenges as well as the opportunities that the ASEAN integration will present to the industry in the coming years. The possibility of intense competition among the region’s vast pool of creative minds inspires him more to pursue higher learning endeavors, to be able to compete head on while helping raise the bar for innovation, quality and productivity.
“While the ASEAN integration of economies will give rise to a highly competitive global marketplace for designers from all over Southeast Asia, it also levels the playing field. I’m confident that Filipino designers like me will flourish against foreign counterparts, given their readiness and innovative versatility, degree of professionalism and passion to the art. I’m excitedly looking forward to establish this Filipino identity along with my brand of creativity while showing to the world what I can offer,” he said.
Natural gift
Coming from an artistic brood, Jigs embraced his innate gift since falling in love with interior designing at age 7. The influence, as well as his natural ability and flair for aesthetics proved designing is second nature.
“Creativity runs in the family. My mom loved fashion design, my grandfather was a furniture manufacturer and exporter, and I have uncles and aunties who are artists. As a child, I remember drawing series of shapes representing the furniture pieces in my bedroom and fit them within a square whenever I fix my room—not quite aware that I was actually playing with the ergonomics at that age,” he recalled.
Jigs successfully completed his Degree in Interior Design from the Philippine School of Interior Design and the Bachelor of Science in Interior Design at De La Salle University-College of Saint Benilde.
Before taking on the challenge of running his own design business, Adefuin Design Studio, Jigs’s career flourished further as he worked full time at various levels, successively, at the Nardy Aquino Interior Design Studio and Ethan Allen Home Interiors.
His design career snowballed when he was commissioned to design the first office of the Philippine Neurological Association at Saint Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. “It was an amazing experience. I was giddy about it since it was my first actual interior design job, and it was overwhelming as well. But I always like new challenges and I’d like to believe that I completed the project with flying colors,” Jigs remarked.
And because he does everything with a passion that is an inspiration in itself, success became inevitable for Jigs and it came with multiple accolades. Among these is being awarded a Certificate of Distinction for landing 10th place in the 2005 Philippine Interior Design Licensure Examination. He is also a recipient of the 2011 PSID 10 Iconoclasts (for being among the 10 Outstanding Graduates of PSID) and in 2013, hailed one of the Most Sought After Interior Designers of the Year 2013 in the CondoLiving Interior Designer Awards.