my orchestra conductor. I design under His guidance, and I do not stray from Him, for He is my source of existence and creativity. Just like the first violin in an orchestra, which cannot lose sight of its conductor in order not to get carried away by the unbridled illusion of melody, I rather follow Him in synergy, according to what my conductor conducts in order to empower the whole orchestra and give grace to the listeners.

we live suffocated by lights that do not illuminate the interior; they do not reach the depths. But there is a Light that reaches the innermost part of the heart and transforms all the darkness into color, thus giving meaning and hope. That Light is my motivation as a new creature, as a designer; it is my identity which comes from the Logos, it is the Word made flesh: Jesus.

Colossians 1:15 (He is the visible image of God; through Him the character and work of the Father is made clear).

Questions are a driving force for me, they condition my way of seeing, of understanding the world and the cosmos. They are hints of new starting points and nodes to anchor the next stop during the searching process. Questions expose a void of what could be, a suspense and an expectation. That delight of what will be and what will be discovered along the way, makes me an accumulator of questions, longing for answers and the joy to share with others the answers I have found to build together new questions and expeditions that make us go deeper, walk higher and be amazed by new perspectives and landscapes which without questions would have remained unknown. Questions may at first seem like gray clouds, but they turn out to be clouds that protect us from the blinding sun, awaken us from slumber and prevent conformism. Without questions we remain static, still accustomed to the insipid taste of the world. Our beliefs run the risk of not having firm roots and being carried away by any wind or voice. And without questions, upon hearing a hint of low tones, we would find it hard to distinguish a voice from thunder (John 12:29).

Not doubting God, but sharing with Him what is already in our hearts, asking Him as a young child asks his parents about existence and the endless “why?”. Embracing the questions that will help us deepen our knowledge of Him and casting away doubt of His goodness and good master character.

Thus, I share what was once said: «And, indeed, doubting, we come to question and questioning, we come to perceive truth» (Pedro Abelardo, 1141, Sic et non, 1349 A-B).

Research is Design's big sister, it sets the pace and provides reasonable direction. Diligent and committed research is the basis of a design that transcends and lasts. In the process of immersing myself in a topic and soaking in its universe, learning and apprehending it, I collect meanings, cultural codes and immerse myself in literature, scientific data, poetic aesthetics, literature, or philosophy, relating the findings, spinning them, delving into them as if they were icebergs, understanding their correlations and their scope, as if they were the intertwined roots of a lush forest. In my design process, research is a constant, a companion and an anchor.

Everything created by God has a purpose and a reason for being, from each of the 30 proteins contained in the motor of a bacterial flagellum (without one of them its motor would not work) to our existence. Graphic Design, illustrations and written communication possess the gift of awakening the sensitivity of meaning by showing aesthetically how to understand and how hope can take shape, effects that perhaps had not been shown before; this explosion of clarity gives way to the amplitude of seeing, understanding, feeling and being. The search for meaning as a tool and as a goal turns out to be a sinuous movement between coming and going; between the concept and what is seen, what is designed and what is interpreted, what is shown and what is hidden.

«What is heard all around (mainly in the field of art) is not the arrival of a meaning, object of recognition or decipherment, but the very dispersion, the mirroring of signifiers [...] driven to follow after a listening that produces new signifiers, without ever retaining the meaning» (Roland Barthes, The obvious and obtuse, 1986, p. 256).

experimentation in designing is a journey between space and time, a dance between the ephemeral and the permanent. Design is taking the work to the pillow, to dinner, to the beach, to the theater and to the shower. Permanent reflection adds another layer of movement where imaginaries, universes of meanings, of sense and concepts that are related, renewed, recycled or discarded are built. In my design process it is essential to open up an abundant space for conceptualization, interwoven with experimentation in the laboratory of trial and error in order to go beyond the obvious. It implies recognizing the value of silence, of the process, of the inside, of reflection, of paper, pencil and eraser; also of personal baggage, of scientific research and raw emotion. It includes giving a little more time and space to mystery and less to mastery. The process is as important as the result, where God himself works in silence (in the invisible), waiting for one to come to Him for answers and direction, for it is in that physical space where He gives new perspectives, insights, inspirations, ideas, for man can receive nothing that is not given to him from heaven (John 3:27).

Proverbs 25:2 (It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search them out).

one of the virtues of design that moves me most is its contribution to give shape to meaning, to reveal the world we share. As an interpreter of a theme, just as a musician interprets a work, the designer permeates his illustrations or compositions with his personal repertoires, sharing and making the other a participant in his particular way of seeing, understanding and being in the world. Instead of simply transmitting an idea, communication is a phenomenon that involves the other, revealing a world in common, a perspective of understanding, of meaning, of reconciliation, acting as a bridge, a sherpa[1], as spectacles, as an interpreter, a shelter, it is being-with-others.

[1] Carriers or guides who accompany and support climbers to reach the peaks of the Himalayas.