Kanlaon

Scarcely had self received news of Tina Besa’s involvement with the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles (She was Senior Graphic Designer) than self’s mind began devising all sorts of questions for Tina to answer, for self to post on Kanlaon.  Yes, in spite of having had only three hours sleep last night (fresh from encounter with fave student, not to mention getting a fantastic idea for a chamber opera, which hit around midnight), self was able to fire off the following three questions:

1. What led you into graphic design (Was it the example of a famous mother? Hee hee hee)
2. What’s the competition like?
3. Are there any times when you just feel it’s all too hard, and you want to give up?  How do you “power through” such moments?

Here are the fab Tina’s responses:

1. When I was in high school I used to make flyers and invitations, and worked on laying out the yearbook — I enjoyed it a lot, but it never struck me as a career option. In the Philippines then, it seemed to me that the only way to train as a visual creative was via a fine arts degree. In my mind, that meant being able to draw, which I couldn’t do. So I graduated with a degree in management, and worked in business for a bit. I was miserable. Long story short, with incredible, unwavering support from my parents, I bit the bullet and went back to school for a BFA. Best move EVER. And I still can’t draw.

2. Graphic design for traditional print and screen (web/multimedia) is much more competitive than the field I’m currently in, which is graphic design for exhibits. There are far fewer firms that specialize in exhibit design, particularly exhibit design for museums. That can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on your point of view. I love the field because it is collaborative and multi-dimensional in very unique ways, but there are days when I feel like I’ve painted myself into a corner.

3. For me, the difficulties hardly ever come from the designing — they come from team members who are uncooperative or disorganized, clients who don’t trust you, or printers or fabricators who drop the ball. I try to keep the ratio of design to everything else as high as possible!

And, obviously, Tina, you have achieved a fine balance.  All power to you.  Self knows very well what tenacity, what pluck, and what discipline you had to muster to achieve what you have achieved.