The Adobe Design Achievement Awards team is always happy to hear from ADAA alumni.
We enjoy hearing about their evolving work, creative experiments, and recent accomplishments. We never tire of sharing and applauding the innovative projects that come from our global community of ADAA alumni. This was true when Cristian Zuzunaga let us know he’d be in San Francisco in June, to speak at the @Arkitektura showroom during SF Design Week.
We first met Cristian in 2007, when he was attending the Royal College of Art in London. His group entry was chosen as an ADAA finalist selection, in the category of illustration. The ADAA judges recognized his work for its richness in color, silhouette, and creative concept. Cristian’s ADAA entry was a collection of men’s wear, using textiles inspired by pixelated coloration. The illustrations and final silhouettes demonstrated surprising examples of coloration, motif, and modern graphics.
Cristian Zuzunaga shown with pixelated designs.
It was great catching up with Cristian at the Adobe offices in San Francisco. He shared his insights for staying inspired. “I stay connected to my surroundings, to nature, and balance the stimuli of the city. My commute from the country allows for a quiet time to process and reflect on new designs or unexpected approaches.” Visit Cristian’s website.
We asked Cristian what advice he may have for recent graduates. Zuzanaga then told of the times when he was a recent graduate, and rejected for employment as a designer. “I went to many job interviews. I was rejected three or four times. By my fourth interview rejection, I told myself, ‘well if no-one else can see the potential that I see, then I must have something pretty different here.’ So I made a conscious choice to believe in myself and my work, and not get discouraged.”
Cristian Zuzunaga’s group collection, Royal College of Art, 2007.
Cristian Zuzunaga’s design house was founded in 2007, offering contemporary textile prints, rugs, furniture, and art pieces. Since then, Cristian has received numerous awards and worldwide recognition for his conceptual prints and product designs. Zuzunaga received the ICFF Award, for Best Textiles in New York, as well as the coveted Les Découvertes Award at Maison & Objet, in Paris. He also received the esteemed Elle Deco International Design Award for Best Fabric Design in 2011, in response to his Skyline curtain collection by Kvadrat.
Claire Erwin, Sr. Manager, Worldwide Education Community at Adobe (left)
Cristian Zuzunaga, Artist and Creative a Director at Zuzunaga (right).
To view the full range of Cristian Zuzunaga’s work, please visit his website. Join us, in wishing Cristian the very best in his future creative endeavors. We continue to support and celebrate the extended ADAA global community and alumni! Explore Cristian’s ADAA submission, featured here, on the Adobe Design Achievement Awards Online Gallery.
Royal College of Art, an Adobe Partners by Design institution