Making Their Mark: Wilson Deomampo

Long before lockdown, WATG and Wimberly Interiors’ global network of designers, makers and creators have looked beyond their every day to inspire ideas and innovations. In this new series, Making Their Mark, we shine a spotlight on our team members and creative associates, and the passion projects they pursue outside of 9–5 – not only for their personal mental health, well-being and growth, but for the benefit of their clients, projects and colleagues. Fostering a spirit of creativity, innovation, individualism and imagination among our ‘ohana’ (family) has been central to our firm since its founding seventy-five years ago, and we are proud to support one another not only at work, but externally as well.

Our latest interviewee is Wilson Deomampo – a Senior Project Designer based in our Irvine, California office. Wilson’s colorful career in planning and architecture has not only seen him collaborate on a variety of small- and large-scale projects, but master the art of illustration as well – with his works featuring on Singaporean stamps, a Californian-edition Monopoly board, and winning ‘Amusing Entry’ in last year’s Architectural Record Magazine annual Cocktail Napkin Sketch Contest.

On the art of drawing, Wilson writes:

The design world has a variety of digital tools, from parametric and generative design programs to the use of 3D illustration, that have made sketching by hand methods seem laborious, if not unnecessary, today. With great emphasis on digital graphics and demands for digital presentation, the result has been a decreased interest and emphasis on teaching and practice of drawing and sketching in today’s schools. In my own personal opinion as a passionate designer and artist, hand drawing will never cease to exist. The creative process in the early stages of investigation, exploring problems and presenting visual solutions on paper, whether it is a design project, a sketch of an existing environment or a portrait, is not only an engaging activity but it is in the wonder of its beginning that creates the magic realized from the first stroke of the hand.

Wilson, tell us a little bit about your career and what a ‘normal’ day looks like for you.

I joined WATG two years ago as Senior Project Designer in the Irvine, California office, working with the planning and architecture studios. Throughout my thirty-year career, I have played an active role in international projects and developments throughout the United States, China, Singapore, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Philippines, which is also where I received my education and Architect’s licensure. I have been involved in concept formulation, thematic visioning, and schematic to design development of medium- to large-scale urban planning and architectural projects all around the world, learning to design with considerations of American pragmatism and European idealism, coupled with Middle Eastern and Asian cultural sensitivities. I’ve also had the pleasure of participating in many award-winning competition projects and built structures. Prior to WATG, I worked on notable lifestyle retail and mixed-use destinations in the United States particularly in California: Bella Terra in Huntington Beach, The District at Tustin Legacy, buildings at The Grove in Los Angeles, Pacific Theaters at the Americana in Glendale, The Lakes in Thousand Oaks; as well as lifestyle centers Station Park in Farmington, Utah and Meridian Town Center in Idaho.

Proficiency in architectural delineation is something that I aspire to and strive for. All types of drawing mediums are explored, including digital technology in creating architectural images with thoughtful composition, mood and focus that tells a visual story. Believe it or not, I find working from home to be very normal. Having done architectural visualization and design consultancy for a long time, coming to the office was something I had to adjust to since joining WATG. The lockdown has returned my usual work processes – minus the constant business travel. Working with the project team remotely has been very productive so far.

In isolation we’ve been forced to find new outlets for entertainment and inspiration. Talk us through your side project(s). What is it and how did it begin?

In this time of isolation, my after work activities include occasional walks to the beach, nearby mountain hikes, home gardening and family picnics, and drawing has always remained a constant activity for me – even before lockdown. My wife Pauline and our children are my inspiration to stay positive in this time of global health crisis. We’ve been supporting each other to stay physically and emotionally strong to withstand any adversity along the way.

I have always had a passion for drawing, which by nature is a solitary exercise. It is an activity we all shared and yet experienced individually. In the digital age, I have adapted to using 3D and image editing software to create hybrid illustrations for professional work, but doing hand sketches using a variety of mediums especially while traveling is something I always do. Besides a camera/phone, always bringing a sketchbook is a must for me. Observational sketches in the actual places that we’ve visited from around the world at different climate conditions and while in various forms of transportation are recorded in a journal thus creating a visual diary of places and events. Sometimes I do the drawings after, creating sketch travel collages and portraits of my wife in the places we traveled. I do not have a standard size of drawing material but rather a variety of sketchbooks of different sizes, paper quality and color. Fountain pens with different ink color are often used with watercolor washes or colored pencil since they are convenient to carry them around while traveling. These past few months I still bring my sketchbook during family picnics and nature walks as usual.

Some of my drawings have been featured in numerous brochures and publications throughout the United States, Middle East and Asia. But there are drawings that have been used as memorabilia items printed on t-shirts, playing card, posters as well as in Monopoly Game Boards in 2006 and 2007. Singapore Post featured my rendering on a postage stamp commemorating the opening of their new Singapore Postal Complex in 1998.

Have you found this new creative process to be cathartic or challenging? Has anything about it surprised you?

California has been our home for two decades now but having worked and lived with my family in different parts of the world through the years, we have learned to adapt to places and situations and constantly learn how to deal with them. During lockdown, we as a family are coping with the new normal although for me working from my home office with regular video conference with the project team and client meetings works just as well.

How has being creative outside of work positively impacted your outcomes at work?

Prior to lockdown, I enjoyed a fruitful year of awards and recognition which has definitely been a positive boost in my career which I believe has impacted the outcome of my work.

In May 2019, my wife Pauline and I were invited to Shanghai for the inaugural opening of the successful full-scale one-man Exhibition titled LIVE LOVE LIFE: Drawings of Architect Wilson B. Deomampo. It was held for two weeks featuring multi-media video presentation and large format framed canvas prints of design projects, illustrations and travel sketches in the last 30 years, sponsored by Jundi Architects, Shanghai, China (I was a design consultant and then Design Director of this firm prior to joining WATG).

In November 2019, I was honored as a Filipino-American with the Emerald Award for Excellence in the Arts bestowed by the Philippine Consul General Adelio Angelito Cruz of Los Angeles with a plaque/certificates of recognition from the State of California Senate and California Legislature Assembly. The gala dinner and exhibition organized by the Emerald Lantern Group was held at the Marriott Hotel in Long Beach, CA.

In the same month, Architectural Record Magazine  released ten winning images among around 2000 entries to the annual Cocktail Napkin Sketch Contest. My drawing “Pauline at Hudson Yards” was awarded “Amusing Entry”.

In December of 2019, the Tustin Preservation Conservancy and the American Institute of Architects Orange County awarded me First Prize Winner for Preserving Tustin’s Future: Old Town Tustin Competition at a ceremony in Newport Beach, CA.

I have also been a member of The American Society of Architectural Illustrators (ASAI) for many years now where many of my illustrations have been selected with Awards of Excellence published in ASAI catalogs and exhibited internationally.

Tell us a little bit about a maker or creator who has inspired you, and why.

Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Knowledge of the past and of the places of the earth is the ornament and food of the mind of man.” I admire his tenacity and exploration through drawings of man, nature and technology documented in his sketchbooks. He is a true renaissance man that inspired many people including myself. I’ve been also inspired by creative people in their pursuit of discovery and invention – too many to name.

But my main inspiration in this creative journey is my beautiful wife Pauline. Without her unselfish love and devotion, I would not have concentrated well in my creative work. With God’s blessing we have been married for 34 years and wishing for more blissful anniversaries to come. She is co-creator of our three lovely daughters Giffany, Monica, Charmaine and our only son Schuyler.