DESIGN COLLABORATION
DEM BITANTES
Industrial Designer and Design Director for A. Garcia Lifestyle Inc.
In 1989, he was honored to receive the Star Award for the ‘High Back Chair’ from the Maisons des Internationaux Createurs Trade Fair in Paris. In 1992, as a freelance designer, he founded his own design firm, Work Studio, Inc. which specializes in furniture and product design. This year was also a banner year for Dem because of three awards, namely: the Ecology Award given by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) during the 1992 Manila FAME. Furniture Show, the Outstanding Achievement in Product Design from the Roscoe Award Competition in the United States, and his winning entry to the Singapore Furniture Design Competition ‘Corded Leather With Rattan Frame’.
He received the Most Promising Young Filipino Designer Award in 1994. Followed by other local awards such as the Katha Award as well as the Likhang Pilipino Award from the Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines, this was capped by the Hall of Fame Award given during the Philippine International Furniture Show in 2000. One of his notable works is our Pamela Wire Chair which became the company’s iconic product—known not only locally but internationally. This famous chair has won the Katha Award at the 2006 Manila Fame.
Dem has honed his craft through constant exposure to international consultants and design projects. He cites his trips to Asia, Europe and the United States as a major influence on his design work. He currently works as a design consultant for furniture exporters and importers. Also, a senior lecturer at the College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines, Diliman.
STANLEY RUIZ
Industrial Designer and principal of Estudio Ruiz Design Consultancy – a design studio specializing in the development of products for the furniture, lighting, and home furnishings sector. Born and raised in Manila, and for several years lived in Bali and New York – his work is an amalgam of influences held together by his singular, rational approach to product design.
A multi-awarded designer, his work has been showcased at major design exhibitions, art galleries, and museums worldwide, including the Museum of Arts And Design in New York, University of Art and Design in Helsinki, Yuchengco Museum in Makati, as well as the Salone Del Mobile in Milan, and Maison & Objet in Paris.
Stanley is currently a consultant for CITEM, and the creative director in-charge for CITEM’s Likhang Filipino.
He is a faculty at at the College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines Diliman.