Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán (original) (raw)

I have had no formal studies as an illustrator and I have learned mostly because I wanted to make drawings of flags and coats-of-arms. My first flags were those of Kiribati, Cayman Islands, and a very primitive flag of Mexico.
Since then I have been trying to make myself a better designer. I first used Adobe Illustrator 7. Then I discovered CorelDraw 9, at first sight being astonished by its huge collection of clipart which included flags and coat of arms, many of which are still on FOTW. Macromedia Flash, Dream- weaver, and FreeHand came next.

Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán

Tláhuac, Distrito Federal - México

| | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------- | | ------------------------------------------------------ | | ------------------------------------------------------- | | His Personal Flag | | Editors Flag | | Giffers Flag |

My personal flag is a three-tongued flag proportioned 3:5, divided into four horizontal parts, the upper and lower ones five times the height of middle two. The order of the colors is as follows from top to bottom: black, white, sky blue, and yellow. Black and yellow stand for Gabino (my father's surname); they are derived from the colors of a very common coat of arms for the Gabino surname: a black eagle on gold. Since Villascán (my mother's surname) has no coat of arms known so far, I took the Marian colors blue and white symbolizing my mother's and my own Catholic faith. The three tongues which are actually peaks stand for the place where I was born and grew up, Mexico City and its metropolitan area, which is surrounded by mountains. They are also for my two brothers and myself, my three sons and for the Holy Trinity, representing our faith.
I was born on July 18, 1978, in Mexico City. I earned a bachelor's degree in International Business Management at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional. From 1999 to 2000 I worked in a private school of informatics and computing where I gave lessons in Microsoft Office and provided maintenance for the computers. Between 2007 and 2011 I lived in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, where I earned a bachelors degree in Sports Coaching from the Universidad Estatal de Sonora. From 2000 to 2004, I worked as a design assistant in the Secretaría de Economía (Economics Ministry) in Mexico City.
Since 2004, I have worked as a soccer coach in several professional and amateur levels. I also worked as a manager in a couple of gyms and as a physical education teacher in two different private schools in Mexico City and Sonora.
In 2011, I joined the teaching staff at the Universidad Estatal de Sonora. Since 2013, I've worked with the Cruz Azul Fútbol Club as the goalkeeper coach for the under 17 and under 20 teams. In addition I work as a corporate image manager for Polyrob Plastics SA de CV.
I've liked flags since I was a child, when I used to make drawings on paper. Then, I discovered the Internet and started to find flag-related topics which lead me to FOTW. Mr. Raeside gave me a chance to contribute to and edit Mexican sites, at that time under the extraordinary management of Antonio Martins.
I should end with the fact that I'm happily married to a wonderful woman named Beatriz Jiménez and we have three sons, Fer (15), Roberto (13), and José Alejandro (2 years old).

Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, 26 November 2014