On Thursday 28 February we gave out the first ANFACO-Banco Sabadell Foundation award to a young designer, aged 24: Javier Fernández. This award recognises and fosters the creative talent of young designers and gives them an opportunity to display their work. The winning proposal is a poster commemorating 115 years of ANFACO, under the theme “TASTE THE TIN” (‘CATA LA LATA’).

How do you feel having won this award? I am so happy! I think it is a wonderful professional acknowledgement and seeing your work valued in this way is extremely motivating.

What do you think of the efforts made by institutions such as ANFACO and the Banco Sabadell Foundation to recognise the talent of young people? I think it is something very positive. It is important to foster the talent of young people in institutions that are able to help them kick-start their professional careers. Sadly I think this is the opposite of what tends to happen in the design industry, where young people are often taken advantage of and they do not get the reward or recognition that they deserve for their work.

Do you think that more efforts should be made to foster creative talent in Spain? I think it needs to be fostered but also valued! Not many people understand the value of creative work, particularly when they are young, and I am happy to see that there are real opportunities out there for us.

What would your dream job be? I obviously want to live doing something that I love. I want to design and create, but I also think it is important to work in order to live, not the other way round.

What would you like to achieve? I would like to live doing a variety of things, without getting stuck in the same routine or getting bored. I also want to travel a lot!

What do you think talent means? I think talent is a quality that becomes meaningless if you don’t have the attitude to match.