WhereNext People – An Interview with Art Director Yenssy González
A Pioneering and Imaginative Art Director
Introducing our Colombian based Art Director, Yenssy González. Yenssy's childhood passion for graphic art has led to a fifteen-year career as a design director at multinational agencies in Colombia, working with a diverse range of clients, including Avianca, Pepsi, Mazda, Unilever, and ProColombia. During her tenure at Sancho BBDO, she achieved one of the highest creative positions in the Colombian advertising industry. Yenssy's creativity doesn't stop when she leaves the office: in her free time she makes clothes with recycled PET material to encourage people to reduce their environmental impact. At WhereNext, Yenssy is in charge of our artistic direction.
Some of Yennsy’s creative campaign work for WhereNext clients Merrell and Cat Footwear
Tell us about yourself.
I am a publicist by profession, but my soul has always leaned towards the artistic side. From an early age, I liked to express myself visually, and everything that has to do with communicating through a visual sense catches my attention. I am a person of few words who enjoys contemplating things.
Tell us about your most memorable travel experience.
Each trip is the experience of a lifetime, but there is one in particular that I did for work, to a place where I was afraid to go because it was in the jungle, and I have a phobia of giant insects. The area is called Coquí and is located in the Chocó region, and getting there is pretty tricky because it's very isolated. It's a popular spot for whale watching, but it was out of whale season and practically impossible to see them when I visited. Curiously though, the day I arrived, a few kilometers from the dock, the boat captain spotted some whales and took us closer to see them. I never imagined that I would see one of those majestic beings; it felt like a welcome. From then on, the rest of the trip was a sequence of beautiful and unique moments in a place full of incredible people and delicious food dating back to the time of slavery in Colombia. Traveling there made me face my fears and gave me a new kind of connection.
Yenssy exploring the wild coastal deserts of the Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia, camera in hand as always!
Dead or alive, who would you like to join you on an adventure?
My niece – she lives in Argentina, and she's still very little, she's only two-and-a-half years old, but in the future, I'd love to be able to travel with her and teach her things like how to have respect for nature and understand that we are all connected.
What are your travel equipment essentials?
My journal and camera first of all: I never go out without those. I like to remember experiences, moments, what I saw, the people I met, and, above all, reflect on how it made me feel. It's comforting to return those memories time and time again, and it helps when I feel disorientated by everyday life. It helps me to refocus and remember that there are bigger things in life.
Yenssy’s Hiking Essentials: 1. Hiking Boots: La Sportiva Gore-Tex // 2. Jacket: The North Face Flare Women’s Down 550 RTO Ski Jacket Puffer // 3. A water bottle for long days on the trail // 4. iPhone 7 for taking pictures and videos // 5. Any dog - dogs make me feel calm when I’m hiking.
When did you feel happiest?
When I am in creative moments, and ideas begin to emerge and then take shape. It's a feeling of great joy, and every creative process always becomes something new and inspiring that fills my soul with happiness. When I feel overwhelmed, I like to sit down and work on my personal design project. I find it very therapeutic.
Who taught you your biggest life lesson, and what was it?
My father's unexpected death changed a lot of things in me; it made me understand that nothing is certain and that we have to enjoy life because we forget to sometimes. Death teaches us to live without attachments and let go of things that don't make our lives better. I think that it's easier now for me to face new challenges, put aside excess baggage, and say 'no' things that I don't like.
You can teleport to any restaurant on earth: where do you go and what do you order?
One that has a buffet with all the best dishes I've ever tasted. It's probably doesn't exist, but it would be incredible to be able to go to a place and remember my life through taste as if I were reading my diary.
Tell us about the most adventurous food you ever ate?
In Colombia, we eat some weird things: insects, recipes made with animal blood, exotic animals, and it's the same in a lot of other countries. However, for me, these things aren't as strange as eating molecular gastronomy. It's such an unusual experience, and opens up your palate and plays tricks on your brain. You never know what you're going to taste, and it's an exciting experience.
Drink of choice?
A nice glass of Carmenere wine is my weakness.
Where do you feel most at home?
Wherever I'm surrounded by nature, I always feel at home.
Yenssy out on a hike, accompanied, as ever, by a dog.
Exploring the Wax Palm forests of the Cocora Valley in the Colombian Coffee Region
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Personal Pursuits
As she has built her career, she’s created many personal projects more focused on her artistic side. Currently her avocational work involves social entrepreneurship, making clothes with recycled PET material to communicate a message that leads people to increased environmental awareness and impact reduction.