America Sanchez, Laus Honorary Prize 2020

America Sanchez, graphic designer, founder and head of the graphic design department at EINA and creator of the school’s first two graphic images, has been awarded the Laus Honorary Prize 2020, presented by the Association of Art Directors and Graphic Designers (ADG-FAD) for his contribution to the definition of the profession and to teaching, for the creation of an iconic imaginary for the city of Barcelona and for his contribution to the country’s graphic culture.

The ADG-FAD pays tribute to the career and legacy of America Sanchez, illustrator, painter, photographer, graphic designer, cultural agitator and artist, with an eclectic, chameleon-like, unclassifiable and completely genuine style.

“Graphic design in Barcelona cannot be understood without the figure of America Sanchez,” commented Teresa Bastardes, Collections Manager at the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona, in the video of the Laus Honorary Prizes 2020, which speaks of the life and work of America Sanchez through the personal accounts of a number of figures (Norberto Chaves; corporate identity advisor, essayist and teacher; Arnal Ballester, illustrator; and Daniel Ayuso, president of the ADG-FAD).

The ADG-FAD also highlights the role played by America Sanchez as a teacher and, in particular, as a founder and lecturer at the EINA school, the early days of which were governed by a highly experimental, open and humanist teaching model. His work as a teacher became a mutual learning experience for America, who would conscientiously apply to his own studies all the knowledge and methodologies he shared with his students in the classroom.