OUR BRANDMARK INDUSTRY FACTS           ABOUT USPROGRAMSDESIGN SCHOOLSDESIGN AMBASSADORSINTERNATIONALDONATE         The CCBD Caribbean Region Office: Illya Furlonge-Walker • Illya Furlonge-Walker • Form and Function Design • CCBD Caribbean Region • About Us • Programs • Design Schools • Design Ambassadors • International • Donate • Our Brandmark • Industry Facts The Caribbean Region Office of CCBD was established in honor of Illya Furlonge-Walker, an award-winning Black designer and founder of Form and Function Design, one of the leading design firms in the Caribbean. Illya Furlonge-Walker was only 38 when he passed away on February 13th, 2006, but he left behind a deep and enduring legacy within the emerging Caribbean design industry. Illya’s spirit, passion, integrity and pioneering design portfolio continue to live on within Trinidad and Tobago, and within the firm that he founded in 1997—Form and Function Design. Like many children growing up in black families who express an interest in the arts, Illya’s parents supported his desire to be involved in the arts as more of a hobby rather than a career ambition. During this time, Illya’s parents encouraged him to also pursue another vocation as an orthodontist which, at the time, they perceived to be more prestigious, stable and lucrative. However, all this changed after Illya broke his leg while playing rugby in T&T when he was 20 years old. During his recuperation, Illya’s parents discovered what he had known all along—that he had true talent and passion for design. Illya’s father bought him an airbrush set and soon he was spending all of his time designing highly imaginative, rich and colorful graphics for rugby team jerseys. In fact, he created his first small business selling newly commissioned jersey designs for nearly all the teams in T&T. In 1997, this business was soon transformed into his real ambition, a fully functioning design firm called Form and Function Design in 1997. Today Form and Function lives on and prospers with a team of design professionals and a bevy of prestigious clients and award-winning projects. Read Illya’s Tale Illya’s Life in Pictures             contact us | terms and conditions | privacy policy