SEGD Pride: Shayla Hufana, Designer and LGBTQ+ Advocate
Read Time: 1 minute
Co-chair of SEGD’s Seattle Chapter, Shayla Hufana is an artist, designer and art director. Contributor Franck Mercurio learns more about Shayla, her professional design projects for some of the world’s largest corporations, and her support of LGBTQ+ rights.
Shayla Hufana is an accomplished designer whose portfolio includes EGD projects for several corporate giants: Nordstrom, McDonald’s, Whole Foods, Google—and even the Seattle Mariners—to name just a few. Today, Shayla is a Senior Designer and Art Director at The Boeing Company. Here, she has designed graphic identity expressions and signage packages for internal organizations and events, merchandise for the Boeing Store, and social media animations celebrating Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. (Fun!)
And, in her free time, Shayla with her wife Elaine enjoy raising their 9-month-old son.
“At the time we were dating, we weren’t allowed to get (legally) married,” says Shayla in a recent interview with West Coast Radio. “Gay marriage wasn’t a thing. People were still fighting for those rights.”
And even though Shayla and her wife eventually married in 2018, the struggle continued.
“It was a really hard thing to go through,” says Shayla about some people not accepting her marriage. “I thought coming out was hard, but fighting to help people understand ‘Hey, it’s real love between me and my wife,’ it was really challenging.”
But Shayla found some creative ways of channeling this energy while simultaneously helping others. She was instrumental in creating Boeing’s Voicing Our Pride for a More Inclusive World. The webpage lays out Boeing’s philosophy on the benefits of an all-inclusive workforce and touts that “Boeing celebrates LGBTQ+ pride year-round” and not just during June Pride Month!
As a senior designer and art director, Shayla is a natural and empathetic leader who loves directing design projects while finding happiness in the little details that celebrate special qualities, differences, cultures, lifestyles, and the values of others.
“But at the end of the day, it’s my little family that keeps me happy,” says Shayla. “And I’m happy that I made the decision to come out and be who I am.”
SEGD is proud of our LGBTQ+ members like Shayla as we continue to build a more inclusive and welcoming design community for everyone.
Want to learn more about Shayla and her design work? Please visit www.shaylahufana.com.