One of the questions I often get asked is “who are the graphic designers you admire?” It’s quite a list actually so I hope you have time because I’m gonna take you through it right now.

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David Carson. He was the Nirvana and Pearl Jam of the visual movement in the 90s. His work on Raygun changed the way I looked at graphic design forever — now here was someone who came up with attention-grabbing work by tossing the rulebook out the window. If you’ve seen the Pillbox magazines and a lot of the local Pepsi ads in the 90s, you’ll see how heavy his influence was on the art director.¹

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Neville Brody. Consistent use of loud colors, big and bold type, and striking graphic elements make his work distinct and memorable. It was also through studying his work that I learned the proper use of typography² as a design element. His designs seem to have a life of their own, they leap out of the pages containing them, just like the designer himself — he didn’t stop at print and has branched out to motion and space design as well.³

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Saul Bass. This man is a legend, just take a look at the work he’s done — they include iconic posters and logos that have stood the test of time. The use of flat colors, blocky hand-lettered type, and simple shapes define his minimalist style. It’s most likely a testament to the limitations in printing during his time but I’ve always believed that when it comes to visual communication, the simpler and the more straight to the point, the better. Right? 😀

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Milton Glaser. You’ve seen his “I *heart* NY” logo a million times, but the body of work he’s produced speaks volumes about his range as a designer. I can’t say he has a particular style because when you look at his designs, they don’t look like they came from just one person. But the randomness is good in that it shows versatility. Of his work, I like the ones that have illustrations the most. His psychedelic, free-flowing drawings seem to take us back to a time when producing art actually meant freedom of expression (and didn’t involve deadlines).

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Locally, I have my design heroes as well and fortunately I’ve had a chance to work with them.

Robert Alejandro. Sir Robert is best known for his whimsical and stylish artworks for Papemelroti and the Ayala Malls. He was my Figure Drawing and Advertising 101 teacher in 3rd year college⁴ at the UPCFA and he just blew everyone away with his art and out-of-the-box way of thinking. Ask anyone in my class and they’ll tell you that he was the one who inspired them to be (a) an advertising art director; (b) a children’s book illustrator; or (c) a graphic designer — all of which he was.⁵ How cosmic is it that we formed and now belong to the same design group?

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Raymond Legaspi. He’s not as publicly known as Robert but he’s a force to be reckoned with in the Direct Marketing world, having won a ton of awards locally and internationally. Mr. Ray was my very first boss — I had my OJT at J. Walter Thompson in 1991 and was assigned to be his trainee. A few years later, we worked in the same company, Ogilvy & Mather, as colleagues where he was certainly one of the few art-based Creative Directors I had huge respect for because he always stressed on the importance of a big idea in visual thinking, unlike some who focused primarily on execution.⁶ Incidentally, he retired from the corporate world just a few weeks ago to pursue his first love, painting.

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And of course,

Arnold Arre. I know, I know, he’s my husband but to be honest, I’ve admired him and his work waaay before we even met. The first time I ever saw his paintings for Mythos, my mind just reeled at the detail he put into all of them — intricate brush and pen work, the stories behind them⁷ — the overall distinct style and theme of the entire exhibit was just so well thought of that I knew this guy was an intense and very passionate artist. The same goes for every piece of work he churns out, everything has a story. Everything has a reason. And isn’t that what good design should have? Reason. To matter.

1. Oh wait a minute, that’s me hehe.[ back]
2. My ultimate pet peeve: “designers” who stretch, squash and distort type. Ugh, I see it here all the time.[ back]
3. By the way I have a copy of the Propaganda album, 1234, which is one of his earlier designs. I swear I’ll have it autographed someday.[ back]
4. In 1990. That was the ONLY year he ever taught, lucky us.[ back]
5. I guess I’m guilty on all three counts.[ back]
6. I think the ultimate compliment was when he recommended that I be part of the Design Jury for last year’s Ad congress Araw Awards. I knew then that I’ve somehow earned his nod.[ back]
7. Yes can you believe it? Ask him about a character in his painting and he’ll tell you the back story he thought up for it.[ back]

Encouraged by a sudden increase in sales in my Cafepress shops¹, I decided to open a few more last week. Four are wedding-related since (1) I’m immersed in the industry hence it’s the easiest to make designs for; and (2) guess what, 80% of my sales are coming from the bridal shop².

iDo shirts for the iPod-loving couple! (Hello, Carlo and Nina 😉 )

“Always a bridesmaid, finally a bride” tees for the been-waiting-for-mr.-right bride.

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And because I didn’t want to totally sell out, I made “Tsinelas (flip-flops) Addict” and “Bayong (basket bags) Addict” tees and knick-knacks as the second part of my Pinoy series.

You can see all the other new shops here³.

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My Arn recently received a really nice email from Jasper Lloyd Tan of Cagayan de Oro-based Christian pop-rock band Thoughts and Notions⁴. Jasper says that (Arn’s book) After Eden inspired him so much that he wrote a song about it called “Earthbound Angel”⁵

Excerpt:
I could choose to soar above the skies
And be one with the flight of angels
But I am here in this world for one purpose
To be with you and be your guide
And be your earthbound angel.

Band info and streaming audio here.

1. Most of the buyers are US-based. I have a feeling it must be because school is about to start and everyone wants new shirts to wear. Alright![ back]
2. Plus according to Cafepress’ newswire, the “weddings” tag is among the most sought after, well well well![ back]
3. You won’t believe it but Arn has shops of his own too, and his products sell even faster than any of mine! He wants to keep them secret for now but someday I’ll share the links with you. 😉[ back]
4. They play music in the tradition of Jars of Clay and Sixpence None the Richer.[ back]
5. I was really touched when I learned about it — I’m sure you can tell how proud I am of my husband’s work and I know how much he’s inspired his readers but inspiring someone to write a song with a wonderful message, now that’s a first.[ back]

Anyone who has the time and patience to make anything handmade is definitely a hero in my book, and as some of you know, I’ve been posting about everything-DIY for years¹ so I thought, ok, for once I’ll show (and not just tell).
Project #1: Purse organizer

A 2003 issue of Real Simple² featured a Purseket, an organizer that you can transfer from bag to bag and I thought “what a brilliant idea!” since I, just like every other girl, switch bags whenever the mood strikes me. (And I hate being out on the road and then realizing that oops, my license is in my other bag!)³ It looked fairly easy to make too so I rummaged for unused fabric and proceeded to make my own version… tadah!

There’s a pocket for everything I need when I go out: my cellphone, palm pilot, wallet, license holder, hairbrush, powder compact/tissue/blotting paper, and pen. The best thing is that it can conform to any size bag.

Here’s how to do it, it’s as easy as 1-2-3!
You will need two sheets of fabric (any kind but ideally, the stiffer, the better⁴), approximately 25″ x 6″; needle and thread; and velcro fasteners.

Get the measurements of each of the items you want to put inside the pockets.

Plot the layout and then cut the fabric to size, doubling the height so it can be folded over. Baste to hold the folds in place. Make two of these sheets and then form pockets by stitching them together along the lines according to your measurements.

Stick velcro fasteners along the edges and voila, you now have your very own purseket-a-like.

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I also did some spring cleaning and found an old pair of jeans that I don’t wear anymore⁵ so I fashioned it into a vest for our dear little kitty.

It’s a bit crude since I got too lazy to hem the edges but Abbas seems to like it anyway.⁶ The red satin ribbon “belt” is from a gift we received last Christmas and the button is from one of Arn’s old shirts.

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And finally, I also want to share with you my humble attempt at graphic storytelling — in fact it’s so far been my only attempt. The comic appeared in Ramon de Veyra‘s Hey Comics! anthology that came out in 2004. Um… hope you like it. 🙂

(It’s only 3-pages long, click here.)

1. Maybe even before the term DIY caught on locally[ back]
2. One of my all-time favorite magazines — I hound Booksale outlets for back issues at least once a month. 😀[ back]
3. It’s actually happened to me a couple of times. When it does, I just drive ever-so-carefully and pray that I don’t run into violations.[ back]
4. Mine’s kinda flimsy as you can see, but hey, it does its job.[ back]
5. Well, they don’t fit anymore, sigh. Besides, it’s baston.[ back]
6. Abbas: “Lies! All lies!”[ back]