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Press
February 21st, 2008
Versus’ sights and sounds coalesce
THE VARTISANby: Andrew Isiah P. Bonifacio http://www.varsitarian.com/details.asp?id=1872
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AVANT-GARDE graphic designers and OPM artists interact with one another in the art fusion design exhibit Versus (VS.): Design and Music Collide, at the newly-opened Theo Gallery of Makati’s Saguijo Café and Bar.
Opened last June 13, the exhibit featured various media, mostly digital, breathing life to the featured songs rendered by the performers in a short concert later that evening. Aside from the concert, CD and MP3 of the interpreted songs were provided beside each artwork.
Versus became possible through an alliance of graphic design artists and Filipino musicians. The group celebrates graphic design as a form of visual expression. The partnership has been forged amid the rise of graphic design as an art and the proliferation of its merchandise.
“Of course, these triumphs emerged due to the surge of genuine talents and sophisticated technology. Both factors work hand in hand in graphic design,” said Thomasian Paul Guadalupe, who performed under the alias “Guadakomeda.”
Since the utilization of graphic design by advertisers, using aliases has been a trend for artists like Guadakomeda. This trend among graphic artists does not only reveal their personality or the type of graphics they do, but also give them a catchy marketing identity.
Four alumni of the old College of Architecture and Fine Arts (CAFA), including Guadalupe and a College of Science alumna, exhibited their artworks along with other fellow art junkies, like showbiz personality Meryll Soriano, known as “Planet Umeboshi.” Soriano collaborated with Guadakomeda in interpreting jazz artist Isha’s “Tombstones for Fireflies.” The pair’s art piece was a vector art, which mixed Umeboshi’s doodle handworks and photography with Guadakomeda’s digital graphics. Their artwork featured Isha in black-body stockings and a gothic make-up, against an orange and yellow-doodle background, which gave the singer a darker, enigmatic image.
Meanwhile, CAFA alumni Joey Alviar and Mon Punzalan, Team Manila’s graphic artists, teamed up with Slapshock vocalist Jamir “Samurai” Garcia in “Happy,” an eclectic flow of beats and tones. The graphic artists mounted 10 small boxes with floral silkscreen borders and a light bulb inside, covered by acrylic glasses containing text cut-outs, which represent the different hours of the day when people do things to feel happy such as “12:32 pm Everybody Dig In” and “2:43 am Safe Under the Moonlight.”
Merging illustration and graphic design, design studio Electrolychee interpreted Indie band Helen’s tune, “Back in my Home.” Marcus Nada, an award-winning Thomasian book illustrator and co-owner of the studio, used empty wine boxes attached to the wall, protecting abstract paintings on small pieces of wood hanging and hooked together. This mimicked the wall hangings inside a house, fusing organic and digital art.
Calling themselves “Mother funkers,” Rex and College of Science graduate Joyce Tai of Inksurge infused their creative styles in “Vespers,” a collaboration between Late Isabel’s dreamy singer-songwriter Wawi Navarozza and Radioactive Sago Project’s composer Francis de Veyra. The design studio came up with a digital portrayal of the recording, printed on satin, featuring a woman’s face surrounded by distorted images of lions and bold striking black lines, giving it a 3D feel. The song and artwork conveyed confusion and chaos between the old and the new..
Two of the works, meanwhile, featured the fast-paced hip-hop culture. AJ Dimarucot and Arvin Nogueras of Collision Theory spray-painted black-and-white graffiti on old-shoe boxes and kitchen drawers to construe P.G.’s “What Color is Love?”
Meanwhile, Nico Puertollano and Katwo Librando of 27 and 20 studio made use of skateboards, t-shirts, and an underwear painted with latex and textile paints of yellow, red, and orange for Sun Valley Crew’s “Did Ya?!” They also used icons like the face of the crucified Christ and the lotus-positioned Buddha, which seemed to compare hip-hop to faith and religion as a way of life.
Supersteady and Doofusdraws depicted Sound’s “Maynila,” while Everywhere We Shoot! interpreted Ang Bandang Shirley’s “Patintero/Habulan/LarongKalye.” Both works conjured fascination with certain aspects of Filipino culture.
Meanwhile, Kyleprojects’ computer geek Erickson Enriquez created drawings of women with wrinkled faces and blank expressions portraying a woman’s misery in Up Dharma Down’s gloomy song “Broken Mirrors and Screaming Turtles.”
Project Versus will tour other galleries and commercial spaces in Manila. Besides the exhibition, Project Versus is also producing limited-edition designer kits containing the more notable graphic designs and a CD of the featured songs.
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Meshed up musings on music and more
Manila Standard Todayhttp://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=goodLife09_july22_2006
By Diego Mapa
THE Nucleus this time around, I’ve got so much to talk about. There are so many things out there that are worth checking out even in these days of unpredictable weather.
VS
In my last entry, I featured “Pabhaus” where graphic design teams Team Manila, Inksurge, Aj Domaricut of Collision Theory, Guadakomeda, and others of the like mashed up their art with furniture. Now still on a roll, in Saguijo Cafe adding more design teams in the line up, they came up with “VS: Design and Music Collide.”
When you enter the gallery murals in various makeshift frames side by side stand with a headphone attached to each. So when you study, digest, and mesmerize each piece, you strap the headphone, it comes alive. It’s either the mixed media of Supersteady + Doofusdraws with stubbed pins and thread forming power lines is interpreting the music of Sound’s “Maynila” or Up dHarma Down’s song, “Broken Mirrors and Screaming Turtles” influencing Kyleprojects’ piece of exploding sonic images and color bleeding at each other. The show also features all independent art by 27 + 20 vs. Sun Valley Crew, Collision Theory vs. P.G. with Caliph8, Electrolychee vs. Helen, everywhere we shoot vs. ang bandang Shirley, Guadakomeda + Planet Umeboshi vs. Isha, Inksurge vs. Wawi Navaroza of The Late Isabel with Francis de Veyra of Radioactive Sago Project, and Team Manila vs. Samurai. In its opening night, in support, the featured musicians delivered blasting sets to the already blown-away audience who can’t exit the enticing gallery. Plus there is an available do-it-yourself kit, which includes stickers, pins, a zine on the VS. artists, a CD which includes all the songs of the musicians, plus a shirt. All in all for only 500 bucks, this collector’s item will surely make you happy when sad, a visual companion when listening to the CD, or simply a tool to be inspired.
The greatest
In foreign releases, check out The Greatest, the latest album by Cat Power. The first Cat Power release in the country care of Universal Records is a fine listen. This is not a “greatest hits” album. I thought first myself but it’s simply entitled “The Greatest.” This is Chan Marshall’s a.k.a. Cat Power’s fourth studio record from What Would the Community Think? (1996), Moon Pix (1998), and The Covers Record (2003) which includes cameos by Dave Grohl and Eddie Vedder. Recorded in Memphis, The Greatest features legendary soul players: guitarist and songwriter Mabon “Teenie” Hodges, bassist Leroy “Flick” Hodges, and drummer Steve Potts. Mabon is an essential musician of the Memphis Soul sound in the ’70s. I’m not much into country, but the title track really makes you feel like the greatest. If you like Sarah Maclachlan, Beth Orton, and maybe Tori Amos, you can dig this.
Filipino
Moving back to the local scene, Dong Abay of the defunct Yano, which gave hits such as “Tsinelas” and “Banal na Aso” has a new album out entitled Filipino distributed by Synergy Music. This is his first solo album and his latest creation since his last band, Pan. And for me, it’s one of the most important and probably the most substantial local releases this year. A passionate singer and lyrical-driven, his poetic narrative songs are going to kick your westernized butt. Opposed to his previous work in Yano and Pan, which are heavy on political topics and awareness, Dong now still includes those but now ventures with hope, contradictions, and life struggles. He’s got several singles rotating now on different stations including “Tuyo,” “Perpekto,” “Akrostik,” and “Bombardment.” My personal favorite is “Mateo Singko” that goes, “Mahirap maging mahirap…”
Filipino, produced by Robin Rivera is the George Martin of all Eraserheads albums including guest performances by the latter’s Buddy Zabala and Raimund Marasigan on multiple instruments. Imagine when Dong, debuted on TV in the ’90s on “Sa Linggo Na Po Sila” (ABS-CBN) wearing a plain white T-shirt, jeans, making probably a statement like, “This is how we’re going to do it, simple as this.” But the new Dong Abay now is wearing sneakers, and has new tattooes, and the new album has got synthesizers. Growth and change are definitely good. This is how rock ‘n’ roll should be.
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Graphic Republic
The Manila Standard Todayhttp://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=goodLife01_sept02_2006
By Adrian Carlo Velasco
VISITING art galleries has never been a custom for most Pinoys. We tend to think art is only for individuals who have access to venues. Worse, most believe exhibits are for people who could only understand art.
But things have changed lately. Thanks to young graphic designers who are painting the city—in digital colors—art is becoming accessible to more Filipinos.
Contemporary graphic design utilizes the computer as medium. Designers use popular but expensive software like Adobe Photoshop, Pagemaker, Illustrator and Macromedia Flash to interpret feelings and imagination.
“Art here isn’t elitist. We create digestible art—designs that are down to earth,” says Jowee Alviar, cofounder of graphic design studio Team Manila.
Team Manila is among the graphic design groups that are popularizing digital art. The group’s gallery is the entire Metro Manila and its canvass range from walls and shirts to album covers and Web sites.
Graphic beginnings
The designers of Team Manila first met as advertising students at the University of Sto. Tomas (UST).
“Our training in design was very conservative—painting, airbrush and photography. We used the craft of hand in typography and composition,” shares Team Manila cofounder Raymund Punzalan.
But Alviar and Punzalan were never content with traditions. They started reading graphic design books and discovered the endless possiblities in digital art. They were the first students in UST to use computer art and digital printing in their thesis.
After graduating in 1997, Punzalan became an art director for music magazines MTV Ink and Pulp. Alviar, on the other hand, studied Masters in Graphic Design at the California Institute for the Arts. When Alviar returned from the US, they decided to put up Team Manila with four other friends from UST.
“There was a sort of advertising revolution when we started in 2002. The projects started coming in,” Punzalan mentions.
Bringing art to the streets
The group’s first projects were to create brand designs for big companies like L’Oreal, Bench, Rustans Essences, Human and SM Appliance Center. They also directed music videos for local bands Slapshock and Truefaith. But what popularized Team Manila as an art group is the independent brand they named Graphic Designed Lifestyle.
The brand is a collection of artworks, shirts, bags, wallets and other merchandise that highlight the best of Team Manila’s genius. It gets its inspiration from popular places and icons in street culture. By using graphic design on shirts and accessories, Team Manila provides a global feel to local subjects like balut vendors, fishballs, pedicabs and jeepneys.
“We use these elements because they’re the things we see around. If you notice, the streets in Manila are very graphic. We’re very conscious about them,” Alviar remarks.
Most recently, the team introduced two new brands: Pambansang T-shirt, tourism shirt with a modern look; and Republic, the tee that encourages social responsibility.
Like Team Manila, design duo Rex and Jois of Inksurge is gradually gaining popularity. Its home site www.inksurge.com is a cult favorite, particularly among college students and 20-somethings. Inksurge also designed the new albums of the colorful bands Pedicab and Sandwich. Fans who like the album covers aren’t even aware that it’s art they’re appreciating.
Inksurge is among the few Filipino designers making a name in the international circuit. It was featured in foreign publications like Computer Arts (United Kingdom), Handmade (Italy), Jeremyville (Australia) and Shift (Japan). The duo has also joined foreign artists in group exhibits in Hong Kong, Melbourne, Paris and Barcelona, among others.
They have created designs and Web sites for clients in the US, Australia and Europe. According to the designers, there are small things that really matter in appealing to clients of different cultures.
“Sometimes you need to research not just on the project itself, but also on the culture you are working on. Other than that, it doesn’t matter where you are based, or at least that’s how we see it,” they said, during an interview published in Computer Arts.
Everywhere We Shoot, on the other hand, is a group that emphasizes the blend of photography, styling and graphic design. It produces designs for stores like Havaianas, Vans, Paul Smith and SM Department Store. The young artists have also worked with musicians like Kyla, Ang Bandang Shirley and Up Dharma Down and have even designed pages for newspapers and magazines.
Collaborations
“There are loads of like-minded individuals or small groups in different design fields collaborating for the improvement of the design scene. We are delighted to be a part of that,” adds Inksurge.
So much so that the graphic design community is one of the most vibrant and progressive in the local art scene.
A perfect example was when local designers held a furniture exhibit, dubbed “Pabhaus,” at Pablo Gallery in Cubao X, Araneta Center last June. Young artists like AJ Dimarucot of Collision Theory, Inksurge, Electrolychee, Guadakomeda, Mark Salvatus, Team Manila and Doy Lagos used digital art to design tables, ottoman chairs, lamps, tiles, etcetera.
Last month, the design groups organized “VS: Design and Music Collide” at Saguijo Cafe in Makati. Here, the graphic designers interpreted the underground hits of indie bands through arts of various media. Supersteady and Doofusdraws illustrated Sound’s “Maynila,” while Kyleproject interpreted Up Dharma Down’s “Broken Mirrors and Screaming Turtles” through explosive colors and images. Most of the designers from “Pabhaus” participated in the show, with indie musicians Wawi Navaroza of The Late Isabel, Francis de Veyra of Radioactive Sago Project, Sun Valley Crew and Samurai.
To spread the message of art, the guests were given a do-it-yourself kit, which contained stickers, pins, a zine about the artists; a CD that included the featured songs; and a shirt.
Business as usual
More importantly, graphic design has made art a viable means of livelihood for artists. The new art promises business ventures for young artists. They embark in new sources of income, from advertisements, corporate and print projects to Web, motion graphics, video and silkscreen.
“We got projects through referrals but never had a break since we started. It’s only now that we’re starting to study business and growth,” Alviar of Team Manila reflects.
Most recently, advertising firm BBDO Guerrero Ortega commissioned Team Manila to design a mural on the wall of its new office in Insular Life Building, Makati City. The design was inspired by fans club banners and the jeepney. Team Manila, together with two other groups, has also mounted an exhibit for Nike at the Ayala-Makati Avenues underpass since Aug. 22. The artworks are based on Nike’s Born from Obsession collection.
This new art is within the reach of laymen. Better yet, it puts food on the table.
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PIXELBUREAU : Behind the site
http://www.pixelbureau.com/article.php?action=fullnews&showcomments=1&id=129Pixelbureau: Could you introduce yourself and tell us how you ended up in the design world?
Erickson Enriquez: Hi, I am Erickson Enriquez, the former webmaster of dragracingpinoy.com, and now I am under the roof of Silver Lens Inc. I started out in the design world when I went to school where zylonzoo rex went. At first kase i was more on the technical side. I am more into engineering rather than seeing the aesthetics of everything. After meeting zoorex, I learned to appreciate design more than it should be. The proper aesthetics, typography, and other web / print technicalities. It started out with creative field trips, books and other things that shows off designs of famous people. And then it all made sense to me. Now here I am trying to combine the best of both worlds.
PB: I have visited your site and it is really inspiring and impressive. Could you share to us the story and the evolutions behind the site?
EE: Kyleprojects.com started out really crappy. I was a total “manggagaya” of other people’s style. After a long downtime, I was exploring my capabilities. I started to make a vector art of a girl from a Chinese movie. After which, I placed the said artwork, in deskmod.com as a wallpaper. Then, after a month later, while I was watching TV, there was a commercial, showing off vectorized people. And one of them was my work!!! From then on, I was challenged to create more of these said artworks. And then here I am continuing my rebellion against the said thieves.
PB: What are the inspirations and driving force behind your creations?
EE: My main inspirations would be the details of life itself. Everything is some how intertwined with each other. Like what they said: “Everything happens for a reason.” It’s really amazing seeing these things happen. Appreciating the details in life, let’s me see things more vivid and more up close. This inspires me to recreate things, in a more detailed manner. It’s appreciating every curve, line, and shadow of something or someone. It’s really great seeing things from this point of view. Besides this, I draw my inspiration from a very beautiful and at the same time wonderful woman named Rachell. Kudos to you my love.
PB: What sites do you frequently visit for design inspiration and challenges?
EE: www.designchapel.com, www.zoorex.com, www.halfproject.com, www.inksurge.com, www.newstoday.com, www.tokidoki.it, www.bd4d.com, www.k10k.net, www.fatoe.com, www.group94.com, www.hi-res.net, www.silverlensphoto.com
PB: Who would you consider greatly influenced you in your design style?
EE: My greatest influence would be designchapel, inksurge and fatoe. The following really inspired me and really pushed me to be more creative. Especially my mentor, zoorex. This guy has totally helped me. He has helped me by showing me books, magazines, websites, and the do’s and dont’s in the design industry. To zoorex, thanks and kudos to you man!!!
PB: What is your thought on the Philippine web industry?
EE: Our Philippine web industry has potential. The only thing that’s wrong, are the designers, who let their clients crush them. The standardization of price, the design control, and the transaction with their clients. What I think that’s holding us designers back are these designers na “pasaway”. If we let our clients see that abusing us is possible, they will keep on abusing other designers as well. So let’s help each other in this problem. And together, am sure we’ll make a better world for designers here in the Philippines. Let’s “recreate” what the clients see of us designers.
PB: If there is one thing you can change from the internet/web, what would it be?
EE: Hmmmm… the web is great for me. The rapid growth and the technology really fascinates me. I dont think I would change a thing.
PB: If you weren’t a designer, what do you see yourself to be?
EE: Like I said, I am more into engineering before, maybe I would be at a consulting firm of engineers, working as an Electronics Communications Engineer. hehehe
PB: What keeps you busy besides your passion for design?
EE: Right now, what’s keeping me busy is my work at Silver Lens inc. (a photo agency that deals with four areas of photography: fine art, commercial, photojournalism, and stock). Another thing that’s keeping me busy is my journal. I keep writing my thoughts and ideas about everyday life in my notebook. From there I somehow formulate theories that I can apply to my everyday life.
PB: What would you advise an aspiring young designer who decides to take this path in order to succeed?
EE: I would advise to be strict with regards to details. Details are the fun and painful part of design. Be very patient and don’t let your nerves get to you. And last thing, don’t let your clients abuse you. Know where you stand. Be straight to the point, but be courteous enough. Get what I mean?
PB: Is there anything you would like to add?
EE: Thanks and More power to pixelbureau.com!!!