Seaex.ph

Really excited to share with you seaex.ph. It’s a site that I worked on for Sea Ex, the only boat expo in the Philippines that’s happening on March 2-4.

Planned the site about three months ago and looked through my sketchbook again.

My notes looks so dramatic. Looks like I didn’t want those Facebook and Twitter buttons to be blue.

Here are the screenshots. I used the photos from the Sea Ex event identity poster and married it with the headlines. That tube that attaches the oxygen tank to the respirator (correct my terminology if I’m wrong divers), that was made to go over the header’s line on purpose. It makes it feel like the pictures are popping out of the site don’t you think? You have to visit the site to see what I mean because the proportions are so much bigger there.

I have to tell you a little something, I hate hate hate shadows, bevels, embossing. Blech. I don’t know if you’ve noticed by now that all the sites I design don’t contain any of those effects. It’s SO 1998 (in ditsy voice).There are other ways to make something flat look alive don’t you think?

Burnt photos. Why do photos have to be so Hollywood all the time anyway. Clarity is overrated.

Val Villar had to transfer it to WordPress. Of course. Who else? (Enjoy the Sinulog this weekend Cebuanos!). He suggested we use Google fonts Raleway and Open Sans. At first I didn’t like the letter W of Raleway but it grew on me. Skinny web fonts for the win!

Facebook and Twitter buttons:

The diagonal stripes are all over the site because stripes are usually attached to anything nautical but I didn’t want it to SCREAM nautical so I used very thin ones and grey instead of blue. They’re diagonal because anything diagonal means movement. Sea Ex is a busy but not serious expo and so much goes on in that 3-day event so it’s just appropriate that I tie those diagonal lines in there. When I presented this to the Sea Ex folks, they were laughing at how I went on and on about the diagonal lines. Hmmm… but they approved it right away! Thanks guys!

Hope you can check out the site.

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The Pastry Shop at Bob’s

Three down, one to go. By this I mean the Sicangco family. I’ve worked with the lawyers, the lighting designers and now I’m thrilled to show you the work I did for Cynthia Sicangco Magalona, the owner of The Pastry Shop at Bob’s. If you’re from Bacolod, I wouldn’t have to explain this establishment. It is everywhere. They make the yummiest Strawberry Shortcakes and they’re just part of home.

When Cynthia emailed me asking me to do some work on their identity, I didn’t even have to think twice. Let’s get to it!

I didn’t want it to be so thick, not like the usual logos I design. Thin means delicate but when set against black, it makes for a bolder mark. I chose the circle because the icon is rounded and the outline outside will make it feel like a place that serves food, makes it look more like a label.

I paired it with Gotham Rounded, a very beautiful modern typeface. The Ps and the Bs look very good here.

It feels new without being trendy. The black circle makes it strong but the fluid mark keeps it delicate. I was thinking that if Laduree was created in this century, how would it feel? That’s how I really wanted to approach the brand. For it to be forward and timeless at the same time. I inserted a clean grey and white stripe behind the logo which can be included in the packaging or signage.

I also created another pattern they can apply to anything, their wallpaper, fabric for uniforms or even aprons. The last thing I want to do is to make the pastry shop feel sterile and boring. I want it to be interesting and I want it to have different layers but still keep it clean.

And because I had to present this study to them through email, I had to make them envision the identity applied to different things. I also chose salmon as one of their main colors. I wanted the colors light but not feel juvenile. Something from a more sophisticated palette that will still make the food stand out. Nothing too colorful because pastries are already beautiful, why take away the attention from them? I’m not trying to win an award here, I’m trying the make the graphic work with the actual products.

Then I added mint to compliment the salmon. It’s a very unusual palette but I think it’s different and it’s just what Bacolod needs. Mint also goes so well with dark chocolate colors so this will be great for the brown cookies or chocolate cake. Also, I think cake boxes should be simple. Some cake boxes can get so complicated and you can see the frustration of the person trying to put it together again after opening it. A simple two-piece box is elegant and you can stack them on top of each other, a 2-year-old should be able to make sense out of it. Also, even luxury designer brands use this kind of box because when you open one, you want the focus to be on what’s inside it, you don’t want mind space spent on figuring out how to work the damn box. You can also have so much of the cover printed but keep on changing the theme of the bottom piece. For Christmas, we had a red ones made for their fruitcake boxes.

More samples of how the identity could be applied.

They also have deli products so it will be applied to their packaging.

Because I didn’t spend the holidays in Bacolod, I still haven’t seen the cake boxes with actual cakes in them. I’m dying to see them.

There is a reason why I chose this project as my first design process entry of the year, it is because this is the stuff I really want to do in the next coming months  and these are the kind of clients I really want to work with. The ones who are comfortable with simplicity and the ones who are brave enough to implement something different. Come to think of it, all my clients are like this. I’m so thankful.

Thank you Cynthia and Bobby for getting me on board! I love this logo very much, I’m so proud of it.

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Merry Christmas

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Sea Ex 2012

Designing the new Sea Ex event identity this year was more difficult to design than last year’s. Maybe because it had to be different but the same also? Hard to explain.

Good thing about working with a client the second time around is I don’t have to ask him what he wants anymore. I know Angelo wants photos, I know he wants it to look clean but bold. Aside from the client’s requirements, there’s also me. I’ve got my own rules to follow and this year, I didn’t want to add any graphic elements anymore. Seems like I like making things hard for myself. I had to stare at my apartment’s ceiling so many times for this one.

So what do we have again? The title and photos, right? Let’s just put those together so I don’t have to add anything else.

Bought photos for the new event.

I also suggested this photo for the background so that photos of activities that happen above the waterline will be placed there and underwater activities go below.

I oversized the Gotham logotype, got rid of the dash and did not use the mark. Process of elimination.

Angelo approved this idea through email and he trusted me with which photos to choose, how it’s going to be applied, etc. So easy to work with. Looking forward to an even stronger Sea Ex in 2012. Thanks for getting me on board again, Angelo!

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KISH

I have a love affair with interior design. It’s not my gift. I know it because I spent some time at the PSID and I found out there that I don’t have the talent for it. It really is a mystery to me. But I’m somehow magnetized towards this world of scale, form and function.

I was born in the wrong generation. When I was young, my sisters and cousins were teenagers. I spent too much time with adults because there was no one to play with and while they were busy playing Mah Jong, I would drown myself in my Mom’s little collection of Architectural Digest. I would just read them for hours looking at houses, chairs, lighting, pottery, pools, ceilings, flooring. AD was to me what storybooks were to little girls.

My aunt, Edith Oliveros is one of my favorite Titas. Whenever she’d visit from Manila, she’d never talk about work so I never knew what she did but she would take time out to make me feel like one of the adults. I was so amused by her. I felt that she was from another world because she had a different spunk. I remember thinking to myself as a kid, this Tita Edith of mine, she’s just different from my other Titas. She had a confidence that most women never had. It was only when I grew older that I found out that she was an interior designer and that she did the interiors of some castles in Europe. She also co-founded the Philippine School of Interior Design. Her achievements in the interior design world and her attitude towards life will always inspire me.

I like movies that have good interiors too. Like Ewan McGregor’s house in The Island. That was really beautiful. I watched that movie a gazillion times because of that house. The Duchess, Great Expectations, A Perfect Murder… I can go on and on.

Interior design will always be my escape from reality. My reality is not bad, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes the reality of revisions just make me want to take a break from it.

Where to go when I want to get away? No beach for me. Besides, my mother always told me to stay away from the sun. So I go to KISH. The smell, the lighting, the music, the drama of visual merchandising at it’s best… I’m so lucky that I live 10 minutes away from this store.

This pillow will really give my apartment a little flavor.

A trio of glasses in a tray.

Stop it with the seriousness. I love that some pieces here have a sense of humor without being childish.

I know a Vito Selma when I see one.

Lines.

The Twitter lamp designed by Ito.

Bring out the scones.

Hexagonal capiz.

Sheets and pillows. Be nice. Give your neighborhood graphic designer the gift of pattern. You can leave it at Kish, Ito knows where I live. Thank you my friend *wink*

Does it matter if they’re real or not?

Oh flora. You are so important.

Let me read a Jane Austen novel on the divan.

I’m not into pets but I will take care of these and give them names.

This conversation calls for a box of macaroons.

This blog entry ends with a shameless plug. The artichoke wrappers I designed are available at Kish and sell for P250/10 sheets. Interior design might be my escape but my graphic design reality being in this store is pure joy. I’m hoping to roll out more graphic design at Kish. Thank you always, Ito.

The way you wrap your gifts is a reflection of how you give so please be good to your adult recipients and don’t use those Christmas wrappers with Frosty the Snowman on it.

K I S H
233 N. Garcia St., Bel-Air
Makati City 1209
Philippines

t: 02.896.8366
f: 02.896.8367

Store Hours:
Mon-Fri 11-7
Sat-Sun 1-6

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