Interested in learning about basic art elements, techniques, and how to use materials and tools like pastels, watercolor, colored pencils, etc?

Join us for a summer art workshop this April – May 2009 at Mindgym, Inc!

• Draw, paint, & express yourself through art
• Get personalized coaching of your works from artist Mr. Mar Bongalon
• Meet new friends and post your art in your own exhibit

Who can join? 7 years-old and up art enthusiasts!

Maximum of 10 students per class

For 10 sessions, inclusive of art materials, pay only P3,500.

Art classes will be held at La Casa Mia, 219 J.P. Rizal Street, Project 4, Quezon City (near Katipunan Avenue and Cubao).

Contact 0927-877-08-00 now for more info!

On the first day of classes of 2009, my groupmates and I delivered a report in management class in corporate attire.. a “culture” which is very NOT U.P., even according to the president of the university who also happened to be our professor in the class.

We sort of grazed the concept of “corporate culture”, and our professor suddenly inspired began pridefully spilling out what the UP “culture” is like. In a nutshell it’s one where we can wear pambahay cotton shirts and thrice-worn-nonwashed jeans everywhere, where a “boss’s” words are never The Rule, and where we can get away with almost anything we want done, even if it means fighting authority. Where we’d rather lose the job, than that effing dignity and reputation we’re notoriously known for. And hello, this IS the university president at seven in the morning revealing the embarrassing-gratifying-narcissist(?) ”humble” image of her work culture’s constituents (go judge it yourself).

The UP president wears awesome rainbow-hued corporate couture everyday, yet she understands and respects the rest of us who just want to be comfortable and “ourselves”—she’s a “UP person” I have high respects for, especially with the way she seems to balance these contrasting things in her life: classes, chancellors, “regular” or “activists” students and professors, staff, the government, the masa… then there’s her fashion, her family, her sleep time (she always arrives at our 7 AM class earlier than me)..Wow. I feel lucky to be learning the corporate culture, and management from “the best”, especially when I’m not a management student– there’s the comm director of this huge accounting firm in the country, the president of the premier state university of the country, the owners of one of the remaining export businesses in the country, my father… S#&%, I just realized, I SHOULD be really good at it myself too! O_O uh-oh.

Hahaha, ok, where was I?

The UP “corporate” culture is a lot like what you see in this picture: my groupmate-friend here couldn’t take her the agony of her “heels” anymore, she simply took it off while we were walking to the next building.

Well, she did have her every-reliable tsinelas in the bag anyway.

***

Something related to the “corporate career” talk:

As I was hanging out with two friends at Sunken Garden, two UA&P students approached us to survey us on our perceptions of call centers and BPOs as graduating students.

This is a personal observation among UP students: surveys are so close to heart (because everyone in UP has done a sturdy at some point of their college lives), and sometimes we even love answering it.

For one, me and my friend also do research (I’m a communication research major while he’s in business administration): we know how devastating it feels to be refused by informants. Both of us felt kind at that glorious-windy-sunny-day-sunken-garden-moment, and didn’t want these other kids to suffer the same pain as we have in the past.. so we took their instruments and chick-checked our perceptions away.

Second, answering surveys could be a learning moment for ourselves. One doesn’t get see survey results in a snap, but a bit later while answering, one may suddenly be hit by personal revelations like hey, my friends didn’t invite me to go BPO-ing with them because they couldn’t see me happily working in one, awwwww. 

A life tip (maybe): please answer surveys, especially when they’re by students, AND when you believe you’re still in that student-”I really don’t know what I want to do in my life” phase. Who knows, you might learn about yourself (even if it’s simply your “perception” of some X and Y brand-shampoo, or chocolate milk drink :D)!

I was a happy girl at Starbucks this afternoon. Besides getting out of a good business meeting, beside me was this sliver of a rainbow, rekindling this childish energy I never thought I still had :)

I went out with my grade school friends tonight. We visited the grave of one of our classmates together. Then, we went out :)

I went out with people I knew from as far as 15 years ago. They recognize the “me” that i was from days when I looked like a rabbit with my “bunny teeth” and immense love for pigtails and Sailor Moon.

It’s amazing, how we all live different lives with social circles that have never met all those years.. until now. It’s funny how despite the obvious “life gaps” we all have, we can still hang out with each other so easily just like when we were kids!

Two of them are nurses now, some work at call centers, one freelances production shoots, another is a preschool teacher, one is a psychology clinic assistant. There are two who are still students and will most likely handle businesses of their own someday, or maybe pursue dreams in creative production or in music.

Everyone is in a hazy transition phase to “adulthood” (yuck, haha!). I can’t believe it sometimes. In my mind, everyone is my classmate from Sunny Hill School. There’s recess time, one-two-three-pass, agawan-base, projects-cramming, sabayang bigkas, etc. 

Tonight while betting Piso coins in Poker, we talked of money, work, marriage, going abroad, raising children.

I still treat everyone like I’ve done so when we were kids (chummy, “physical” in that I punch them sometimes, very sibling-like), and it seems okay. It’s like we didn’t grow up all differently, it’s as if we still were together all that time.

I’m lucky  my childhood friends still see “me” just the same :)

American recession, huh?

We’ll see.

Skipped my ultimate favorite Saturday class just to attend Graphika Manila 2008.

Was it worth it?

Oh YES. Especially when you’re sitting beside (and living with) one of the up-and-coming visual communicators of the industry (*ehem*EHEM*EHEM)! And of course being sponsored by another potential “celeb” information designer, HAHA.. THANK YOU! Though, sayang ang emba passes! Kuya and I still had “work” to do, yeeeuuch.

Tokidoki’s veh-ri Itahli-an Simone Legno, and his..I mean, his designs’ and illustrations’ many many fangirls.

GM will always be inspiring for Filipino contemporary artists, designers, illustrators, creative production people! This year, I was particularly drawn to the messages of Filipino designers Robert Alejandro and Collision Theory, AJ Dimarucot and Caliph8. I was already some sort of AJ Dimarucot fan when I favored this set of patterns he contributed in a pattern book, and kuya told me he was Filipino. When I heard they were going to be in GM… eeeeek! XD

“Kuya” Robert, who also happened to be the host of Art isKool, a former local how-to/arts instructional TV show (like Disney Channel’s Art Attack), urged about considering the advocacy and purpose in our creative efforts. Collision Theory’s AJ and Caliph8 were all like “Follow your passion, or burn out in corporate hell!“.

***

Listening to these designers talk about their lives is a sort of enchantment for me– I know it’s a dream, and I never want to get out of listening to their stories, but I’m aware that I will have to, soon.

My brother already is living the time of his life–he loves his work, his work loves him, end of story.

I don’t know yet just how life-after-uni would be like for me. But I know I want to do something similar, something creative, and something that doesn’t involve the terms “officemate”, and “9-6″!!

Serious stuff aside, I sincerely hope there’ll be another Graphika Manila conference next year!

Ever since my brother introduced me to typography in design, I’ve become overly-sensitive and obsessive in using it.

I revere people who use serifs and sans-serifs with sensibility. Just as what any brilliant design can do to, merely the use of good typography can project such personality and description to the actual content they represent. Imagine just what the right selection of fonts can do to make output more effective. Maybe if more communicators and audiences are well-versed in it, then our country shouldn’t be suffering from much media/information misunderstanding ^^;

Blessed with the freedom to volunteer for tasks in our preparation for my college department’s Second Communication Research Student Conference, I immediately took up one that involved creating some of the printed signs. And theFranklin Gothic type series, already my sans-serif favorite, became my muse for the day!

White and Hip-hop

Just like many in this world, I would gladly contribute what I can to help others, especially if it’s something I love doing.

This Saturday, even if I only had two hours of sleep, a mid-term paper hangover, a thesis proposal and family responsibilities to tackle among other ridiculously “busy”-inducing activities left to do, I went out with the guys over at UP PRAds (UP PR + Advertising Society) to do a fashion photo shoot.

Photogenic shutterbug

Model Stylists

This would be my first shoot as an amateur for a group of people, and for fashion. I’ve done photography for do-it-yourself activities, events, and portraits in the past, but this is my first time directing a group of models.

Armed with a Canon Eos 400d, a Tamron lens, adrenaline brought by my love of shooting people, a helpful assistant from the org, and very willing models (haha), I think me and UP PRADS (the models) were able to produce usable photos for their Ebay Fashion Challenge / I-con event on August 12 (also as previously posted here).

They invited me to model, too, but I’d really rather play photographer instead.

Behind-the-scenes: my "upperclassman" assistant/model checking out a location

After being part of conferences’ secretariat, a documentations photographer, a freelance information designer, and also as a student in my comm-and-management and corporate communication electives, I’m discovering something I could do by the time I graduate. About time, na rin!

Seems like I enjoy managing/directing over-all happenings more than working for specific tasks. So now, I feel like I’m being led by some invisible force somewhere I can contribute my true worths for. Effing finally.

Thanks to the brilliant conspiracy that led me to work with UP PRADS :) (And yes, I’ll go work on my thesis proposal now.)

MRT commute can be perceived in two ways: one, almost everyone becomes some annoying bitch by the time the coveted train arrives.

Two, everyone becomes someone you could be with– as you literally get pressed together as doors close and open during rush hour, as you lunge and sway according to the train movements, as you close your eyes and imagine that you’re someplace else comfortable, warm, and cushy.

LOOKS FAMILIAR?

Seems to me that our local magazine You by Hinge Inquirer Publications might have gotten a tad too inspired by US-based Nylon magazine, creative direction-wise.

A page from Nylon mag:

This is a page shot from You by Hinge Inquirer Publications:

You’d think they come from the same magazine, noh? I can see it in the typefaces, the color schemes, the decorative squiggly lines, the picture crops, the content..

It’s ok to mimic the design geniuses ’so you can learn to do it their way‘ and all.. but I think it’s too much.

Mimicking/copying is like this “sickness” we have in the country: remember Krispy Kreme, and Krispy Krepe in Libis? Starbucks and Starbuko?

Trace it back and the copy-culture goes way back: i.e. laziness as Jose Rizal quipped in one of his essays, to the ideal “American” life in the US occupation. 

Filipinos are brilliant people, we’re just plagued with laziness like Rizal said. But IMO that’s no excuse, especially if you’re given the chance to art direct a magazine with a publisher, much more for if it’s a first issue where you can experiment and finally be more creative on the job.. 

I’m feeling a little critical not because I have bias towards foreign magazines– I go to international media because it makes up for what I can’t find in ours, content and visual-wise. 

I believe Filipinos can come up with our own magazine concepts and content.. and better ones even! Sure franchised titles and “looks” have almost instant audiences upon their release, but I think local titles can accomplish as much if they adopt effective marketing strategies.

(BTW I’m saying these things on the basis of subjective observations. I’m not aware of any empirical data whether foreign magazine franchise sell better than local.)

I hope there’ll be more Philippine-produced media which can compete and even defeat the Western styles we “love”–  and hopefully not packaged as spin-offs from foreign titles.