MANILA, PHILIPPINES – As much as possible, many designers and creatives fear tight deadlines. But for State founder Marcel Ziul and his creative director, Lucho Suárez, adrenaline actually powers them through.The dynamic duo took the stage on the first day of Graphika Manila, Southeast Asia’s largest creativity conference, to unveil the dream that inspired its visual identity this year at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
With a winged pig flying, eyeballs melting, and a fish ditching its bowl, Graphika Manila 2025’s visual identity is a wild ride through creative freedom and unfiltered imagination. Brought to life by Lucho and Marcel, alongside their award-winning team at State in Los Angeles, this year’s visuals isn’t just inspired — it’s dreamt into existence. Literally. Marcel admits it came from one of his dreams — a trippy one, he swears, totally uninduced.
For Marcel, the dream came at a tumultuous time — he was reeling from a bad breakup. One night, he found himself dreaming of leaping through a tunnel, tearing its walls apart, only to realize he wasn’t alone. A winged, farting pig was in the chaos right alongside him. He swears it was as bizarre as it sounds. But the real turning point? He saw a random video of an astronaut eating ketchup in space when he woke up. That was the spark. From there, he started bouncing ideas off his creative partner, Lucho, and the two got to work.
Bringing the dream to life
Drawing from their past projects for Nike, LeBron James, and Nickelodeon, Marcel and Lucho began piecing together the Graphika 2025 visual identity. With Lucho’s expertise in 2D animation and motion storytelling, they built the foundation from the ground up, shaping a bold, surreal world that captures the spirit of Graphika’s 20-year legacy.
For the color palette, Marcel turned to an unexpected source of inspiration: his first visit to the Philippines. The vibrant colors of a jeepney speeding through Manila’s streets stuck with him, and years later, they found their way into Graphika Manila 2025’s visual identity.
“What I like about the result of this title was the essence of the title. I think that we found a really good intersection between what State could do and Graphika. I think when I came here for the first time in here in 2017 – this is from a curation standpoint – I think what Philippines do the best is the use of colors and expression. You guys are one of the best in the world about that.” Marcel added.
At the heart of it all was the number 20, the beating pulse of this year’s logo, honoring two decades of the biggest creative conference in Southeast Asia. But Lucho insists the magic is in the details — look closely, and you’ll see how the logo itself tells a story, an eventful, trippy, and wildly imaginative ride through Graphika’s creative journey.
Creative partnership
For Marcel, the success of Graphika Manila 2025’s visual identity wasn’t just about skill or vision — it was about partnership. He credits his creative partner, Lucho, for being that rare collaborator who embraces even his wildest and most bizarre ideas.
“Find a creative partner. Find someone that you could trust that you can call this person and say, ‘I wanna draw a pig farting,’ and that person’s not gonna think that you’re crazy. That’s just gonna go with you. It’s important to find these people and create this creative connection between you two,” Marcel said of Lucho.
And trust was exactly what fueled their process, that, and adrenaline. Lucho and Marcel pushed each other to their creative limits, so much so that they were still rendering the final version of the visual identity while boarding their flight at LAX — and even tweaked another version just hours before Graphika 2025 kicked off.
Before stepping off the stage, they left the crowd with a poignant question: “How hard are you pushing the envelope creatively?”
“When we approach projects at State, we just go really crazy, and let the client push us back. I never go to the client and let them ask for more. I just go crazy and freak out,” Marcel added.
Adobo Magazine is the official media partner of Graphika Manila 2025.
