MANILA, PHILIPPINES – This year’s Graphika Manila was, to say the least, a spectacular celebration of the rich and exciting creative talent all around the world, and the exciting possibilities that can come out once we dare to see the world in through a different lens. Some of the Philippines’ and the world’s greatest artists gathered under one roof at SMX Convention Center last February 2-3, and we were thrilled to bear witness to it in the audience. Until now, we’re still not over everything that happened over that weekend.
We’ve compiled some of our favorite moments from the two-day event to celebrate its success.
First Day (February 2, Saturday)
Day 1 of Graphika opened with a bang as James Sweigert of Laundry! delivered a visually striking presentation with a powerful message of the power of spoken word. Waving the Philippine flag high and proud, he was followed by local painter and illustrator Yeo Kaa who took her heart out all around the world with her art. Another crowd favorite was 3D artist Shane Griffin who shared his work with Nike and his Chromatic project that led to the iconic iPhone wallpapers.
Filipino artist Michael Parker of And A Half Design Studio shared the importance of inspiring connection with the right people and its impact to the creative output of an agency. Next was Justin Harder of Claus Studios who shook the crowd with laughter and awe as he showcased his work with Marvel’s Deadpool and Thor: The Dark World, and his personal love for collages. Last but not the least was street artist Buff Monster who recounted his journey on how he had established his personal brand so strongly, he was able to collaborate with multinational brands with his iconic characters.
The momentum of the conference continued as Gordon Reid of Middle Boop started off the second day with his project Weird World Cup, a transformation of legendary football moments to beer mats. The act was followed by Ivan Dixon, a pixel artist from Australia who did the animation for Childish Gambino’s Feels Like Summer, and title sequences for the Simpsons and Adventure Time. Rian Gonzales then talked about her colorful journey from geek to creating covers for comics such Archie, Josie and the Pussycats and X-Men.
For the second half, Lauren Hom gave informative life-advice on being her own brand and in her own words, building a serious career out of a not-so-serious work. Shortly after her, Anthony Francisco of Marvel did not disappoint by showing his work while away from the country for 15 years. The crowd went wild as he revealed that Baby Groot is inspired by his son–from the grumpy face they pull off while playing a game console to Groot’s dance sequence. Aaron Draplin finished Graphika strong with his amazing presentation on how he built a creative life with things that had nothing to do with design but design found a way to embellish his life with good work.
With close to 4,000 creatives in the audience and 12 powerhouse artists onstage, Graphika Manila 2019 was definitely, without a doubt, one for the books. The energy that radiated off of the convention center also bounced off of all the passionate creatives at the event, and it was just a thrill to be part of it all. Unquestionably, the creative talent in the Philippines and all over the world is ever-growing and developing and we can’t wait for to see how Graphika tops this one.
Stay tuned for more Graphika Manila content for us. We’ll be releasing more of our exclusive interviews with the speakers from the event to celebrate all that’s happened since the biggest celebration of creativity in Manila.
