Photo by Paolo Pontanar
CEBU CITY — Visual prides itself as being the biggest graphic design conference in the South, made by designers for designers. The event which is now on its 4th run has already provided great impact towards Cebu’s graphic design community. On 25th of August 2018, with 7 speakers, each specializing in different fields of design, the event brought over 800 people – students and professionals together at Centerstage, SM Seaside City Cebu.
“The main approach is to come up with different set of activities. We want everyone to re-discover graphic design, create awareness, re-discover design by promoting different businesses that engage with graphic design. I think this is also the reason why DTI was so eager to support us. It’s like a validation because it’s like they see an emerging sector of designers from our community,” said Seph Mayol, the Head Organizer for Cebu Graphic Design Week 2018.
When asked about the process they had to come up in order to orchestrate the week-long event, Mayol shared, “Most of my team are volunteers so basically, we’re just like sharing our free time together but we’ve been working on this like it’s a full-time job so I took a time off from my company to focus. It’s also the first time we’ve done Cebu Graphic Design Week in such a short notice so mahirap siya. I’m just glad that everyone wants it to happen; everyone was chipping in their time, their skill, their talent.”
This year’s roster of speakers was well-acclaimed internationally for their works.
GERALDINE SY
Sy kick-started the conference and shared her process of creating her artworks. “All of my work starts as a sketch on paper, I’ve never been able to draw properly directly on a screen or tablet. Usually when an idea erupts from my head, I write it down on a small notebook and sketch it when I have time. Then, I scan and use the computer to color and finalize the artwork,” Sy shared.
Sy has had clients that include Airbnb, National Geographic, Disney, Snapchat, the Guardian, Adobe, The New York Times and The Boston Globe among others.
When asked about the Visual, Sy was quick to say, “I think [Visual] is relevant that it empowers other creative students and professionals, [and] that there are events like this that make them come together and learn together.”
MIRAMARK DIAZ
After Sy, Miramark Diaz, a designer who has been creating digital products for brands, companies, and startups took on the podium to talk about UX/UI design.
Diaz tackled UX/UI development which is a procedure of improving the overall experience of the users when they interact with the application or website in order to achieve its objective to provide the maximum customer satisfaction.
Diaz also gave tips to young creatives in the event. Find someone that you believe can improve you. Don’t just ask questions; construct better questions. Also, don’t feel too special, [your mentors] also do other things,” he said.
He ended his talk by reminding the young creatives to be proud of who they are and be genuine and raw because that’s how they can connect to a lot of people.
STEPHANIE TUDTUD
Stephanie Tudtud, a local paper craft artist, has elevated what a piece of paper could be. Paper craft for her is the best creative outlet—artworks that are personal and meaningful but at the same time very relatable.
“Back in 2013, a website called TheDieLine.com had a paper-crafting contest where the winner could win a conference pass to the biggest packaging design conference in San Francisco,” Stephanie shared. She won that contest but wasn’t able to acquire a US visa. Even when that feat ended direly, it made her want to improve her paper-crafting skill and to join, and win, more contests.
Tudtud also opened up about her love for participating in design conferences. “I love sharing my knowledge and experiences in the same way that I like to learn new things,” she said.
AJ TABINO
AJ Tabino is a Cebu-based calligraphy artist. Her calligraphy usually cultivates a modern approach and while she knows how to write in different disciplines, her first love would always be blackletter or gothic.
“Personally, the thing I love about it is that it can be in many forms, thus very evolving. I don’t see any particular rule about it that is why it’s sort of perfect for me as I have no background whatsoever with the arts,” Tabino said.
She also shared that doing calligraphy has led her to work with companies like Unilever, Alveo Ayala Land, Scribe, iFex, Zig, New Era, TUF, Gawad Kalinga, and ABS-CBN. Her recent venture was becoming a book contributor to a hand lettering and calligraphy book authored by best-seller Abbey Sy.
DARYL FERIL
Daryl Feril is an illustrator and designer based in Bacolod City, Philippines. He was discovered in 2013 by a New York based creative agency which led him to create campaign illustrations for LVMH worldwide luxury retailer, DFS Group.
One of his most recognized works was the official poster for David Lynch Foundation’s “Change Begins Within” concert featuring Sting and Katy Perry. “Doing portrait for someone huge is a really a long process, everything needs to perfect from their eyes, wrinkles, etc.,” says Feril as he discussed the pressure he faced while handling the project.
Feril ended his talk by advising that “a successful career is just a small percentage of talent. The rest is hard work, positive thinking and marketing yourself.” He also added, “Life as an artist can be a struggle. You need to have people who will keep reminding you that it’s okay to fail and who will keep you sane.”
KATHRYN LAYNO
Whether it’s through illustration color or music, Kathryn Layno has always been driven by the idea of pushing a story forward without words. She has worked on several projects including composing music for iPad games and illustrating sketch cards and comics as a colorist as well as illustrating for various publications.
Her comic coloring and illustration work include Womanthology: Space (IDW), Skyward (Action Lab), One Week in the Library (Image), He-Man, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (DC Comics). She lives in Cebu City.
“Find time to draw what you love, expose yourself to other perspectives and put yourself out there. No matter how good your works are, if you’re not showing them, no one’s gonna know,” Layno shared during her talk.
For Layno, design conferences like Visual is very important for introverted artists like her. “Forming a community to support each other—not as race towards each other but more as a race to support something together—I think that’s really important and that’s what gonna support everybody in the long run.”
ELOHIM TAMPUS
Elohim Tampus’ first break was with the Hollywood movie ‘The Sorceror’s Apprentice.’ With his more than a decade of experience, Elohim worked at some of the notable VFX studios like Double Negative in Singapore and Weta Digital in New Zealand. One of his challenging works was with the Furious 7 where Elohim’s VFX’s skill was put to test by completing the movie without Paul Walker.
He also had the privilege to work on some of the notable blockbuster movies like Justice League, Captain America: Civil War, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, Thor: Dark World, Interstellar, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire to name a few. He believes Filipinos are inherently creative and given the chance, would put the country on the global filmmaking map.
