my Graphika Manila 2014 experience!

it was so amazing! it’s my first time to attend a GM conference so i can’t compare with the previous ones! if i’m only going to rate the speakers, i’d give the graphika team a 9/10 for bringing in the best creative inspirations from all over the globe! the missing 1 goes to, hm, not having someone to represent the Web Design department hehe. anyway, may balance parin naman cos there were 3 for graphic design (illustration, lettering, identity) and 3 for motion design (visual effects, motion graphics, and animation). since i’m more interested in graphic design, shempre my favorite speakers are from that field! haha

btw, we were seated far from the stage so the best pics i got are from the led screen cast and most of them are slides pa so i’m just gonna go around the net to find better equivalent pics. hehe

SPEAKERS

1) let’s start with my new found favorite graphic designer, Isabel Gatuslao, the only homegrown speaker of the bunch. she specializes in branding and identity, and has done a lot of crazy and amazing projects like these:

a rebrand for national bookstore’s Best Buy product line:

seriously diba? super level up na ang Best Buy, pwede na magtayo ng sariling bookstore with that branding alone.

another rebrand, this time for an HMO called MediCard:

brilliant. just brilliant. seryoso, has an HMO ever made an impression on you like MediCard now does? mukang mamahalin na diba? mukang iingatan ka na rin ng mabuti hahaha. their head office at makati is looking really posh na nga rin eh. the power of branding talaga haha

i love it how she makes the identities she works on increase in value! i super duper look up to her!

this one’s for Liz Uy, which is, take note, feng shui master approved! hahaha

now i’m inspired to make monograms. >XD

and lastly, this shoe is for Lebron James!
not a fan of LJ but as she explained the concepts behind everything patched on that size 16 shoe, i decided the item is better off locked behind a glass case.

it’s just so precious looking

on top of her awesome portfolio, she’s also a really hilarious speaker! there was never a dull moment! haha

i also find her pretty and young looking! i mean, she looks 20-something lang but considering her experience, i really don’t know. haha she looks like a fuse between lara quigaman and ana capri. wala lang. search na lang kayo ng pics online ang ganda kasi ng kuha ko eh. i wonder how old she is! hehe >XD

my take home from her: BE OBSESSIVE! pick on every little detail, research on all related stuff, and totally immerse yourself in your work to be able to come up with a fitting and smashing design concept. as she puts it, “Obsession is the secret to an exciting life.” >XD

2) next up is DVEIN, a madrid based group of designers who does animation and live action. they’re my favorite among those who talked about animation because they’re so quirky! haha

what i liked about their approach is that they’re very experimental and crazy. they’re also very funny too! >XD the best things i liked from their presentation is the animation they produced incorporating 3 elements they want to see in their video, which they thought of individually. they’re paint, landscapes, and old people. crazy mix. but the end result was so amazing! as in di ko maisip na naisip nilang gawin yon. sorry can’t find a video. stalk them maybe? hehe

my take home from DVEIN: ALWAYS HAVE FUN! you know how even passionate people get stressed over their work right? but they make it seem like every shoot is an opportunity to enjoy the world and pick up ideas! such goofballs!

3) Sara Blake aka ZSO

her style is something i dig so much! ink drawings + digital coloring is something i’m trying to learn right now and her illustrations have all brought an immense amount of inspiration to me! please please check out her website so you would understand how excited i am to learn more! haha

during the event she’s also selling limited edition silk scarves designed by her but they’re so freakin expensive (4,000++ even on a 30% discount), i don’t even know if anyone actually prepared that much money for it. sorina, ngayon lang ako nakakita ng ‘designer scarf’. hehehe

my take home from her: DRAW LIKE A CHILD! never mind if it’s not looking how it’s supposed to be. just keep on drawing! >XD

4) Jessica Hische!
my 2nd favorite speaker next to Isabel. man, she talks a lot! i’m a big fan of typography so i really enjoyed her talk. i can’t even say for sure if it’s typography or not, or just fancy writing but yeah. it looks simple when you just look at the raw file (which she submits)…

but when you add in effects and whatnots… boom!

so pretty! i think she didn’t do the post-processing here though. hehe but being a fan of black and white, that clean writing for me is already awesome!

i love it how she doesn’t run out of things to say! her energy is so high! haha as the last speaker of the day, she’s quite a breather cos i almost dozed off the entire segment before her hehe! >XD

because of her, i have a new found fascination with drop caps! will probably do my own sometime! >XD

my take from from Jessica Hische: not exactly a life lesson but an adobe illustrator hack! that WIDTH thing she demo-ed that adjusts the width of your paths or something. haha will research on it when i hit AI someday. >XD

5) and 6) hehe Ash Thorp and Eugene Gauran of The Mill

i told you i’m not that into motion graphics so i can’t really say much but these two are high-end! Ash Thorp has done visual effects projects for x-men: first class, iron man, and ender’s game to name a few!

the hosts w/ Ashe Thorp

Eugene Gauran representing The Mill, has worked ad campaigns for sony, nike, adidas, and honda, etc. and hey! he’s Filipino! hehe

that’s it for the speakers hehe

VENUE

i’ll give it a 7/10 sorry hehe

SMX is big yes, but it’s flat! i mean, if you’re at the left or right side, you’re gonna face the LED screens instead, which is sad cos it doesn’t feel live at all! i’m just freaking looking at the slides the whole time. T__T;

last year i think they held it at PICC, i think they should stick to that venue. parang cinema type na may levels yung seats para at least kahit malayo, kita mo parin ung stage hehe. wala lang. hahaha if food is a concern kasi malayo nga naman ung kainan sa PICC… i dunno… provide food na lang! hahaha >XD

KIT AND FREEBIES

7/10 din hehe

i loooove the art book! it’s a big book of inspiration for me! sadly, that’s about all the value the kit contains. well they also threw in 2 stickers, a ballpen that doesn’t write, a button pin, a tote, and a bunch of fliers from sponsors but really. i didn’t quite see how my 1,750 pesos poured into this. sure the speakers are great and i went out really inspired and wanting to start a project asap but as for the tangible take homes? hmm.

maybe i’m just expecting too much, maybe that 1,750 is nothing compared to what i’ve learned and took home mentally but… okay fine it’s not cheap to source bad ass foreign speakers nga naman. i rest my case. BUT IT’S STILL TOO EXPENSIVE! haha

PRICE:

7/10 because it’s still too expensive for me, even as an employed person. we paid 1,750 for the early bird rate. it’s not even a workshop seminar. >XD if it’s the foreign speakers that’s elevating the price so much, cut it off! we have an abundance of home growns making it big here as well. i know you also have to get speakers who can show you that there is money in art but well, bottom line is, it’s a conference on creativity! >XD

OTHER REMARKS:

THE RAFFLE. it was cool that they raffled off an ipad air but what’s uncool is how there’s only one winner among the thousands who came. seriously, one (super duper) lucky winner ONLY? i would’ve appreciated it if they raffled off many small items like shirts! or WD hard drives the price of an ipad air (assuming the ipad was not sponsored hehe)…. instead naman of a one time big time prize that only one person will benefit from. wala lang. chaka walang thrill ung raffle eh. parang, okay, yun na yon? bitter bitteran ang peg ko ha sorry na.

NO BACKDROP FOR PICTURE TAKING. it’s disappointing that i saw not one space in that huuuuuuge hall with a good backdrop to take pictures with. as in nada. was there even a photo booth? how hard is it to put up a backdrop so we can take pictures naman? in the end we just posed against a boring white background. hahaha >XD

jec, ava, and me 🙂

despite all my reklamos, i cannot deny that the event has a lingering effect on me even after a week has passed. i’m still super duper stoked to draw something! i guess what really made graphika manila “priceless” are the speakers talaga! hehe see you next year! >XD

my Graphika Manila 2014 experience!

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