Adobo Design Awards 2013

The adobo Design Awards celebrates the work of talented individuals from different organizations both professional and educational. The contest serves as an avenue for aspiring creative individuals, designers and artists to showcase their work and be recognized by top executives in the advertising and design industry.

Key Dates

Deadline for Submission: April 3, 2013 (Wednesday)
Judging Dates: April 16-17, 2013 (Tuesday-Wednesday)
Awarding Ceremonies: April 26, 2013 (Friday)

Who Should Join?

Graphic artists, Layout artists, Digital artists, Typographer, Production Designers, Packaging Designers, T-shirt Designers, Animators, Videographers, Film/Video Directors, Film/Video Cinematographers, Illustrators, Applied Graphic Artists, Freelance Artists, Student Artists, Designers and Artists in general.

Contest Investment

Students           Php 500 per entry
Freelancers      Php 1,200 per entry
Professionals    Php 1,200 per entry

For the mechanics, list of Jury and other details, please visit: adobodesignawards.com and for further inquiries, email designawards@adobomagazine.com or call (02)845.0218 or 0906.359.9167.

Read the official press release on the next page

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Facebook Redesign Prototype

What do you think about this Facebook prototype design made by Australian art director and designer Fred Nerby? I think the use of grids and large visual tiles looks good. Facebook’s usual high-density content stream might take a back seat over clean white/empty space – which may not be a bad thing.

[via] Behance

Davao Graphicon 2012

Our designer friends from DUAAD (Davao United Association of Animators and Designers) recently held their Graphicon 2012 last December 1, 2012 at the CAP Grand Auditorium Davao City. Speakers present were Isabel Gatuslao (Branding), Chad Manzo (Illustration), Nico Puertollano (Motion Graphics), Vincent Rhafael Aseo (Illustration), Val Nizam Villar (Web Technology) and Ritchie Baquirin (Windows 8 UI Design App)

The DUAAD is composed of Davao-based, Davao-trained and Davao-bred visual artists in all sorts - graphics and web designers, creative media practitioners and enthusiasts, animators for both web and TV, all amateurs to veterans, from freelancers to corporate magnates and private institutions. Its members desire to lead all Davao-based and visual arts events, advocacies and projects, as well as initiate other off-area endeavors to showcase the Davao talent to the rest of the visual arts community. - duaad.org

graphicondavao.com // facebook.com/GraphiConDavao

- Thanks Marx Consuegra

Vgrafiks Design + Branding

Vgrafiks launched their new website early this month and it’s looking rad, responsive and (homepage) red.

I remember seeing Vgrafiks.com way before 2008 serving as Russell Vergara’s portfolio site before it grew into a full-fledge design studio together with co-founder Christian Chan, both UK-educated and experience designers.

Vgrafiks has already worked with established companies like Abenson, Maybank, Starbucks and Unilever, just to name some. If you have used Tisyu, then you’ve probably encountered their work already.

Nan Santamaria also shares that Vgrafiks serves free lunch at their Tomas Morato office and have fridays off to do whatever they like. Nice perks that will surely entice top talents and *ehem* hungry clients.

Check out some of their nice branding and typography works below.

www.vgrafiks.com

Graphika Manila 2012

This years Graphika Manila 2012 design conference will take place at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia this August 11 starting at 10AM to 6PM. This years speakers are Psyop, Gmunk, Droga5, Hydro74, JP Cuizon, Jerome Austria and Create.ph

You can get your tickets online at P1,750 for the Conference Pass and 1,550 for Students and Early Bird rates. Ticket prices have increased since last year so if you want to save some, better buy the early bird tickets for P200 discount. Early bird rates end on July 6.

Check out http://graphikamanila.com for more information.

Classic Philippine Movie Theaters

Video48 is a great site for classic Filipino cinema. The site has lots of vintage local movie posters and newspaper clipping of stars. One thing that struck me the most was this nostalgic collection of classic and famous Philippine movie theater logos that I saw in their Facebook page.

The logos were mostly your typical 50’s and 60’s retro typography with letterpress-quality ‘jagged’ lines that were printing inadequacies at that time, but now, look awesome to me. If you didn’t know, I’m fond of classic cartoons, tech, toys, magazines, and other abubots, You may call me a nostalgic geek :)

As far as I can remember, most of the theaters above had those classy art-deco facades, reminiscent of the old Rizal Avenue “Avenida” area. Sometimes, I wish we still had preserved the old-Manila. Architecture design then was, in some way, better than what we have right now – especially movie theaters which are now mostly inside malls.

Photo courtesy of Video48 (top) and orngejuglr from Flickr

Pre-LRT, Rizal Avenue was bustling with business and shopping centers but as traffic worsened in the area and people were now taking the LRT (which meant less foot traffic) business and theaters eventually folded up along the avenue.

You can clearly see the Ideal theater (below) weather time since it started in 1933, unfortunately it was demolished in the 70’s to give way to a department store.

Photo courtesy of Bren Buenaluz (Beyond Forgetting) from Flickr and Wikipedia (bottom)

Urban Design: Guangzhou Bus Rapid Transit

Amidst our country’s economic, political and social problems, there is one more thing that we are in dire need of help – our transportation and traffic system.

Other growing countries like China have already implemented methods in solving traffic and promote sustainable transportation using BRT or Bus Rapid Transit. It’s actually a normal bus route that acts like a light-rail transit. BRT essentially provides the convenience and efficiency of light-rail with the flexibility, and low-cost implementation of a road transit.

I also can’t help but notice the presence of trees and plants among metro installations like fences and pedestrian overpasses, which is not that much, but it adds freshness and ambiance to a somewhat concrete road jungle.

We need to focus on small details here in our country if we want to improve our transit and transportation system. May it be in implementing strict road rules, adopting modern tools like Smartcards that can be used almost anywhere, or simply fixing and making road and pedestrian signs beautiful and accessible.

One can only hope that it will happen sometime in the near future here in the Philippines.

Khoi Vinh: On the Grid

Khoi Vinh, a former Design Director of NYTimes.com, discusses Design and Grids with The Color Machine. If you want to read more about Khoi Vinh, why not check out his 5-minute interview on the Verge.

Ogami Collection: Quotes Notebook

Inspired by Swiss graphic design, the Ogami Collection notebook is the first notebook made from REPAP materials. Technically the notebook and sheets are made from stone.

Available in 3 different formats and with different page styles: lined, squared and blank.

www.ogamicollection.com

Artist vs Designer

I recently had a conversation with my best friend regarding the difference of being an Artist and a Designer. I haven’t gave it much deeper thought honestly but she asked me if I also consider myself an Artist, I thought about it for a while and explained my own definition of both profession/passion.

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Graphic Design Jobs at Jobsaholic

Jobsaholic.com, the free, local jobs listing for Creative and Tech Pinoys. Find Full-time and freelance job opportunities for Designers, Artists, and Developers in the Philippines.

Are you a Jobaholic?
Still searching for your dream job? Want a part-time or freelance gig? or you're just addicted to working? No problem! Scout the listings for cool jobs on technology and design. One click APPLY button makes job application a breeze!

Are you an Employer?
Feel free to post your job requirements on the site so potential applicants can view, apply and submit their resumes. Posting is Free! No logins, No Registering. Post your ad and let people find you.

Good luck Job Hunting!

www.Jobsaholic.com

The First Philippine Graphic Design Awards

The Philippine Graphic Design Awards (PGDA) is extending their Call of Entries until September 15, 2010. Students and Professionals are invited to submit their graphic design artworks provided that it was produced from August 1, 2009 to July 31, 2010. Information on categories, eligibility and entry fees after the jump.

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Threadless 10th Anniversary Book

Threadless will celebrate their 10th year of screen printing awesome tees by publishing a 224-paged book sharing their humble beginnings and telling the stories of graphic artists and the hit designs they make. Pre-ordering will save you at least $7 bucks so better reserve now if you’ll be getting one before the October 10th release date. I’ll be sure to grab a copy myself. ($15.18 via Amazon)

Preview some pages of the book after the jump.

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How to feed the world?

Nice motion slash infographic video by Denis van Waerebeke explaining the problem and possibly the solution to the global food crisis. Videos like this helps us to easily absorb and understand global issues concerning the environment or the economy. A very effective tool to get the message across.

Poolga: Wallpaper Art for your iPhone / iPad

Artwork and wallpapers for iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices created by selected illustrators and designers.

You can download lots of awesome wallpapers for your device if it supports either: 320x480 (iPod Touch), 640x960 (iPhone 4) or 1024x1024 (iPad) resolutions. For the rest, you just have to manually crop the largest resolution to your specific wallpaper needs.

http://poolga.com

Letting the Crowd Design

DesignCrowd is a new crowd sourcing startup that aims to help graphic designers all over the world monetize their creations. The idea is similar to other crowd sourcing sites on the web but DesignCrowd has an interesting guarantee for the pitcher. Designers get paid as soon as they participate on an open project.

If you are searching for freelance projects, you can find it there too. If you have dealt with non-paying clients in the past (fortunately for me, I haven’t yet) another advantage is their escrow account which protects you, the designer. This is similar with other sites like RentaCoder where a 3rd-party mediates the payment between the client and the provider assuring that both abide to the agreement.

If you are a newbie designer, these crowd-sourcing websites can help spread your talent and jumpstart your career. Try joining in on different projects and pitching your work. Read the descriptions and try to follow the guidelines set by the client. But remember, express your creativity uniquely. don’t try to copy designs, create your own.

If you are a seasoned pro, these sites also solidifies your brand as a designer by broadening your client-base and portfolio. Showcase your previous work so clients can see your style and experience. They’re more likely to choose you if your past work is similar to what they need.

I like the idea of DesignCrowd simply because it respects our time and our effort as designers by rewarding our hard work and participation on every project, whether it gets picked or not. No work is wasted.

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www.designcrowd.com

Need work? try crowdsourcing design sites

Utilizing the creativeness of the crowd. The more ideas the merrier. (Cheaper too)

Wikipedia defines crowd-sourcing as:

a neologism for the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing them to a group (crowd) of people or community in the form of an open call.

It is essentially a community-generated output (design) that involves any one interested in participating and joining a specific project. Think of it like an ad agency pitching for a company account. The only difference would be the sheer number of people pitching multiple ideas and the fact that the pitch is already a near finished work.

If you want to try out your luck amongst other talented and professionals designers around the world check out some of these design crowd-sourcing websites after the jump.

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Creative Infographic Posters by Visual Aid

Visual Aid provides the answers to the little questions in life in a simple colourful and engaging way.

Visual Aid has just published their 2nd book, Visual Aid 2: You can never know enough stuff just recently after their first book, Visual Aid: Stuff You've Forgotten, Things You Never Thought You Knew, and Lessons You Didn't Quite Get Around to Learning, sold 15,000 copies. Since then, they have moved on to making the illustrations on the book in various poster size prints. (190gsm silk paper)

This eclectic collection of illustrations and diagrams will get you up to speed on life's basics, without the need for extensive reading--or even your utmost attention. In a small, handy format this accessible guide is perfect for anyone with an interest in visual stimuli or a thirst for general knowledge.

You can check out the posters here. See more poster examples after the jump.

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Philippine Newspaper Design: Make it Easy and Interesting to Read

A well-designed newspaper presents visually appealing content that is easy to scan and interesting to read. How do you build one? Start with the fundamentals.

Among the throngs of broadsheets, tabloids and dailies in circulation over Metro Manila. These are my 3 well-designed newspapers (in order of choice). Business Mirror, The Manila Times, Philippine Daily Inquirer. These 3, by far, are best good examples in my opinion.

If you thought Manila Bulletin was included, yes it is, as our “Don’t Do This” example. :)

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Redesigning the Philippine Peso Banknotes

Ryan Riegner, a 21-year old designer from Pennsylvania, came up with a unique redesign to the Philippine Peso bill. His design is a nice example of what our banknote bill can look like.

I’m not sure if it’s historically and culturally accurate but there are some inaccuracies in the specimen like the spelling of Republica instead of Republika and Isang Daang Libong Piso on a 100 peso bill. (Isang Daang Libong Piso translates to 1,000 100,000 pesos) He’s not from the country anyway so its understandable that he got some elements wrong, anyway, he still gets an A for effort.

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