If there’s anything in ted.com that I can never forget, it’s how a speaker described Jim Collins‘ response to the question, “What should I do in my life?”

He said, “Visualize three circles intersecting each other like a Venn diagram. On the first one is the question, ‘What am I good at (talents & skills)?’ The second one, ‘What do I love? (passion)’ and the last and often overlooked one, ‘How do I get people to pay me for it? (sustainability)’ The answer to the question is where these three circles intersect.”

Basically, what Jim is saying is that you should find your strengths, see if you will enjoy using your skills, (it doesn’t mean that if you’re a good floor scrubber, you’d want to do it for the rest of your life.) and make sure that you can make a decent living out of it.

The reason why I’m getting tired of design is that it no longer answers my question #2 and question #3. My passion for the field has dwindled and long-term sustainability questions have made me think twice.

***

On the question of Passion

Design is a very important part of my life as most of my thinking is based on the question of good design. I do believe that design can push humanity forward through promoting critical thinking and delivering lasting impact on our lives. The chair I’m sitting on right now or the computer screen I’m facing are all products of good design.

But good graphic design doesn’t necessarily translate into good design.

The way I see it, graphic design is a secondary form of a design, meaning that it only becomes useful when used to power-up a strong idea. Graphic design in itself is not anything special without a powerful idea that it will build upon. Its most important job is to communicate other people’s ideas.

Let’s say a researcher designs and invents a cure for cancer (a very strong idea,) a graphic designer’s job should be to create an identity system that makes sure that people understand the cure and be assured of its safety (secondary design.) So, the idea is the cure for cancer, and graphic design exists only to assist that idea. In such a case, graphic design is good design.

But what if Mr. X designs an absurdity such as a mucus-flavored condom, and pays graphic designer Y a million dollars to promote that idea. Graphic designer Y will prostitute himself for the compensation to sell the mucus idea through masterful kerning, color use and photographs. In such a case, is graphic design still good design? If it helped sell something useless, aren’t graphic designers just wasting their time?

That is where my main frustration with graphic design lies. Too few people are creating strong ideas, and too many people are trying to help people sell ideas, mostly stupid ones.

Drive around the city and check out all the billboards and ads slammed at our eyes every time we look to the sky. Doesn’t it seem crazy to you that designers and ad agencies are continually being paid millions to sell different ice cream flavors, fastfood, softdrinks and so many useless things.

As a designer, you may retort, “Oh, but they’re not following the rules of good graphic design. They don’t use a grid, they don’t follow typographic rules.” But will being a good graphic designer even matter if the original idea in itself is worthless?

***

On the question of Sustainability

Looking at graphic design as a whole, I see a future of highly skilled and underpaid designers.

As graphic design is gaining massive popularity, education is getting better and better especially with free blogs and online resources. This will of course create a huge pool of extremely skilled, confident designers who will never allow themselves to participate in crowdsourcing and other “devaluing” forms of design.

With crowdsourcing, 3rd world outsourcing and the development of products such as the Kindle, the whole industry is quickly evolving and the old ways of graphic design are slowly dissipating.

If the popularity of design continually grows and the demand for it does not, I can just imagine how graphic design might just one day turn into another typical, corporate white collar job. It’s a possibility.

***

One last thing—I’d like to share a quote I got from Bob Sutton, “Strong opinions, weakly held.” It basically says that the wise will stand by and be firm with their opinions and beliefs; but when facts and proofs show that they’re wrong, they should learn to let go. I’ve invested years and a ton of money on studying graphic design, but when the facts and truths that are revealing themselves to me are showing me that this may not be the right path for me, then maybe its time to try something new and let go.

At least for now, I’d like to stop being a designer professionally and experiment with several ideas I have at hand. It’s an exciting, and possibly penniless future ahead.

As I’ve said in my previous controversial blog post, Team Manila  has made itself known as the design company that makes nationalistic shirts that sell like fishballs.

Then followed a plethora of nationalistic shirts that went viral crazy. You’ve seen hundreds of Multiply stores with national shirts. You’ve seen Collezione’s My Pilipinas shirts with the printed Philippine map ala Lacoste. And today, I saw a friend of mine, Mark Gosingtian, do a Philippine statement shirt in response to the disaster that struck our country.

As I am writing this message, the shirt has recorded 1621 notes. That’s a huge, huge number considering how relatively small the Filipino blogging community is. (In the mean time, check out his blog and order a shirt! )

The Collezione My Pilipinas Shirt

Mark's Hero Shirt. From top to bottom: Saab Magalona, Tricia Gosingtian, Mark Gosingtian

But the question I want to pose today is not a question of morality but that of productivity. Are these shirt campaigns going somewhere or are they all in vain?

Tell it with some T-shirts

We don’t need to be rocket scientists to know that we want to say something when we wear something.

There are of course, subconscious factors affecting the way we clothe ourselves, and I will not talk about these because I’m not an expert in that field. But what I want to talk about is the obvious. I want to point out the conscious and deliberate part of clothing.

Church people have Jesus dangling all over their bodies. Whores have their nipples almost slipping out of their shirts. Environmentalists will try their best to have trees, panda bears and the recycle symbol printed on their shirts. Rockstars will have a skull, guitar and some demons somewhere hidden.

The Obvious Message

These nationalistic shirts are living testimonies that we have a nation hungry for a Philippine brand. We have millions waiting for a flaming horseshoe that will burn the words, “Pinoy ako,” to their bare butts.

We don’t want to belong to a group of random people living together and screwing each other. We want a nation and we want to be damn proud of it.

The Problem

I had a crush on a blockmate before. She had a very nice body, dressed herself extremely well with noticeable signature clothing and looked like a princess. When I approached her, all of it changed. If you’re thinking she had a rotten attitude, that’s not it. My problem was that she had a rotten smell. (Mmm. I can still remember the odour…)

The shirts are good as they’re hot and reaching thousands, but at the same time, they’re only making us look good without fixing what’s inside. Although we’re gaining a sense of nationalism from them, to what end does this nationalism lead to when our very core as a nation is ambiguous?

What use is nationalism when we don’t have a nation?

The Challenge

Shirts and other nationalistic movements have been successful in creating a desire to have a nation. They’ve been extremely successful in increasing awareness that we, as a country, have to have our own brand. That’s a good thing.

But first, we have to take a step back and look deep into our nation and ask, “What does it truly mean to be a Filipino? What will make us proud to be Filipinos? What do we want to be known for in the global community?”

Then take a step ahead and challenge ourselves, ‘How do we translate the desire these T-shirts have created to real, productive action?”

You’ve probably been loitering around facebook and probably stumbled upon this disturbing image:

Thanks a lot Manny!

As many you guys have said, while so many people are suffering from Ondoy, Villar had the right mind to proclaim himself a savior of the typhoon victims by shamelessly plastering his name over a styro meal.

Some argue that it could’ve been an enemy of Villar who did this—and I believe that’s possible. But what’s really, really interesting is that people are choosing to believe that he did it.

Why? Read the rest of this entry…

Disclaimer: This is a completely personal post has nothing to do with design or branding.

An 18-year old Filipino construction worker saves 30 people in exchange for his own life. After anticipating a huge wave coming from the river, Muelmar Magallanes rushed through the whole neighborhood, one-by-one saving people until his energy left him and was swept away by the current.

I am deeply moved by the acts of Muelmar Magallanes who has been branded a hero. People all over the world are praising him because he sacrificed his life for others.

But were his acts that truly a sacrifice? Or were they acts of a higher value?

“Any action that a man undertakes for the benefit of those he loves is not a sacrifice if, in the hierarchy of his values, in the total context of the choices open to him, it achieves that which is of greatest personal (and rational) importance to him. ” —Ayn Rand

Rand, one of my favorite authors, has been a strong advocate of the thought that sacrifice is for the weak-willed. Before you react however, try to understand how her definition of sacrifice is different from what we commonly believe it to be.

“Sacrifice could be proper only for those who have nothing to sacrifice—no values, no standards, no judgment—those whose desires are irrational whims, blindly conceived and lightly surrendered. For a man of moral stature, whose desires are born of rational values, sacrifice is the surrender of the right to the wrong, of the good to the evil.”

To put it into proper context, let me paint two situations.

Situation 1: Juan is a 30 year old office worker who supports an alcoholic brother, a lazy sister and a good-for-nothing dad who gambles all day. 80% of what he earns goes to his family. At the end of the day, he consoles himself by saying that he’s “sacrificing” for a greater good.

The reason why Rand points out that sacrifice is an evil is because of situations like that of Juan. When a person sacrifices (in Juan’s situation) why does the person receiving the sacrifice have to do it at the expense of Juan? What right does Juan’s family have to say that they deserve the Juan’s hardwork more than Juan? Is it because Juan earns more than them and that it’s for the greater good that he has to sacrifice for the others? Does he have to place his future’s financial safety in jeopardy by virtue of “family ties?”

In situation one, the concept of sacrifice becomes completely distorted that instead of becoming a value, it becomes an excuse. Does the line, “Hindi mo ba kaya magsakripisyo para sa akin?” sound familiar? People are using sacrifice to get what they want at the expense of another person’s happiness.

Situation 2: Muelmar loves his family and the neighborhood more than anything else in the world. He loves them so much that he places their lives at a higher value than that of his. His sacrifice stems from the fact that he has a value system that he understands and embraces fully—even if it costs him his life.

Contrast the first to the second situation. In Juan’s case, his acts of “good” stem from pity and a lack of self-understanding. He helps his family because religion and society dictate him to do so. On the other hand, Muelmar’s actions are based on real values—love, justice, human life. He sacrificed because he accepts that there are greater and more important things in the world than his life.

These ideas may be difficult to swallow the first time around as they seem to be anti-religion. To a certain extent, they are. Christianity dictates that everyone, including undeserving people should be helped and we should all be willing to sacrifice ourselves for others. However, if that sacrifice comes at the expense of our own happiness and well-being, shouldn’t we start questioning ourselves? Is it fair to us if we’re living lives we don’t want for the sake of others?

(Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against altruism and charity because these people have placed the lives of others as the most important in their lives. But what of everyone else?)

Although it might be hard, true sacrifice generates a sense of fulfillment. On the other hand, the false type drains you and leaves you weaker day by day. Let’s ask ourselves today, are we sacrificing right?

I read this headline the other day and I told myself, “What the hell are they thinking again?” When the country is dealing with poverty, corruption, the upcoming elections and natural disasters, we’re feeding a debate on whether to add another ray to the our flag’s sun.

So, I was forced to read the article and discover that it was a peacemaking move. Apparently, the sun’s rays have been representing the provinces that contributed to the uprising and helped quell the Spaniards. Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Laguna, and Batangas were all included but the Muslims were left out. In such a case, the debate has become a national design issue.

It’s true that the country has been unfair to the Muslims throughout our history as we have long been associating them with terrorists, which is why this move is admirable. But at the same time, is the symbol so powerful and influential that it can actually strengthen our ties with our brothers from Mindanao and remove the stigma we have been holding against them? Is spending large amounts of government money to add a sun’s ray a worthy investment to better our country? Or should they be spending it elsewhere—helping develop Mindanao or creating concrete activities and venues that can help remove the negative perceptions Christians have on Muslims?

Design is powerful and it can move people to fight for a cause as it did in Obama’s presidential campaign or Hitler’s tyranny; but a lot of times, it can be overrated. Are people even aware that the 8 rays represent these 8 provinces? Will our relationship with our Muslim brothers change with the addition of a sun’s ray?

Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. But the better question is, if it does, is it worth it?

To my surprise, I got 40 comments overnight on my previous post on Team Manila—some of them were personal, a lot were pissed of, some disagreed with reason, and some were supportive. Because I don’t have the time to reply to all those comments, let me write my thoughts below.

First, I want to apologize for the headline I used in my previous article, “destroying” was too strong a word to describe what I really wanted to say. Team Manila in itself is not destroying the Philippine Design. What I was saying is that they should be more aware of how their events and actions are shaping the design industry. Because they’re the market leader and they have the capacity to reach millions of Filipinos, they have the power to influence the design industry. I am pointing out that this power has the potential to be utilized to strengthen the distinction between design niches—shirt designers, layout and publication masters, web developers, motion graphic designers, logo specialists, branders, typographers, illustrators and strategists.

When you approach a client and he asks you the undying question,  ”What do you do?” how will you respond? Most people would say “I do graphic design.” This remark automatically generates a subconscious response in the client’s mind, “Oh, he does layouts, CD covers, newspapers, logos, brochures, etc.” But what if all you do are illustrations? What if you only like designing CD covers? What if you only design books? Under all these specific design/art niches is one unifying term, “graphic design.” This makes the field so ambiguous to non-designers.

What I was ranting about was the fact that TM is (indirectly) equating design to shirt contests, paintings and other forms of artistic expression. Since it’s highly publicized and TM is a credible source of information when it comes to design, people will believe it. Non-designers and aspiring ones will be led to think that graphic design is basically commercial art that you do on a computer that you print out on tarps.

I quote myself earlier, “While art focuses on expression, emotion and aesthetics; design focuses on solving problems and communicating messages.” But as it was pointed out by Mica and Camille in the earlier post, art can also convey information and deliver messages as they did even before the existence of the term, “graphic design.” Knowing this, my argument is put to shame. So what then is the difference between the two?

I thought about this and researched, but the debate between the difference has never ended for decades and it will obviously not find its resting place in this blog. And this got me thinking.

Does it matter if we can define art and design?

Where will all this fighting and disagreement lead us to?

If both art and design can accomplish tasks and solve problems, why bother make a distinction?

***

Since I’ve been disrespectfully unfair to Team Manila by not recognizing the fact that they wouldn’t be where they are if not for the skills and hard-earned effort that they’ve invested in building their brand, let me make up by stressing a good that comes from what they’re doing.

As much as I don’t want to admit it, TM played a pivotal role in my personal decision to go into design. When I was younger, I thought to myself, “Oh, graphic designers can make cool T-shirts.” and that’s where I did my research and started to really get into learning the software, understanding art principles, studying type and learning to use grids. TM served as a spark that started it all. And perhaps, they’ve had this effect on a thousand other Filipino designers.

I may brand them as incorrectly shaping the industry today; but on the other hand, they are jumpstarting young Filipinos to consider design as a real profession that should be taken as seriously as a doctor or a lawyer.

***

Before I end, I have a simple solution that may potentially alleviate the confusion between art and design. The magic word is “Niche.”

I started doing design as a freelancer and during those times, my thinking was: “I can do everything, so I’ll offer everything.” I did illustrations, logos, business cards and posters. That being said, I branded myself as a typical, ambiguous “Graphic designer.” I didn’t know if I really was an artist or designer, so I chose to be both.

That decision simply added to the confusion between artist and designer. That just made people ask more questions and end up with the realization that graphic designers are the people you call when you need to make promo materials.

During the course of my career, I met geniuses in the fields of marketing, sales and advertising. That’s where I was taught the concept of niche and learned to ask the questions, “Who am I, really? What do I want to be known for? Where do my strengths truly lie?

So I searched myself and found out which parts of art/design do I really love to do and want to keep doing. I realized I love logos, conceptualization, grids and setting text. I hated making fancy posters, flashy visuals, and using Photoshop for special effects. I did not like downloading brushes and creating colorful artworks. I dreaded painting, illustrating and other organic forms of art. But I do like setting the words, “Fuck you.” in Helvetica completely surrounded by white space. I love seeing a grid and looking at finely kerned letters in black and white. I love thinking about how people react to certain design cues.

Designers aren’t superheroes. We can’t do everything. A lot of the confusion between art and design sprouts from the fact that designers claim to be artists and artists claim to be designers. We have to learn to narrow down the things we do not to the things we are capable of doing, but to those which we do best.

If you’re a graphic designer in the Philippines and I mention the line, “The leading Graphic Design Firm in the Philippines,” what do you say?

(Chances are) Team Manila.

I don’t know how these guys got famous, but they did. In fact, they’re the ones who started the whole t-shirt design craze and the tightly letterspaced, stacked Helvetica (or another similar grotesque sans serif font) trend they used in their logo. Pushing their brand further, they’ve also established their own retail store, Team Manila Lifestyle.

Clearly, these guys deserve to be where they are as they wouldn’t be at the top of their game if not for their skills and effort; but I don’t like the way they’re shaping the industry.

Because Team Manila is the industry leader, they have the power to influence the mass population about what graphic design really is. When they talk, people listen. And when I said “people,” I wasn’t just referring to graphic designers, but to the rest of the Philippines who are confused about and misunderstand what design really is.

What really brought me to write against Team Manila was this article I read from Pinoy Tech Buzz entitled, “A Message from the Future,” which talks about the 1st Manila Design week spearheaded by Team Manila.

The article is opened with the line, “Undisputedly, this country is home to a lot of talented artists.” Then, a few paragraphs later, Team Manila is quoted with, “We want to provide a forum for Pinoy artists where they can show their talents, and likewise, who want to go from local to international recognition.” Going further into the paragraph, the post talks about T-shirt design competitions and how great Filipino artists are.

You got that right—Filipino artists.

The problem here lies in the fact that artists and designers are being used interchangeably when the truth is, Filipino artists aren’t necessarily graphic designers (and vice-versa.) While art focuses on expression, emotion and aesthetics; design focuses on solving problems and communicating messages.

What I strongly disagree with is how the field of design is being dumbed-down to a totally different form so that the people can digest it and art/design firms like Team Manila can benefit from it. Team Manila is becoming the Willie Revillame of graphic design—feeding the masses with false information and instant gratification because it’s what they want, not necessarily what they need to know and understand.

Since the goal of Team Manila is to bring graphic design into the mainstream, they also have to scale it down to a level the mainstream can understand. Because design is a field the mainstream wouldn’t be able to understand without actually studying it, they interchangeably use it with a simple concept like art so they can get a larger share of the market. Obviously, t-shirt design contests, which have more to do with art than design, are much easier to sell than x-heights, em dashes, modular grids and production methods.

The reason I’m reacting this much is that these days are part of a formative and transitional period in Philippine Design. With design tools becoming more easily accessible to the average Juan, design is slowly creeping into the mainstream. While this is happening, people (and a lot of artists) are attempting to gather more and more information about design. Students who want to grow in design will look for a local father figure. Unfortunately, if that figure is controlled by the likes of Team Manila who have the realistic capacity to shape people’s minds and perpetuate that design is all about expression and art, then Philippine Design will be doomed.

What Team Manila is doing is not wrong in itself as both artists and designers have a place in the creative Philippine ecosystem; but passing t-shirt design contests and “Freedom of Expression” as part of the First Manila Design Week is. Such a move is feeding people with false information and making it difficult for designers to explain to the moms, dads and non-designers of the world what design really is.

If this post reaches any of you Team Manila guys out there, kindly rename your event to the First Manila Artwork Week. Please?

For more examples of how graphic design is being misrepresented as art, see Adobo Magazine’s and Tim Yap’s post regarding the 1st Manila Design Week.

***

I posted a second article, “More Comments on Team Manila,” if you want to read more.

Lately, I’ve been really hardworking. I’m confident enough to say that I’ve never wasted so much sweat and sleepless nights on anything, ever.

Aesop would be so proud of me for embodying the virtue of hardwork.

Nothing’s wrong with that of course, except that hardwork has a way of turning you and me into mindless prawns. (Yeah, District 9!)

From Lord V's Flickr page.

Take a minute to remember that exact emotion you felt the day before a test you weren’t able to study for. You were panicking, cramming and extremely anxious about what’s gonna happen. You felt that you were gonna die and you just wanted to get through that day. You couldn’t think of anything else so you tell yourself, “I’ll just work hard and get this over with.” This is where the hardwork trap comes in. Read the rest of this entry…

I haven’t been blogging for a while due to the amount of work I have at my hands. I’ve been wanting to smite some people who’ve been continuing to make empty promises and outright lies.

The construction of our photography studio has been delayed for two weeks already and is looking to be delayed for another. I’ve been following up everyday only being reassured that everything will be done by tomorrow; but the story ends the same—no results.

On top of the delay, the quality of a lot of the work being done is horrible. The kitchen drawers are misaligned. The countertop is slanting. The airconditioning piping was exposed and laid without any care or concern for the place. The materials have been perpetually incomplete; and I had to personally go out of my way and purchase minor details like screws, rivets and hammers because the delivery guys are 2-3 days late. The sad thing is, there are about four to five separate teams (from different companies) working on the different areas of the whole place and all of them have done horribly.

I’ve tried positive motivation by bringing in food and drinks to the construction site everyday; it doesn’t work. I’ve tried negative by going straight to the big boss and telling him that I, or nobody else for that matter deserves the kind of work I’m receiving; but it backfires as well. If nothing does happen, I’ll need to learn some carpentry and do it myself.

What pisses me off is how helpless I am to the situation. Although technically, I can cancel the contract and not pay them due to breach of contract (extreme delays in the construction + mediocre work) I wouldn’t do it for practical reasons (that I might delay the whole thing even more) and my personal, moral obligations. As much as I’d like an objectivist, productive world, there are certain factors I have to consider.

What if these guys weren’t able to work properly because they had kids who they can’t feed? What if they had to find a place to sleep at night? What if they were working two jobs to sustain themselves? What if I were bringing a man to his grave and I didn’t know?

I’m caught in between. I want people to be productive; but I don’t want to run them over like they have no lives outside of their work. Perhaps if I were talking to educated, snobbish kids who are clearly just lazy, there are other better ways to handle the situation. Here though, what else can I do but be a tyrant or a victim.

Just yesterday, I was able to have a short conversation with the local owner of Red Mango Frozen Yogurts, one of the most affluent people in the whole country. As they were expanding their branches exponentially, I had to ask about construction procedures. Guess what? As high as they are in society, they’ve been getting the same treatment.

If I were to ask for an explanation for all this mediocrity, I’d get one easily. “It’s because we’re in the Philippines, you just have to accept that. Filipinos are just like that.” You say it, I say it, everyone says it. It’s an excuse, a shorcut, an easy way out.

Mediocrity is our brand and we’re willfully embracing it.

But what if one day, we wake up and tell ourselves, “It’s because we’re in the Philippines, you have to be the best.” What happens next?

I was somewhere near the area a few days ago, so I decided to give the good old Manila Zoo a quick visit with my girlfriend. I wasn’t expecting much, and I was exactly right to do so.

Here are some of the apocalyptic photos that we took:

Look Mom! No Feathers!

Might as well send them to be slaughtered

Do they know tigers are endangered?

Add a vulture to the picture and you've got a meal

home or prison?

If that’s not animal cruelty, I don’t know what that is. I don’t know what happened or how people allowed this monstrosity of a zoo to exist, but something has to be done. (I’m sending an e-mail to PETA, definitely. Help me out and forward this to them if you have the time.) The people who are allowing this to happen are more animal than they are human.

As much as I’d want to continue, that’s enough for my emotionally charged ranting against the Manila Zoo.

Another important reason why I posted this is to point out another basic fact that many companies overlook—looking after their gold mines.

In this zoo’s case, their animals and the “zoo experience” are their gold mines, the prime assets they have to protect. People go to a zoo to see animals and to experience walking around and enjoying the environment with them. It’s basic knowledge that before anything else, the zoo has to invest time and money in caring for these animals and cleaning up the place!

In the same way, restaurants have to make their food really good, schools have to make sure that their education is top-notch, hair salons need to train their haircutters to be the best they can be and designers must never ever show bad design.

Our goldmines are always right infront of our eyes; but sometimes they’re just too close that we can’t see them clearly.