Design is my Demon

Jun Escario Holiday 2011 Window Display

I’ve made some light fixtures for my home in the past few years.  Recently however, I was commissioned to design and fabricate a window display and incidentally decided to have lanterns in it.

DIY Light Fixtures (Personal Projects)

Jun Escario’s atelier is already one of the best lit stores in Greenbelt, Ayala Center.  It is the Goldilocks of lighting: Not too bright, not too dim, ample warmth… Just right.  Even though this was the case, I proposed to place lanterns in its window to have the warmth glow further, i.e. towards the passing customer.




Working on another window and merchandise display for the holidays, I’ve observed that so many windows are poorly lit, giving injustice to the merchandises’ sparkle, detail, silhouette, color or whatever makes their goods good. (Why don’t these windows have spots at least?).

Hence the use of lanterns.  Besides the vision of festiveness and elegance combined, and the glow reaching the customer... The light surrounding the mannequin would illuminate, create shadows and reflect light on the luxury of details.

Surrounded by Light: Recycled paper lanterns with hand-blown glass spindles and taupe tassels

Jun wanted the window to be streamlined compared to his previous showcases.  So initially planned floor elements of painted dried leaves and Christmas balls were taken out, leaving the displayed gown as the center of attention.

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Check out Jun Escario online at junescario.com

View the consolidated portfolio at lawrenceantaran.com

Old and New Logo of  St. Nicholas Crafts

Last June, Interior Designer and “Tassel King” Marcelo Alonzo asked me to create a new logo for his company, St. Nicholas Crafts.  St. Nicholas designs and globally supplies handcrafted tassels, decorative items and home jewelries.  It has been participating in trade expos such as the Manila Fame and Frankfurt Messe.



The creative brief asked for an elegant logo, embodying the designs they showcase.  Marcelo also wanted the new logo to have a Christmassy feel without being too obvious.  A bigger percentage of his production now involves tassels particularly for holiday ornamentation.

Logo Studies with a Holiday Feel

Logo Studies Involving the Ogee

Initial concepts included fluid, clean yet abstract representations of the Saint Nicholas. This however fell distant from the product.  Marcelo preferred the concepts with more interior design-related forms such as the acanthus and ogee.  After playing around with the ogee and several color studies, an overlapping pair with a chanteuse accent was chosen.

Final New Logo

Exhibit Signage at Manila Fame

The ogee was chosen as it resembled a lantern, which can be the head of a holiday tassel.  It also evoked ideas of home as the shape is reminiscent of gate accents, window silhouettes, tiles and fabric patterns.



The logo debuted in St. Nicholas’ exhibit at the recently concluded Manila Fame.

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View the consolidated portfolio at lawrenceantaran.com

The Whitespace Market is a weekend bazaar with a refined selection of offerings and delectable international fare.  Recently, I made the new logo for the event.  (See post here.) Since late last year, I've been designing  illustrated posters for them, reflecting Whitespace Market's cheerful mood, relaxed pace and added experiential value (beyond plainly shopping).

Here are some of the posters.

"Matryoshka" December 2010

"Owl" January 2011

"Shop, Dine + Love" February 2011

"Indulge" March 2011

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Browse the consolidated portfolio at lawrenceantaran.com.

I’ve been doing posters and e-flyers for the Whitespace Market, a weekend bazaar held at the eponymous venue, since end of last year.  Unlike other bazaars, the selection is refined so as to include wines, cheeses, fresh organic produce as well as curios and hand-made crafts, not just the usual clothes and bags.  And while shopping, there’s invigorating food by The Commissary (Cibo) and an exhibit at the adjacent Manila Contemporary gallery to enjoy.

This time however, I was asked to create also the logo for the event.

Emblem "Mashematics" Bag photo via iGreenSpot

One of my initial ideas was to combine a virtual map pin and the silhouette of a shopping tote, especially since the bazaar encourages people to bring reusable bags.  The idea of using the pin was to communicate that Whitespace is an important spot, much like when people place pins on a map.  It’s either they want to go there or they’ve gone there and they value the experience.




Sketching the shape, it started to look like an ogee, a pattern I’ve always adored.  So I stacked the shapes together, visualizing possible patterns for Whitespace Market.

The resulting logo was streamlined to just include the bag silhouette as it went unclear to its audience what the pointed bottom was for. Still solid and clean, the emblem maintained its possibilities for various applications.

Final Logo

Logo as Pattern

Announcement Poster and E-invite (Click on image to enlarge.)

The Whitespace Market is back this Sunday (September 25) and the first four Sundays of October (2, 9, 16 and 23).  The bazaar is at 2314 Chino Roces Ave. Ext., Makati City and is open from 12NN to 6PM.

See you there!

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Browse the consolidated portfolio at lawrenceantaran.com.

Just won the 99Design contest for Hunks and Fruit!

Winning Design

The client went for the original design of the hunk drinking the smoothie.  The final however involved a younger-appealing font for “Exotic Smoothie Bar,” which shouldn’t be crazy and unreadable.  At the same time it should jive with brand name’s typography.

Variations and alternatives included a winking hunk, two-smoothie version and a leaf enclosure. (There was also a blonde but that didn’t quite work out…)

Original Sketch The initial plan involved star tattoos on the hunk’s shoulders but was moved up and behind to prevent the logo from looking busy.

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Browse the consolidated portfolio at lawrenceantaran.com

I’m back in the design contest circuit again.  Specifically, I joined a few more contests in 99Designs for the past month.  The latest contests are for logos that involve characters.  As I’m writing this, the contests are not yet over.  There are more or less two days to go for each of them.

The first is for Hunks and Fruit, a mobile smoothie bar in Miami driven by good-looking hunks, which offers exotic fruits in their blend.  Reading the brief, I immediately got excited as it seems like a bold and playful brand.  At the same time, I saw the contest as a challenge in balance as it outlined the logo to be “funny, sexy, manly and young; flirty without been tacky.” (View the contest here.)

Initial Logo Design

Alternative Entry

The client response has been great, so I’m crossing fingers for the win. More importantly, this contest somehow rekindled my interest in illustrating men since I’m usually asked to draw women in my editorial assignments.

The other is for an up and coming website, Completionaut.com, which allows its users to keep track of all the movies they have seen, books read and video games beaten. Instead of a human space explorer, I decided to create a robot companion. (View the contest here.)

Initial Entry (Click to enlarge.)

COPO: COmpletionaut Personal Otomaton, the robot companion involved a very thorough characterization, so thorough that it involved a background and visualizations how it can be used in the site.  However, the client did not require these and noted that site mechanisms are already in place.
With a few days left for the contest, I made a quick, slight revision.

Revised Logo Design

Hope this works for the client. Wish me luck!

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View the consolidated portfolio at lawrenceantaran.com

One of the reasons I love illustrating is that I have freedom to put my characters in couture and sometimes with designer furniture.

Here are some recent and not-so-recent illustrations in couture.

"Hotel Balcony" (Look Magazine) Lanvin Resort 2011

Pepe and Lulu" (Town & Country Philippines) Bea Valdes

"Buddies" (Look Magazine) Prada Spring Summer 2011

"Dianne" (Look Magazine) Diane von Furstenberg-inspired wrap

"Belabeled" (Unpublished)

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View the consolidated portfolio at lawrenceantaran.com.

This month makes the count 100 published illustrations, the 100th being in the latest issue of Town & Country Philippines.

Though this number spans for a couple of years and some illustrators do more in a shorter period, I am grateful for someone who is largely self-taught.

Here are some of my personal favorites.

"Son of Juan" For a Social graces article in Town & Country on the men's dress code in the Philippines

"Baggage"

"Entitlement Road"

"Leashed" For an article in Look magazine on coping with lupus

"Lita"

More works at lawrenceantaran.com.

Thanks to all the key people and publications who helped make this possible:

Town & Country Philippines, Look, Meg, Chalk, The Philippine Daily inquirer, and the first publications which ran my illustrations, Preview and the Manila Bulletin.

Cheers!

For the past two months I’ve been hooked on contests.  I’ve read a relayed advise in Facebook for designers just to go on joining in contests, saying it’s a good way to gain experience and exposure.  It got stuck in my head somehow.

Last June I joined in Nine West’s tote design competition hosted by Talenthouse and in Giordano’s Typography Tee Design Contest.  I failed to break through their finals but I was somehow satisfied with my designs.  I've always thought I don't have that cool factor—that explosive yet restrained style expression suitable to be worn.  My experience has primarily been in advertising and communication wherein everything is meant to be clear.  And cool is secondary if necessary at all.

"Swan Damask" - Entry to Design for Nine West competition hosted by Talenthouse

Though not cool enough to win, the tote bag design “Swan Damask” didn’t appear amateur among 933 entries from all over the world. The feedback from voters was encouraging as well.  I have yet to see Giordano’s finalists (or other entries), but I’m quite pleased that I can create graphics beyond the thin and well-dressed female vector most people usually associate me with.

One of my three entries to the Giordano Typography Tee Design Contest. I'm thinking of making one of the creatures the blog mascot/ the official "demon."

After several logo design contests (“projects” as the site puts it), I nailed one with each revision and entry receiving stellar feedback from the contest holder!  It was for The Benefits Supermarket, an insurance and employee benefits company in New York.

"Life Cart" - Winning logo in a 99 Designs contest

But besides the win, it was really a good exposure.  Aptly, it felt like logo design boot camp. For half a month I participated in 10 contests, entering more than one entry for most. Also, I encountered a variety of clients such as social networking startups, an NGO for orphans in Africa and a luxury chocolate brand. Nothing I’ve ever dealt with before, so it was quite refreshing.  The level of competition was also quite daunting.  Many designs were simply impressive that you have to match the crispness of their execution.

I’ve just joined in a new competition in 99 Designs. But after these small victories (Nine West and Giordano experiences counted) I’m going to take it slower.  I’ve sort of had a reality check that these contests do take up a lot of time and effort.  And though they give added experience and exposure, they hardly build a career.  But be they contests or actual projects, I hope for more small victories.