Designing a bold new world with Adobo Design Awards Asia
Last year, 2015, proved to be one of this century’s most pivotal in terms of social sensitivity. Issues that were once considered taboo shot straight into our mainstream consciousness, making once-delicate topics like migration, gender ambiguity, melting polar caps, post-capitalism, open-mic racism, and global terrorism common social-media fodder. The design world naturally had to keep up. What was once the resource for corporate and capitalist vanity learned to spark popular discourse that went straight for the jugular.
This was the decade that the country’s first and foremost ad publication, Adobo Magazine, found itself in. “The reason why I started Adobo Magazine was I wanted the ad industry to look outside,” recalls its publisher and editor, Angel Guerrero. “We’re being too insular, patting ourselves on the back. My editorial policy has always been, ‘Philippine news, regional news, and global news.’ So it allows people to look in, and allows people to look out.”
The magazine quickly gained traction as the arbiter for innovative Philippine advertising and visual design with a global mindset, and its 10th year couldn’t have been more serendipitous. As its namesake became a byword in the international food scene, the magazine marinated on issues that spanned increasingly international inspiration and influence. “I called it as such because I knew that it would be a Philippine magazine that would travel the region and around the world,” she explained. “The Philippines is very unique in Asia. I think we’re the most vibrant, vivacious and creative people, but we have this thing where we are not confident. That’s the only thing that’s holding us back. So the more we put the steps and the stones to make them fly, we can. There is no doubt.”
The magazine does this with its annual Adobo Design Awards, founded in 2007, which recognizes over 20 categories in brand communication and visual design. For nine years they’ve scoured the local advertising and design spheres for what could only be called “diamonds in the rough.” In a galaxy of star-powered campaigns and content, the Adobo Design Awards maintained an eye for those that defied expectations, like river-cleaning billboards. But now they have partnered with an international advertising and design authority to add more prestige to their awards.
Commercial creativity sages D&AD power what is now called the Adobo Design Awards Asia, bestowing regional reach and global acclaim on every award. As the world’s best admen look up to the D&AD for its most celebrated pencil trophy, the Adobo Design Awards Asia could perhaps be the closest thing to a graphite nod for Asian players. With its founder and president Andy Sandoz as head of jury, an Adobo Design Award is now more covetable than ever.
Sandoz joins the country’s leading design practitioners in judging entries from the Professional Category, spanning design disciplines from Print, Brand Identity, Typography, Illustration, Publishing, Packaging, Outdoor Marketing and Environmental Design to Product Design, Wearable Design, Production Design, Photography, Video, Digital, and Mobile. Another thing that sets this year’s installment apart from the last seven years are the awards for the Open Category, which could change the careers of students, freelancers, and hobbyists. The call for this year’s entries, which began March 1, 2015 and ends on Feb. 28, might inspire an avalanche of fresh, innovative ideas.
“I’m proud that it’s now going to be an Asian show,” Guerrero says. “It will allow people to see the best of the world, and allow Asians to come in.” A word of warning, though: “With this jury, you can just imagine how hard it is to win an Adobo Design Award.”
Perhaps that would make it all the sweeter, because in addition to recognition, this year’s awards will also offer master classes and workshops that feature the distinguished jurors, as well as Parsons The New School of Design associate dean Lucille Tenazas, who represents the award’s Design Excellence prize. This coincides with the country’s Design Month of March, which will culminate on awards night, April 8.
“We have a lot of raw talent, so there is a lot of mentoring that is required,” Guerrero adds. “Recognizing what is good design and what is not. Realizing our local culture and our individual uniqueness comes out in what we do. It’s good to learn from people who have done great work, and inject your level of creativity in it. Design is an ever-evolving thing.”
Perhaps it’s high time that Filipino creativity starts becoming more conscious. “Design is good for the economy,” she says. “It’s good for business. And it’s good for social change.”
Post capitalism and the shared economy
Now that recessions and bubbles seem commonplace, new players in the economic world are starting to shake up tired capitalist formulas and replacing them with more organic solutions. We saw the rise of Uber, AirBNB, Freelancer, and Kickstarter, as well as currencies like bitcoin and blockchain economies, which caused a decline in long-established industries and market structures through digital innovations. World-renowned Filipino illustrator and comic book artist Arnold Arre is no stranger to the growing world of digital economy, and he sees design growing with this change.
“I came from an era where there was little freedom in graphic design, but now, we are faced with the wind of change, and the key factor is technology,” Arre says. “When I was doing animation in the ’80s, I had to find two VHS systems and do it the manual, old-fashioned way. Now kids can just download a program or an app, and they can animate from their house and get paid or get spotted. I never had that kind of luxury, but they have that. There’s no excuse now. This is freedom, and there is an explosion of creativity. Without the internet or social media, kids who are creative enough wouldn’t have a means to show their work and get a fair chance in getting valued in the industry. Young people are earning more today than when I just graduated.”
Global terrorism and Cross-border migration
Social media has now become the barometer for cause and effect, which continuously challenges issues of global security and international threat. From a picture of a Syrian child refugee washed ashore to an ISIS recruitment video going viral on YouTube, a simple app swipe can inspire global connectivity or disconnection.
“After the Paris bombings, the ‘Je Suis Paris’ logo that featured the Eiffel as a peace symbol, which was made anonymously, was picked up by the world and is a powerful example of how social media can change the dialogue on world safety, peace, and unity,” says influential graphic designer and apparel propagator Jowee Alviar of Team Manila. “Right now we’re in a time and technology that enables our opinions to easily be picked up and influence. You can be a seed to propagating an idea, both positive and negative. If people have that in mind, that we have a chance to be heard on a bigger scale, echoing your message, your plea or voice, there’s an opportunity to spread what is right, and also what is wrong.”
Gender identity vs. Sexual ambiguity
From bestselling covers of magazines to provocative fashion spreads, gender (or the uncertainty of it) is starting to be hot copy in the global consciousness. Whether it’s a movement inspired by the mainstream legalization of same-sex marriage, or simply a Kardashian/Jenner marketing ploy, sexual ambiguity is making gender identity a social issue more than a personal choice. Accomplished type artist Patrick Cabral weighs in on how gender becomes a social (question) mark and a means to one’s own quest for personal identity.
“My style is a bridge between masculine and feminine design,” he says. I really like what’s happening now because you can’t really be judged with what it is you’re doing or how you look. Before, if you created feminine designs, you’d be labeled as an effeminate designer. Ever since I got married, I stopped caring much for these labels. I became brave enough to venture into designs that don’t typecast me. These days have broken the gender of design. Even in fashion, androgynous designs are growing popular. Now more artists are braver in tackling these issues because of the openness of the audience.”
Politics vs. Populism
As both the Philippines and the United States mark 2016 as an election year, our social-media feeds are rife with talk on politics. Whether it will be about the platform or merely personality-driven politicking, however, depends on our likes, shares, and feedback. Does social media really uphold the values of democracy?
“Done right, across the right platforms and momentum, (a digital campaign) is very effective,” Guerrero muses, “but the shifting is quick, and if you’re not reactive, if you don’t apply design and message very quickly, then you’ll lose the plot. A brand of the candidate is very crucial. The imagery that they project, from what they wear to what they say, is very crucial. If a candidate plays them right, and they know where they stand, they’ll really do really well in this type of setting.”
Climate change and sustainability
Only days after the Paris bombings in November, the UN Climate Change Conference converged in the French capital. With Arctic polar caps melting at an unprecedented rate and the warm winds of El Niño devastating continents, the issue of global warming is far from tepid. “There are designs that respond to the reality of the current times,” said Design for Tomorrow’s creative director Ric Gindap. “You see them shifting to match the zeitgeist of the decades. Design is intelligence made possible. We see a problem and we try to design a solution in response to it. We have to look into sustainability, because nature is not infinite. Now you see a lot of advanced countries that do vertical farming. These kinds of innovations are a direct response to the changing realities and the direct responses to the needs of society that we live in. And, in that sense, design is a powerful tool, not only to adapt, but also to survive.”
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For more information on how the Adobo Art Awards Asia 2016 plans to encourage “Designing for a Bold New World,” and how you can enter the competition, visit adobodesignawards.com, email them at events@adobomagazine.com, or call 845-0218.
