Design expert deems branding as effective tool in competition

CEBU, Philippines - With his passion on good design that brought him to the pinnacle of his career, a 36-year-old graphic designer continues to believe that businesses could stay ahead of the competitive game with branding as an effective weapon.

Genesis Raña started to pursue his passion for graphic design when he was 14 years old. He took up a course in computer science for one year and then studied Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Advertising at the University of San Carlos.

He worked as a graphic artist in Brunei in 1996 and was hired in a furniture company in Singapore wherein both he gained further knowledge on international design.

He realized at an early age that the field he is into does not only revolve around design and aesthetics—whether it may be good or bad—but actually depends on the delivery of the message and the accomplishment of the purpose.

Although he earned much abroad, he said that he has felt an epiphany of being meaningless and powerless despite his financial success.

He claimed that he achieved those not because he was a designer but he was a software operator back then. He decided to come back to Cebu in 1998 and worked in one of the local dailies as a graphic designer.

Raña admitted he enjoyed the entrepreneurial spirit he felt in his new profession as he worked for the ads and promos department. Along with the company’s account executives, he talked to clients regarding the design and branding. He explained how visual communication could be the seed of competitiveness.

He had observed that there is a gap between the business sector and the creative industry that has to be filled, adding that the former was not fully aware on the power of branding as a strategy to capture the market.

“I tried to bring the international design I was exposed abroad here in Cebu. It is the minimalist appreciation, simple and visually uncluttered, direct to the point,” Raña said.

That was the time when his professional career as a graphic designer was launched. He chose to leave the news outfit and went as a freelance graphic artist after which, his network of clients also started to grow.

From 2003 to 2006, internationally-acclaimed designer Kenneth Cobonpue and Islands Group president and chief executive officer Jay Aldeguer became Raña’s mentors as both industry pillars appreciated contemporary design.

His team up with the two of Cebu’s best resulted to the rebranding of the Island Souvenirs for a fresher look and the Cebu International Furniture and Furnishings Exhibition which is previously known as Cebu X.

Along with two business partners, Raña started his design studio called Indiesign from the words “independent design” in 2005. He said that it was claimed to be Cebu’s first independent design studio. Its clients used to be small-scale businesses and large retail firms.

Due to creative differences, he split with his business partners in 2010 and Indiesign, after it achieved its vision as the top design studio in Cebu that time, was replaced with a new company that Raña strived to raise on his own.

In 2011, the Empire was born. According to Raña, it is inspired by the principle that good design can empower and inspire.

From there, he reformed his client base to business-related and educational institutions that are involved in a mission to create a positive impact to the society. The Empire receives five to 10 clients in a year wherein the company, as Raña disclosed, could generate P1 million for a single account.

As Raña described, Indiesign evolved into something better, the Empire. To date, it has two graphic designers and four part-time employees.

The Empire is also integrated with newly-launched University of the Visayas School of New Media and Design (UVNS). It caters to internship program of the students from the first radical arts and design school in Cebu and in the Visayas.

He then encouraged traditional enterprises to deviate into the revolutionized and innovative means of branding that actually has a long-term effect on the success of the business.

For 22 years in the industry, Raña shared that the satisfaction and self-fulfillment that graphic design has gifted him with is irreplaceable as he helps companies solve problems and achieve their goals through visual communication.

“Always think of opportunities. You have to be in trend to get along with the modernization of the industry. Sales generation is superficial. The results may not that be immediate but if you do it right, the result will be rewarding,” he stated.

He particularly cited that in the era of digital design, small and medium enterprises should start to welcome branding as a new strategy to add competitive value on the businesses especially for retail and real estate companies. /JMD (FREEMAN)