If graphic designers ruled Manila

MANILA, Philippines - What if young, talented, the-right-kind-of-crazy Filipino 20-somethings were to be let loose and take over the streets of Manila? What if they were to write jeepney signboards, doodles on EDSA billboards, and murals on Makati skyscrapers? Wouldn’t the city be a visual delight?

And for a week, they did rule Manila.

Recently, urban bags authority Bratpack together with Team Manila and supported by Ayala Malls, Pylox Spray Paints and Paul Calvin’s Deli celebrated Manila Design Week 2009, which gathered top local and international graphic artists in a week-long festivity to bring graphic design into the mainstream.

 “By bringing graphic design to a wider audience, we have created and opened platforms for the enormous pool of talent we have and hopefully inspire other artists to step out and show their talents and creativity as well,” says Bryan Kong, Bratpack marketing communications officer.

Manila Design Week featured exhibits, dialogues, concerts and a myriad of multi-media collaborations as well as print and publication design to web and motion graphics and the avant-garde infusion of art in photography, advertising and fashion.

Different hotspots in Metro Manila witnessed Public Art Project, which featured the country’s premier street artists as they painted murals, graffiti and street art in Bonifacio High Street. Students and enthusiasts of arts and graphic design converged at the Glorietta 5 Atrium on Aug. 11 for Future Design, a student art exhibit that showcased original T-shirt designs. The winning T-shirt artworks will be sold at Team Manila and Bratpack stores while Flash Mob, which is also one of the many campaign components, allowed students donned in white shirts to become live canvases as they took part in the spontaneous doodling contest. Creative Collaboration featured five teams of five professionals who created create a conceptual fashion editorial and showcased each other’s unique concepts. Acclaimed photographer Jun de Leon and team — including AJ Dimarucot, Millet Arzaga and Ria Gamboa — featured a “visually challenged-friendly” exhibit, complete with Braille writings and textured photographs.

 “Bratpack understands the importance of recognizing and nurturing an emerging cultural phenomenon like the growing graphic design community in the Philippines by being part of a momentous event like Manila Design Week,” says Kong.x “With this amount of talent, I’m sure that we can easily establish the country as the major graphic design and creativity hub in Asia.”

And so if graphic designers ruled Manila, it would really be something worth seeing.

Bratpack is a member of the Primer Group of Companies, which carries global brands. Bratpack makes for a practical and personal billboard of expression for urban dwellers, and is promoted through collaborations with indie artists and the music scene’s finest. It aims to inspire, interpret, express.

For inquiries, e-mail bratpack@primergrp.com or visit http://www.bratpack.ph and http://packsforbrats@multiply.com.  

 Bratpack has branches at Greenbelt 5, Robinsons Place Manila, Robinsons Galleria, SM Cagayan de Oro, SM Davao, SM The Block, SM Pampanga, SM Southmall, Ayala Cebu and Marquee Mall Pampanga.