Straight off the comic strip

MANILA, Philippines - This month’s new logo was brought to you by a groundbreaking artist. JP Cuison comes with an award-winning pedigree: “I used to work as a senior art director with the ad agency that’s responsible for the ‘Karen Gina’ ad. Now I’m with the ad agency that is responsible for the groundbreaking ‘Nestle 100 Years’ campaign,” he says.

Cuison is to blame for the sudden popularity of gig posters (mainly his own) that pay homage to the cartoon-style posters of previous eras, with a nod to pop art icons Warhol and Lichtenstein.

“I’m very much influenced by Jack Kirby comics, underground comics, ’80s cartoons, Ed Roth’s Hot Rod art and, of course, Andy Warhol,” he remarks.

The YStyle logo’s current incarnation is a compendium of Cuison’s greatest hits, made up of a cast of characters that have appeared in his previous work — best seen in his one-man show at Ronac’s Secret Fresh Gallery, the highlight of which is the mind-melding Warholian image of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Marilyn Monroe.

“I’m a character-driven artist and I really want to come up with my own characters,” Cuison observes. “You never know, there might be a theme park some day filled with my characters.”