To be godded over and still dawdling

30-Oct-2008, 4:52 PM

I finally found room for a breather and what better way to dawdle in it than to take on a point of passion, which is also my point of refuge. Writing is the eye of the storm around me. It calms and soothes me while ironically it also tides over the recharging of creative impulses.

It has been three months since I last wrote in this blog. Much of the reason for my absence of entries is rooted on earning an income. I, like I guess most of us, am godded over by the demand-economics of living. Work for me is a non-issue. I never considered graphic design as work because whatever requirements a client may have, I am but happy and willing to oblige. After all, it is one of my points of passion but only coming in at a very close second to writing. So, I am more inclined to think of graphic design as my income-generating skill and the entailing process as more of creative play than work.

Having said that, this is a snapshot of my schedule for the past week and from here on out: Syngenta – packaging & brochures; Croma Medic/ Bausch & Lomb/ Santen/ Thea/ Kimia Pharma – various collaterals & creatives; Cathay Pacific – Marco Polo Club Qtr. 4 country update & 2009 table planner; Eventking – Dinos Alive! Manila banners, streamers & photo op standee; Eventking & Smart Communications – Smart Buddy Pacquiao - De La Hoya creatives & collaterals; and a variety of small projects in between.

Lately, I have been fascinated by oriental iconography. This is due in part to one of my favorite Korean dramas, The Great King Sejong, on KBS World (check their website for local schedule listings). I am so caught by the Korean Hallyu (Wave). So, inspired by the traditional art of the Joseon dynasty, I rendered illustrations of stylized clouds and waves that I applied as textural background on the design studies I made for Cathay Pacific’s 2009 table planner.


Stylized oriental clouds graphic illustration by Kyn H. Firmalino © 2008.


Stylized oriental waves graphic illustration by Kyn H. Firmalino © 2008.

Which reminds me, Ms. Anna and Ms. Lynette, I am working on the artwork & layout and I will be sending them to you for review shortly.

And now, it is nearly time for me to return to the drawing board. In the meantime, I leave you Foals and Pizzicato Five (P5). They are on continuous shuffle in my computer’s player at the moment and they keep me good company. Olympic Airways is from the Foals’ debut album, Antidotes. This freshman album of the Brit lads from Oxford was released just this March.


Olympic Airways - Foals

On the other hand, P5 has been in the Shibuya sugar-pop scene since the early 1990s. The track here, called Baby Love Child, was released in 1994. Both are part of my soundtracks to life. Take a listen and you will understand why.


Baby Love Child - Pizzicato Five

P.S.: Thanks to the great writer from Stratford-upon-Avon for coining “godded” hence entering the term in our literary lexicon. Regarding “Writing on Furlough Redux (once more),” I was planning to place a scan of Turkish Afterthoughts in here but I have lost my copy. I have yet to go to the journals & serials archive section of the National Library along T. M. Kalaw to get me another copy. Yes, I know, imagine the thought of trudging to a dingy mezzanine on the 3rd or 4th floor and searching hardbound yet threadbare serials on rickety shelves while barely-concerned, barely-there librarians chatter away. I love it! For all its state of disrepair, you’ve got to hand it to our National Library. It has got character. This sentiment is selfish, and I digress a bit, but I hope that place does not change. So, I will write the entry for the “Redux 2” as soon as I have the copy in hand. Happy returns to all and live well. Now, scoot back to your drawing boards!

Work + Persephone's Bees = OTJ* Electropop Discofunk Fun

My work:





My soundtrack:



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*on the job (OTJ)

P.S.: Writing on furlough redux once more, to follow soon.

Graphic Design Hits… and misses? (ver. 2)

Here’s another installment of graphic design studies. The first one is a floral designed paper placemat I did for Barbara’s Catering early this year. This one’s a hit but after 3 misses. I love the monochromatic bougainvillea illustration I did for them. By the way, I’m using Adobe Illustrator in rendering vector designs, as in this floral rendition. I use Adobe Photoshop for bicubic images.


Just today, I finished a job order for LEGO® which was an instant hit, that is, 1 approved study out of 1 although technically I’m still awaiting the go signal of another principal out of the 2 clients in this project. This one’s a poster and it’s for a promotional event coming very soon.


Now, LEGO® I truly love. This Danish toy maker is in my inspiration board for being the most innovative in producing toys for creative play. In my opinion, the classic bricks are a legacy and will always be my favorite.

Googling and then "Yahooing" Myself

Talk of an ego that needs to be sated, I spent this afternoon googling myself.

I found my name at the usual places, referenced at this blog site and at youtube where I uploaded videos of some of my graphic design works. A new blog entry caught my attention (oh yes, I google myself that often). One of my videos from youtube had been embedded in its site.

Tedigi1 is a blog of modular graphic design lessons in Spanish. This got me über excited. Their topic this week is commercial packaging and they featured the video of my packaging designs for La Luisa, Inc.

Here’s the video:




For someone who totally loves and takes pride in his work, and has a huge ego to boot, this calls for a booming, “YAHOO!” What d’ya think? Oh, what the heck! Thanks to Google and Blogger but here I go again, “YAHOO!”

P.S. While I’m at it, you might want to visit

my youtube channel

By the way, I just found out that tedigi1 is the blog of Prof. Rita Hercilia Araujo de Meléndez for her class in Digital Technology and Graphic Design at the Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador (UTEC) in San Salvador. Thank you, Prof. Araujo, for noticing my work.

In Need of Batting an Eyelid

Whew! This is turning out to be a hectic and toxic week for me. And it's just Wednesday!

I've been busy since the start of the week juggling three projects, all with tight deadlines. As far as graphic design is concerned, I'm unperturbed by clients' requirements. The more gritty the details, the more nitty the end-product I want. Come to think of it, wouldn't that be the perfect "perfectionist's creed"?

Wait a minute! Me, a perfectionist? A definite, unequivocal no to that. As the word implies, perfection is humanly unattainable. And unless I somehow become the Judeo-Christian God,* I won’t be a nut trying to achieve what is impossible.

However, I do aspire for the best. To me, this is the most positive motivation of human endeavors. At work, it indicates taking pride in your craft. In life, it signifies self-value.

So, what’s the deal with the bad rep of perfectionists? Because, it’s all pretension and/ or self-delusion, or just plain, old obsessive-compulsive disorder. This is why I will never be a perfectionist. And even if I were, knowing fully well what it means, I wouldn’t self-confess.

I often hear people justify their assessment of a work with, “Well, I’m just a perfectionist.” Hey, hoe, what d’ya know?! Crazy nut! Get some balls and review works with your brain. The humanity! What a waste of analytical juices! Don’t you just get ticked off by people like that?

So now, I have batted an eyelid! I guess it’s just the infernal weather. The temperature has tipped 35° C in Metro Manila the past 2 days. It may also be because of the heavy workload. Now, I’m rationalizing. The fact is I’m human. I feel. I react. Sometimes, I’m calm and unaffected. Sometimes, I get irked. And just now, I needed to bat an eyelid.

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*I’ve singled out Judeo-Christian because of all the religious belief systems, its concept of God is perfection. Others have deities that are far from perfect but rather are capable of both good and evil with emphasis on attaining a harmonious balance.