Celebrating two decades of boundless creativity, Graphika Manila continues to pioneer discussions with and for creatives. From March 1 to 2, thousands of attendees filled the SMX Convention Center to hear various talks from local and international creatives.
Visual artist, graphic designer, animator, and illustrator are just some of the many labels that can be used to describe the speakers of this year's Graphika Manila. Dubbed as a “conference on creativity,” the event gathered creatives from different backgrounds to engage in and experience discussions on what it means to be an artist in the contemporary world.
Celebrating contemporary creatives
The highlight of this year's lineup of speakers was Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, notably known for his “Superflat” art movement. His interview-style talk focused on his career, with him sharing his insights on the projects, people, and ideas he has worked on.
Other speakers included in the lineup were Lucho Suarez and Marcel Zui, founders of the creative studio State and the creative minds behind this year's Graphika logo. The plenary delved into the speakers’ creative process for the logo, showcasing how they weaved together all their wacky and weird ideas for the final logo.
Art director and graphic designer Myka Arnado shared her personal insights on the creatives’ journey. Her segment highlighted the importance of experiencing ups and downs to grow in your craft, “Creativity needs growth, and sometimes that growth can come from failure,” she emphasized.
Motion graphics director Gerald Feliciano, who began as an attendee for Graphika many years ago, came back now as a speaker. He demonstrated how lighting affects the mood of any artwork, from 3D environments to photography.
Meanwhile, Jakarta-based Indonesian motion designer and illustrator Adhira Putra shared his own success story, highlighting the challenges that he experienced early on in his career. His segment emphasized the importance of commitment to your craft, no matter how long or hard it takes before you reach your goal.
For visual artist and content creator Raco Ruiz, he explored his journey as a jack-of-all-trades multimedia artist, going into his different creative projects. His talks highlighted the importance of trusting yourself and the process, how embracing ‘cringe’ in a world that’ll always judge you will free your creativity.
Joshua Davis, artist and technologist, wrapped up the event's first day. A pioneer in new media design, his style continues to evolve with the media landscape. He highlighted the importance of making your own personal ‘weird’ art, continuously pushing the boundaries of what defines art.
The second day featured another set of creatives. Graphic designer and illustrator Dan Matutina emphasized that the fight for space continues for creatives. Beyond creating art for profit lies a need for community and unfiltered expression.
Danae Gosset, visual artist and founder of Pencil Studios, focused her talk on mixed-media animation, delving into the details of her animation process and highlighting her unique source of inspiration–her dreams. She shared with the audience how important it is to tell your own story through your work, taking from her own experience when she worked on the music video animation for the late artist Mac Miller’s “Faces.”
Graphic designer and typography artist Zipeng Zhu closed the second day with his impactful speech that weaved together both personal reflection and sociocultural issues. His work mirrored what he and the world lived through during the pandemic and showed the importance of speaking out using art.
Though each speaker focused their talks based on their own niche and personal journey, one resounding word of advice came from all their talk—be true to yourself as a creative. Repeated throughout the talks was how important it was to find your own niche as a creative.
Soaking up all the creative juices
The conference brought together different creatives from students to professionals, each of them with their own reason for attending: “I think as creatives, it's great to also look into the insights of other more experienced creatives,” publicist Punky Dario said in his interview with The Benildean.
While other attendees were provided tickets by their company, “They want us to go for external trainings to boost our creativity and have a better edge than the competitive side of marketing. They want us to keep up with all the trends and have a better side of being creative,” content creator and ID118 Multimedia Arts (MMA) alumnus Miggy Rodriguez explained.
When asked about key takeaways, there were those who valued the practical application for their career, “It was more about lighting 3D objects and using light to your advantage. It's really important to me since I do photography and videography for Ginebra, and perfecting light is something I want to learn,” Rodriguez said.
On the other hand, ID122 MMA student Anika Sia highlighted how the speaker’s emphasis on putting in the work, “Hard work and like consistency, just commit to [...] what you’re really good at or what makes you unique, and in the future, people will recognize you.”
Speakers also notably drew from their personal experiences when giving advice to the audience, “I think that one of the most important things then is to also look into your own life and look into how even things like trauma, [...] looking at how even the worst experiences can inform your work,” Dario expressed.
Graphic designer Max recommended the event for aspiring creatives, “Especially [for] the starting artists, illustrators, and designers, because the knowledge that you get from the speakers, [their] personal knowledge, you can really apply it with yourself.”
With creative work both being both a passion and a job for most, the conference was able to cover all bases from practical tips and advice to the importance of drawing from our own unique experiences.
A growing community
As the event wrapped up, creatives all over the Philippines gained new knowledge and needed reminders that would aid them in their creative journey moving forward— feeling refreshed and ready to take on their career and personal projects.
Graphika’s impact on the community is felt both by attendees and speakers themselves, with Ruiz speaking of its importance: “[It’s] definitely a source of inspiration. It’s going to make you get out of that creative rut where you don’t feel like making stuff anymore. Graphika will definitely make you want to make stuff.”
This sentiment is shared by Matutina, “There’s a lot of speakers, especially the local ones, who were previous attendees of Graphika,” he observed. “I know it's anecdotal, but it's also, I guess, proof that a lot of people get inspired by the speakers,” he ended.
For more information on Graphika Manila, visit their official website, Facebook, or Instagram pages.
