During the course of my career, I went back to thinking of the time when I first grew conscious of shapes, color, form and basically, what constitutes visual representation.

The clearest memory was during 1st grade. I sold caricatures of He-Man and his friends, all glorious in their Mongol No.2 poses, ready to take on the villains. It was also there that I first learned the concept of subterfuge; sneaking in doodles while the teacher was not looking, quickly preparing my initial sketch for the heavy rendering during recess over jam sandwich and soda my mother prepared. I built my first portfolio (if you may) and it got to the point that I was successful in selling my sketches at 25 centavos a page (then, ruled paper).

That was also the time I first tasted failure. I was intimidated every time my classmates would offer to pay me extra for a caricature of He-Man’s steed BattleCat (it being a hit amongst us kids). I just wouldn’t admit that I had a difficulty rendering animal anatomy, let alone draw BattleCat’s intricate armor.

During the fourth grade, our principal chose me to represent our school in a regional Christmas postcard-making contest (this event firmly etched in stone the school’s lack of creative talent). To cut it short, I ended up making a predominantly white postcard depicting only the scene of the Nativity and the star hovering above them. The other participants drew garishly beautiful mosaics in its Christmas color splendor of greens, reds and golds bordered by holiday ribbons and accented by gift boxes. My entry was definitely a standout for its lack of color. I am not really expecting to win (I didn’t) . I wasn’t sad or dejected that I didn’t win. The winning entry was a delicate play of a Filipino-themed Nativity and, compared with my entry, is the hands-down winner.

It was only lately that I thought of this contest and my simplistic take on design. I opt to express things as it is, keeping symbolism to a minimal and not use it as garnish. I prefer not to tickle the viewer, but rather, use design as an information medium.

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