I have been working as a Graphic Artist for Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano for 17 months now (and counting). We do a variety of works from Keynote presentations, print materials for the advance team, infographics and briefer templates for the Senator’s viewing, to campaign collaterals, coaster bus designs, and handouts/leaflets; although somehow I end up working on social media graphics most of the time.
This was among my first few assignments in the office. Normally we'd be doing at least 2 studies for every project so we can provide them with more options. Sometimes, you'd pour a lot on this particular study you're doing so you think like maybe 1 option would be enough and you try to make it really nice so they wouldn't ask for more. And at first you'd be pretty sure that they're gonna like it, but then your boss, your Creatives head, would still be like, "Any other studies?" or "Can't we do a--" which I swear does something unnerving to the ego, like when you haven't even 'shown' your own work yet to anyone but you already feel rejected or something. Though I guess that just happens to someone like me who is paranoid and oversensitive when it comes to these things, so I've tried to keep that from happening. It was never fun to feel bad for yourself while setting up for another artwork.
June 6 ,2015
These were some of the early 'infographics' I've done. When I first heard them telling us that we're doing infographics, and then later on providing us with the content maybe like one or two days before the deadline, I was first like Hey, these are infographics and we get the content like a day or two before? Seriously, do we get to sleep? and then realizing right away upon seeing the content that actually these are for the most part simply just your regular Facebook graphics with a bit more added content, which allows us to extend the space to a rectangular one instead of the standard square (which was how we did it back in the day, i.e. a little less than two years ago). Also, one perk of doing two or more studies is that when the other study with a (hopefully) totally different look does not get posted--because obviously they're only gonna post one--I tend to just, err, copy the style when doing another one for another time, as long as it is appropriate, of course. Normally, we can get away with this.
At some point late last year (or early this year, I cannot remember), my external hard drive gave up on me. It goes without saying, I suppose, that I've lost many work files (and movies), and the ones I'm posting now are only the few ones I managed to upload on our joint Dropbox account. I think I should've mentioned this right from the very beginning, but there you go. Anyway, this was I think around the time we decided to switch from our standard square to...I forgot the exact size but as you can see it's a rectangular one. We also used to have this thing going for a few weeks--you know, like a weekly segment in a variety show of sorts--wherein once a week they'd be posting a Pagbabagong Ngayon Na -themed set of Facebook graphics showcasing the many small unsexy things an ordinary citizen can do to help the society.
Another thing that I also liked from this 2-or-more-Studies set up is that I get to experiment on different styles which I probably wouldn't have thought of trying otherwise. Not that I'd mind cooking up something new, of course, it's just that sometimes I get really lazy... And it's also one thing that I've liked so far, me discovering how much I actually enjoy doing, say, collages; though the first one here was one of my earlier attempts, and it was actually sort of like a last ditch effort (they needed it around lunchtime--I started doing it at around 10 AM) because at that time I really wasn't keen on making another study for this one. I was all like Why do more than 1 study when obviously they don't care about how it looks, or whether or not you've exerted effort on it, so why bother? at first, so when I submitted just a single study and our boss was like Can you make another study? and I submitted another one but with a fairly similar style (because I was being rebellious), our boss was finally like These two look the same; you just rearranged etc why, can't you do a collage? at like 10 AM the morning they were about to post this, and I was all like A COLLAGE? (to myself, of course), which I still ended up doing. In retrospect, I guess it's the sort of experience that ends up being 'rewarding' at the end, although not quite because, as I've predicted, they posted the first study I did--the one that took less effort. These things happen sometimes, and it isn't very funny.
This second work above, on the other hand, was one I actually enjoyed doing. It took me about half a day to finish this one because I never illustrated a face before, but it was rewarding in a way that heartfelt, productive labor is rewarding. It's like when you are studying, or when you are too focused on a certain task and you end up in this sort of fugue-state that only a certain amount of focus brings on, a fugue-state which, you've decided, your whole time doing that work was spent chasing--a mental state at once tiring and numbing and very strongly felt. It's a feeling I can't properly describe, which I really like.
More collages! (Or my attempt at it.) The last two ones aren't collages, obviously, though I don't know where else to classify them as this post is not actually organized anyhow so I'm just sort of posting things I can find and remember as I go along. Thank you, reader, for getting this far.
This is the kind of work that I really enjoyed doing because I knew it was important and I was kinda proud I was able to make a small contribution in helping people know more about this whole Martial Law thingy. Although somehow they still ended up using a study which I won't be posting here because I wasn't very proud of it. Several times I've thrown that Make Something You'd Be Proud To Show To People maxim out the window while working here, and it sucks, but such is life. One of the really important things I've learned working here is that you won't always be happy with the work you produce, that you can't be at the top of your own game like 100% of the time. But that doesn't make the effort you exert and the time you consume on your labor futile--it actually makes it more important. Because being content all throughout with your work, your skills, your abilities means you are settling and it keeps you from trying harder. It keeps you stuck in this plateau of no-growth and that's when learning stops. There is no easy way around this, I suppose; it's just the natural order of things and it's one we have to live by. In every single attempt, you simply gotta try harder.
Also, yes, this was sometime during our DUTERTE-CAYETANO 👊🏾 phase (which, admittedly, our main Boss still hasn't moved on from, it seems). This is probably the part in which I point out that...some people...they don't always agree with the people they work for...yet they still continue working because they pay kinda well.
And speaking of Duterte (please don't unfriend me)...
More quote posts because...I guess people need to hear about the stuff our Boss says.
One other task that comes with the job is thinking up of many ways of stylizing Rizal's face, especially when you only find very few good photos of him online. Really, I've probably memorized his face by now. Although I don't always end up illustrating him, or stylizing him in any more tedious way than necessary, thinking up of a new way of presenting/designing his portrait and incorporating it into the design requires looking at his photo for a long time.
Oh my fucking God it's almost Christmas again.
Our Boss also liked having us do Facebook graphics commemorating Muslim events and celebrations. Not that I have any problem with that. I just wanna mention it. As well as PSAs, we did many of those. Also, have I mentioned that we also have this Motivational Mondays thing going on? It's basically a Monday post about whatever motivational quote by famous Filipinos (and even not-so-famous ones, whose photos you really gotta dig the depths of the internet to really find).
When all else fails, I do illustrations. Or copy from waitlisted studies I've made in the past...
Along with the Motivational Mondays, the short-lived Pagbabagong Ngayon Na, and others, one of the weekly themed Facebook posts that have stood the test of time is the Bible Verse Sundays. I won't elaborate much on this because it's pretty obvious, aside from that it’s the sort of thing we’d do because our Boss is a big Jesus fan.
OKAY, so it kinda ends here for now. I still haven't organized my files from after the election last May so I might be posting another batch soon. Not that I'm imploring anyone to like look forward to it or anything, of course.
