I can't believe my submission for a national creative magazine would be choosen as a cover art! Novice is "a platform made by young creatives for the passionate, the wanderer, and the free-spirited." I first knew about them during the elections when they released a printed issue of all works inspired by VP Leni Robredo, a presidential candidate who I am also supporting.

In their 4th Printed Issue, I also submitted some of my artworks which were also featured. In their 12th digital issue, they had a theme inspired by a Filipino cultural icon, the Jeepney. I submitted a digital illustration which i titled "LAKBAY," which means journey. I was informed that it was selected to be featured but little did I know that they chose it to be as one of the covers! What an honor!

This digital issue is also very special as it advocates a very important cause which is the #NoToJeepneyPhaseOut. As a cultural symbol of the indomitable Filipino spirit, we should not allow the government to remove the colorful Jeepneys in our streets. Novice features 180 pages of artwork and literature which pay tribute to the jeepney's impact in the lives and psyche of Filipinos.

Patók stands as a testament to the enduring spirit and cultural significance of the Philippine jeepney. It celebrates the unique identity of the Filipino community, paying homage to the extraordinary legacy that this vehicle represents.

Get the chance to purchase the complete digital issue for just Php 250.00. Your contribution will go to funding The Volume Project: Patók Edition, a fundraising initiative aimed at providing grocery packs worth Php1,000.00 to random jeepney drivers in various locations nationwide. The fundraiser will run from June 30 to July 31, 2023.

To download and donate, visit:

https://bit.ly/44AgbsF or

https://noviceph.shop/products/patok-12th-special-digital-issue

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After the very busy December, we're back in class. We started this year with fun activities for our classes before we go to the Midterm week. For my ITCA106 (Sound Supervision) class, I asked them to do a live group cover of a Pop Music of their choice. Nikolai's group got the highest scores with their cover of "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the Kids. The Trebor Z crew was there to document this activity.

For my IT405 (Digital Cinematography) class, our boss, Robert Zapata, Jr, gave an extensive talk on DSLR Videography, the equipments we use and some tips on using the DSLR for Video. Before we ended, Darz also gave a magic trick performance. Thanks again to my very participative students and the Trebor Z for sharing their time and knowledge. Check out the video below to see the highlights of our back to back activities.



Music: Tongue-tied by Group Love
Videography: Trebor Z Audio Visuals
Venue: College AVR, LRC Bldg., ADZU

Look what i found in my archive of works. It is the initial concept cover for Marejada 2009. Marejada is the literary folio of Ateneo de Zamboanga University under its official publicaiton, Beacon Newsmagazine. It is a collection of peoms, short stories, and artworks revolving on a certain theme such as "Memories", "7 Deadly Sins" or "Back to Basics". For 2009, the theme was "?" which was really unique. This was my last third and last time to be the creative director and layout artist for marejada. For the cover, we want to incorporate a sense of wonder, curiosity and imagination with the design. We had a photoshoot with three models that was used as digital art for the dividers. This particular photo gave me an idea for the cover. I really wanted to use cool and dark colors that reminds us of space or the deep blue ocean. As you can see the girl doesn't have an eye which i intended to give it a surreal feel. It also symbolizes our blindness about the truth, thus, sparking curiosity which leads to discovery. She is holding a light bulb which is a typical symbol for an idea or knowledge. We intentionally excluded the name of the book "Marejada" in the front cover to add more curiosity. Instead, we just used "M" that blends with the smoke.


However, there was an issue raised about this design. Accordingly, it is to feministic and they don't want a person to represent Marejada. I still want to stick with the "M" with the smokes and the color scheme so i just made few revisions. I replaced the photo of the girl with objects and symbols randomly floating in space inspired by surreal artist Salvador Dali's painting "The Persistence of Memory." We are all happy with the final design and it was aleready approved for printing. We are really pushing the boundaries for this folio since it is the last year for most of the staff. Instead of the usual glossy paper and matte cover, we had it printed in book paper but in hard bound matte cover. It is was the most ambitious and complicated folio we ever made in Beacon. Aside from the vague cover, we also deviated on how we arranged the contents. Usually, it is divided into three groups: poems, short stories, artworks. We also also want to give a story by using the order of the entries. We grouped them into four categories: Wonder, Confusion, Dream and Inspiration. It was well-conceptualized and all our creative plans were realized. Thanks to our ever-supportive and genius EIC, Ate Maimai, our collaborators, the writers and artists who contributed their masterpieces published in this folio. I really miss doing stuff like this and i won't ever forget my beacon years :') Here's the final covers together with the spine.