Day 1: Project X Design

It's a little stereotype but I'll be calling our first work as Project X for the meantime. And yep, it's Day 1 today, or at least the official start. We've been planning the design development of an electric tricycle (E-trike for short) for a long time. Something me and my colleagues at ReThink Tech Inc, our newly established company, are aiming to promote and contribute to the welfare of our country regarding the green environment stage. Although the project has undergone a lot of phases already, today is the start of the two- (max of three) month project goal to finish the whole product and release it to potential investors, just about the same time the government through Department of Energy will open the market to other e-trike manufacturers as well. Nope it's no child play, it's the dream we were aiming for to become a reality, and almost at grasp.

Also, half of the reason why I started my own personal blog is to somehow document the important milestones of this project. Will we succeed? Are we going to fail? I guess I need to keep readers and enthusiasts updated with the progress and regress of this Project X. Haha. Hopefully everything turns out to be full of fun.

For a little information about ReThink Tech, you can visit our beta site at http://www.rethink-tech.com.

Ohrite, back to work! Til the next post. ;)

Alive in the 90's!

We were so glad to be part of Happy House Entertainment's 90's tribute gig last Friday at Black King's Bar in West Ave, QC. We opened our set with a sound check cover of The Raconteur's Hands, and then played Blur's Coffee & TV as our first song. The next songs were our own compositions: Nais Ko and Biyahe Bagahe. It was a super fun night! Also props to the band who performed Everlong in acoustic setting.

The only sort of sad thing about the event is that, I chugged down three 500ml Red Horse which means I have to burn the calories this week! Hahaha but anyway, at least the beer kept me out of being nervous and had a great time playing! (Or maybe I was the only one enjoying it haha)

Another video after the jump.

Mistress of Art: DIANNE DELA TORRE

In this long overdue post for another Mistress of Art feature, let me treat you to a different kind of artistry, mostly in the field of motion graphics.

I was lucky enough to stumble upon the profile of Dianne Dela Torre on Twitter while I was treasure hunting for artists to feature on our now-hiatus blog Extra Kanin. Dianne, currently based in London, UK is a multidisciplinary artist having done works in the field of multimedia, graphics animation, graphic design and illustration. I may have had a chance to talk to her (I think, I forgot already haha) over on Twitter before, and I kind of got interested to feature her works. What captured me with what she has already done are those character designs which, obviously, are moving. I see it as a combination of surreal and child-like environment, pressed with colors that are not tiring to see. You can see her artistry at play on her personal works, such as Dreams: Dorothie and Me and Numerophobia.


It's been a while since I saw her last works, but I'm guessing what she'll show us next on her portfolio are, it not amazing, really awesome! Check out her portfolio reel from 2011. More videos after the cut.

Imagine a world without form

"Imagine Life without ID" conceptualized by Kristoffer Carillo of DLS-CSB 

industrial design
- the professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer (IDSA, link)

On June 29, 2012, industrial designers all over the world will celebrate the 5th World Industrial Design Day, a event started by International Council of Societies of Industrial Design half a decade ago to observe and recognize the profession of industrial design. For the past years, other countries in the world had held this event, and it will be the first time WIDD will be celebrated here in the Philippines. Organized by the newly-formed National Council of Industrial Designers of the Philippines (NCIDP), the event will showcase exhibitions, contests and seminars to provide further knowledge to practitioners about the profession. The carrying banners "Lead and Change by Design" and "Imagine A World Without Industrial Design" will leave everyone wondering how the world will turn out if all the inventions are still the way they are (example, the steam locomotive as the primary transport, and even your iPhone or Blackberry still looking like an 80's handy phone). Eventually, everyone will also be challenged to think more rationally and design responsibly on how to make the world a better place with industrial design.

World Industrial Design Day in the Philippines will be held on June 29, 2012, from 12pm to 7pm (*updated time) at the De La Salle College of St. Benilde- School of Design and the Arts, Pablo Ocampo St., Manila.

More information can be found on NCIDP's offical website at www.ncidp.cc and Facebook page.

See you at the event! image via Nielson Navarrete

Pen and ink

“Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating: It is either good or bad." 

- Salvador Dali

Let me leave this 2008 sketch right here to remind me that I can draw before. LOL. These days, all I sketch are cars and products and anything design-related. No room for art. No room for expression.

I guess the first person to criticize an artwork is the artist himself. Never mind how others see your work (unless you're a "professional artist", if there exists such a profession), because the the message you convey is limited to how far your imagination can go. And the main goal is to show how you feel or what you think, not what society is telling you to do.

Command Your Street: 3rd gig at Amos

Hear ye, hear ye! This song entitled Biyahe Bagahe (Travel Baggage) is one of the original compositions by my band Command Your Street. Video was recorded fresh off our June 14 gig at Amos Cafe, Kamias. Hope you enjoy! More after the jump.

The Piscean and the Sea

Summer is not summer unless there is beach involved.

Finally, after two years of not feeling the waves crash upon my legs and feet, I went back to the sea. It wasn't easy to come near the beach at those years, as I have worked abroad for a long time and travel wasn't much given a chance. So right then after I arrived back in the country, I immediately planned out how to get to the nearest sea to swim in. See how water-deprived this Fish was? Haha. But that didn't work out either, and I have to wait for a month to finally able to swim. The opportunity opened up when a Bicol trip was planned.

It was amazing. I haven't been to Bicol for about six years, so this travel was like a shot on two chances. I spent more than a week there, enjoying the current festival for Mayon in Albay, and then then going for a boat-ride and island hopping at the tip of Luzon in Sorsogon. I was also inspired enough to capture every moment in my camera. (That video posted up there says it all.) Definitely one good summer story.

Let the Fire bounce

He’ll eat you with his beats, and drown you with his rapid lyrics. And that will feel good.

Presenting the second single from LEO37, one of my top followed artists on the web (since I can’t watch his show live), from his upcoming EP. He’s back with some electrifying-con-jazzy words and sounds, things that has caught my attention since hearing his song Icarus and Morning. This fascination I once wrote on a blog post last year. Now with Fire Dance, he brings back the same energy, something that will fascinate your ear if you’re not a usual listener to his genre. But hey, it’s all good, it’s all cool, and moments later you’ll never know that you’ll be head-bobbing to his music. That’s how this song reached me after I fed it into my system.

Not your ordinary cosplay: Awesome fan-made short films

We’ve seen a lot of popular comics and cartoons these days turned into big budgeted live-action movies by Hollywood. Examples are of course the upcoming movie of the Avengers, Transformers, Superman and a whole lot more. Not anymore strange, since television in the 60’s had been already showing series about the Green Hornet and Batman. Also is a typical scenario in Japan, where the sequence begins with stories in manga form, turned into anime and lastly played in live form by local actors (Death Note, Beck, Sailormoon to name a few).

However, one can find greater delight in watching movies made by hardcore fans themselves. Not just the typical cosplayers on conventions doing a specific scene or portraying their character’s signature moves. I’m talking about fans (or a whole mob of them) who used their talents to create breathtaking independent short films based on their favourite cartoons or games. Watching their works can make you sense their passion and eagerness to bring into life the icons that are part of their lives. Even better, they spark more inspiration to their fellow fans.

I’ve picked out the best independent live action short films uploaded over the Internet. Thanks to YouTube, their works can be seen online and is going viral already, reaching other fans across the globe.



Naruto Shippuden: Dreamer's Fight (created by RivenX3i)

This is video that sparked the interest to write this article. It is just spectacular. At first I thought it was just centered on drama between Rock Lee and Naruto. But after the opening dialogues, and the fighting scene comes in, it just took my breath away. Brilliant martial arts sequence, superb camera angles, and special effects staying true to the anime style. And hey, that Rock Lee actor's really got the moves of Bushy Brows! Since the title says Part 1, expect more Naruto movies from the creators of this one.

Hungry for more? Check out more fan-made videos after the cut!

Mistress of Art: DAKIE SEGURA

Ever get that feeling of seeing artworks over the Internet so polished and neatly done, you think the artists behind them are already gods? Then and now, I still get excited seeing these fantastic artworks, even if I know a lot of my friends are on that kind of artistic level already. One of them I know is Darlene Segura, our featured artist for this edition of Mistress of Art, and even by staying simple, she can rock your world through her creative prowess.

I’ve known Darlene, or commonly known as Dakie to her friends, since around 5 years ago. We met online through the deviantArt community chat, she being a moderator for an all-Filipino chatroom and I was a beginner in the dA world. I then began visiting her exhibits and became friends, sharing interest not just on art but with music and other things. I’ve always considered her works as cute and colourful.  Or moreover, having a lot of that fantasy flavour. The characters on each of her creations are eye-candies for both kids and adults.

Dakie is not just an artist with a talent; rather, she has this large passion for almost anything creative: from simple doodles and graphic designs to photography to art with advocacies. She already has a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts in Advertising, and has worked, exhibited and did a lot of art gigs after college, but still, she pursues on discovering and going beyond her limit. Dakie is currently on her last year being a student again and completing her thesis in Multimedia Arts. If she can excite you with her vector works, wait till you get to see her traditional ones, being a skilled user of the watercolour medium. All I can see for her is a bright future ahead, full of more wonderful stuff akin to her wonderful works.

Presented here are some of her works I’ve personally picked from her dA account. Be sure to check out her other portfolios for more creative pieces!