Academic Journal on the Filipino Graphic Design and Aesthetics

This journal is all about the Filipino identity of graphic design, especially in contemporary times. Graphic design has been in our global landscape since the advent of modern advertising and creative movements to support businesses and other sectors. The Philippines has always been into graphic design, we can experience it in our daily lives, we see designs, signages in the jeepneys, sari-sari stores, old cinemas, and even in our sorbetes cart. This paper aims to determine the Filipino identity of graphic design and how it affects our culture, people, and the creative industry as a whole. The methodology of gathering data will be based on the available resources online and other academic journals in the same spectrum of study.

What is Graphic Design?

Graphic design is a craft where professionals create visual content to communicate messages. By applying visual hierarchy and page layout techniques, designers use typography and pictures to meet users’ specific needs and focus on the logic of displaying elements in interactive designs, to optimize the user experience.[1] It is a process of combining certain elements to create a piece of design or artwork. The main function of graphic design is to communicate the message of a particular product or brand usually related to marketing and advertising. There are certain principles and fundamentals that come with the discipline of graphic design in order to execute the process accordingly. Graphic design is the skill or the work of arranging text and pictures, especially in the production of books, magazines, software, etc.[2] Posters, banners, social media ads, etc. These are some of the examples of what a graphic design is – because it conveys a message to its targeted audience.

This form of communication or art practice dates back to ancient times. People are already practicing some form of graphic design in ancient Egypt for one – their form of writing, the hieroglyphs are considered a form of graphic design because it uses a technique of combination of imagery and texts to convey a message. The oldest examples of handwriting evolved from drawing pictures or symbols. Ancient people wrote and drew on cave walls, clay tablets, objects, etc. As the tools for making these marks changed and improved, so did people's ability to express and organize their thoughts. Early books were made of many different materials - palm leaves, papyrus, wax tablets, and animal skins. Paper was invented by the Chinese around A.D. 105.[3]

            The advent of the printing press and other printing methods revolutionizes the way people communicate. The usage of text and imagery has become more comprehensive than ever because of the addition of colors, textures, and mass production. It also helped the rise of the advertising companies to help in the promotion of the capitalistic efforts of the global business movements.

As printing became more sophisticated, regularly published newspapers with advertisements began appearing in the 16th century. At first, ads were comprised mainly of text, but they soon began to incorporate images and other design elements. Printers also turned out broadsides (a poster or sheet of paper printed on one side) to be posted in public places to announce and advertise things.[4] Posters became a thing with the help of modern types of equipment at that time. Graphic design is making its way to the workforce until the term Graphic Design coined by William Addison Dwiggins - in 1922 to describe his process of designing books, as a combination of typesetting, illustration, and design. Book design changed from being a simple craft to an interpretive art. Dwiggins was the director of the Harvard University Press and founder of the Society of Calligraphers in Boston. He was born in 1880 at the exact time of the invention of the Linotype machine.[5]

Short History of Graphic Design in the Philippines

Our country can not be considered ‘unfamiliar’ to the artistry and crafts since the earliest records in our history. The Philippines has been home to various forms of art long before the colonizers came into our islands. We already have tattoo art, an ancient native script such as the Baybayin which was influenced by Sanskrit, indigenous tribal patterns being used in the weaving and garment as the tribal identity, and many more. We are also known by the old world as master jewelers because of our intricate craftsmanship manifested on our ancient jewelry artifacts – most of them are in gold. It is during the Spanish conquest in the Philippines when most of our native and ancient artforms have been erased or modified by the colonizers as part of their agenda in making us civilized according to the western standards. When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in 1521, the colonizers used art as a tool to propagate the Catholic faith through beautiful images. With communication as a problem, the friars used images to explain the concepts behind Catholicism and to tell the stories of Christ’s life and passion. Images of the Holy Family and the saints were introduced to the Filipino psyche through carved santos, the via crucis (Stations of the Cross), engravings on estampas and estampitas, and through paintings on church walls.[6] Here, we can clearly argue that art and design have been a great tool in colonization especially in communication - and graphic design is all about art and communication – communicating a certain message to the audience. As time went by our design progressed along with the changing times under the different influences. Americans and Japanese occupied us for quite some time making us exposed to some of their design practices, and we adapted some of it that are evident up until today.

The Filipino Graphic Design

The 1900s can arguably be the defining era of design in the Philippines. Remnants of the past colonial years have been incorporated in the contemporary to modern style and techniques in graphic design. These designs also heavily influenced contemporary and modern Filipino graphic design. Cigarette manufacturers La Campana, Balita, Tatlong Diwata, and Kayamanan used illustrations of nature and even the image of hero Jose Rizal. In fact, many Filipino businesses have used Rizal’s image in their packaging. Other products like Katialis and matchboxes produced packaging that depicted culture and life in the provinces with illustrations of carabaos, farmers, fields, fiestas, and tinikling dancers. Alviar observed that these designs were a mix of typography and patterns influenced by European styles. Yet, their content meaning is uniquely Filipino.[7] These companies created their communication materials based on what the Americans branded us; the rural life, the folk dances, and the landscape showcase are just some of the examples being given in the citation above. By the usage of the said design elements, the Filipino designers created a stereotype that became our visual identity later on in terms of graphic design. Filipino visual identity in graphic design featured a cultural and rural tone especially in the early to mid 20^th century. Advertisements are being executed using the slice-of-life strategy and this is because of our being emotionally inclined. Our distinct style is very evident in our use of vibrant colors in graphic design. Historically, our usage of vibrant colors can be traced in the art of the Moros and we adapted it until now. The art deco era also contributed heavily to the evolution and identity of Filipino graphic design, particularly in the illustrations, accents, and posters. These posters done in Art Deco graphic design give us a hint of how cosmopolitan Metro Manila was in the 1920s to '30s. “In terms of aesthetics, it was meant to showcase modernity,” Man Dy says of the style.[8] The Filipino designers modified the traditional approach in the usage of art deco style accents into our local materials such as bamboo, palm trees, and some organic or natural elements versus the western art deco style wherein the usage of rigid geometrical patterns are most evident.

The graphic design during the modern era after the liberation of Manila featured the local and daily life in The Philippines. Our postcards, posters, signs, and stamps are highly influenced by our vibrant use of colors, illustration style of the ’60s for ads, and the distinct typography that can only be found on our designs – the hand-painted signages. This particular style of typography became one of our strongest design elements when it comes to the identity of our designs. These custom types are usually hand-painted by our local artisans who happen to be in the sign-making business. They are the ones who devised distinct types usually seen on our jeepney route signs, government or barangay wall painting projects, postcards, stamps, and even on our official symbols – the Far Eastern Univerity’s logo typography for one which has been made during the art deco era in the country.

The Contemporary Filipino Graphic Design

Influenced by our rich cultural artistic heritage combined with the western design influences and techniques, the contemporary Filipino identity in graphic design became distinguishable through its vibrant use of colors, western-style imagery with the combination of our weaving patterns or tattoo patterns as an accent, and the use of locally inspired typography. Recently our designers have been actively exploring the creation and promotion of our local typographical approaches. The contemporary graphic design scene breaks away from the traditional lifestyle or rural feature in our communication materials contrary to what we are being depicted before; we are now into the creation of the designs that will affect society and culture addressing certain issues in the present times. Progressive designers today are exploring the use of a minimalistic approach combined with the traditional patterns and vibrant color scheme.

Conclusion

Filipino graphic design is a visual communication art form created from the combination of different historic and colonial influences, native patterns and symbols, weaving traditions, a depiction of daily life, and the use of distinct hand-painted typography evident in our signages and posters. The Filipino in graphic design is the thematic element distinct to ours, the daily life, and the daily struggles of every Juan. I am optimistic about the efforts of our current designers in the field in promoting our style to the global market and these efforts to establish our identity will be a great feat in our progress and development in the graphic design sphere.

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[1] “Graphic Design”, Interaction Design Foundation. Accessed October 17, 2020, www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/graphic-design

[2] “Graphic Design”, Cambridge Dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/graphic-design

[3] David Whitsett, The History of Graphic Design, 2003, https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-history-of-graphic-design.html

[4] Ibid

[5] “A History of Design Systems”, Programming Design Systems, http://printingcode.runemadsen.com

[6] Eloisa May Hernandez, “The Spanish Colonial Tradition in Philippine Visual Arts,” June 2, 2015, https://ncca.gov.ph/about-ncca-3/subcommissions/subcommission-on-the-arts-sca/visual-arts/the-spanish-colonial-tradition-in-philippine-visual-arts/.

[7] Nadz Ruiz, “Design: Into the History of Philippine Graphic Design with Team Manila’s Co-founder Jowee Alviar”, Adobo Magazine, August 1, 2019, https://www.adobomagazine.com/the-magazine/design

[8] Rachelle Medina, “A Tour of Manila and its Hidden Art Deco Gems”, December 23, 2019