Last year, I attended my first ever Graphika Manila Conference despite it already been going through for many years prior. I loved 2011’s conference, with Dan Matutina and Mike Friolo topping as my favorite speakers.
This year, it was once again time to listen to creatives making heads turn as I find myself back in SMX to listen to GM 2012.
Hydro74’s worth mentioning with Joshua Smith on board. Them hands are just monsters as timelapse videos are showcased on how he sketches.
JP Cuison is also a great mind to behold. Really cool guy who seemed really down to earth of what he did. Personally liked his style, which was very distinct from most I’ve seen.
The talk also included Create PH, Psyop, Droga5, and Gmunk. Of all the speakers though, I totally admired and faved Jerome Austria. Really fun dude to listen to. It’s funny because his intro kind of made him comparable to Mike Friolo, who was my fave a year back. Both of them made awesome names internationally, and both of Filipino descent.
A couple of minutes into his talk, he mentioned something he was well-credit for – “The Bark Side” – a Superbowl TVC which brought in millions of views. From there I’m like “I fucking know what that is!”
I was reading Business Insider’s Top 20 Most Creative People of 2012 weeks back and browsed through names with respective works. One of which was the renowned for “the Bark Side,” and I thought to myself – “Is this the same guy!?!”
You have to chase the projects that make you scared, that make you wonder if it will get you fired – Jerome Austria, Graphika Manila 2012 (tweet this)
Confirming it by asking him myself after the conference, it was indeed him. Awesome. I made sure to shake his hands hard enough to rub off that creativity on him and onto me. And just to add up to this awesomeness, he was also included in Business Insider’s latest article – These Are The 50 Sexiest Advertising Executives Alive
As always, Graphika Manila inspires a lot of designers and their ambitions to flourish and follow or maybe even surass these guys. So be sure to watch out for it next year!
Bonus: My Bacolod Illustration was featured in the Graphika Manila 2012 Book