“ We’ re banding together; be pioneers. Nobody ' s tried it before.”
tuloy-tuloy siya.( If it works out, we might see this carrying out longer.) The idea is to do really big-scale projects.
May mga ibang sobrang laki ng scale— the problem is if we work on it, for example as Plus 63, it demands more time. But with everyone, it ' s scalable. Together, we may also be able to pitch against multinational design agencies like the ones from Singapore, Japan or China. That ' s the goal. I ' ve worked with brand and design studios abroad, and I really think we can go against them. We just have to build the trust. There were instances wherein the client wasn ' t sure if we could do it, and we weren ' t either, but we just went and did. And we can have that confidence because we could rely on each other for support. We got each others’ backs.
What is your reading of the local creative industry? How is it different from five or ten years ago? Where do you see it going in the next five to ten years?
There are more designers now. There are more design schools. It’ s good for the industry. More people practicing means promising yung design as a profession. Pero siyempre sa dami ng design school, mahirap din maghanap ng jobs. Konti lang din kasi design studios dito. But there are opportunities in games and animation.
The next five years would be significant. There ' s one group called the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines. We’ re involved because of Communication Design Association of the Philippines. Yung estimate nung research is mawawala na yung BPO sa Pilipinas because of AI. Call centers and other skillbased BPOs. Sobrang dependent pa naman natin sa BPO pero sunset industry na siya. Made-deads na siya soon. Not in the far future but very near. The Creative Economy Council wants to give the creative economy a push— graphic design, animation, advertising, gaming, etc. based on the research, the least affected industries in the AI is the creative industry because you can’ t AI creativity. You can automate layouts, basics and production, but the creative part of it, di siya maaapektuhan ng AI. If so, parang SKYNET na tayo( Terminator).
Our neighbors started long ago. We ' re late in the game; we ' re pressed for time. It also means that there will be a lot of
development and action in the creative industry. Everyone is trying to organize. It’ s one of the reasons we organized CDAP: to represent illustration design and graphic design and other industries. These fields, animation and gaming, malaki yung maco-contribute nila sa economy ng Philippines in the future. I ' ve never seen a branding studio become so big locally. Pero may possibility siya. Kailangan lang talaga paano mo iba-balance. In every country, may magagaling na designers, nasa studio naman talaga. But they’ re never big contributors to the economy, the big contributors are the big design agencies. But sometimes, the big agencies are too commercial. The work of the design studios become the guide for the whole creative industry. Everyone should look to their work. if we ever have a big branding agency here, then okay siya, magiging malaki siyang industry. Exciting siya most definitely. Sobrang daming action.
You can’ t not involve yourself in associations even if they’ re exhausting. Mukhang walang choice, kailangan may magbuo at gumawa.( It seems we have no choice; someone has to organize these things.) Parang obligation to do it for the whole industry.
Move Philippines
“ We’ re banding together; be pioneers. Nobody ' s tried it before.”
Hydra Design Group is made up of Acid House, Inksurge, KM Interior Design and Plus63. Follow their work on Instagram @ hydradesigngroup and heyhydra. com.
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