NEWS
2023 /
A bit busy this May out and about at the following:
Qaultrics XM Sydney Tour
SECNA First Festival
Mai-Garrigal Festival
Willoughby Council Lead to Inspire Workshops
Vivid Festival
Affordable Art Fair
The Other Art Fair
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Most recent project:
Industry: Language School
Services:
• Brand Analysis (Customer Journey, Target Audience, UVP)
• Competitive Analysis (UVP, Market Research, Other Brands)
• Customer Interviews
• Naming Tagline
• Market Segmentation (Other Brands Analysis: Local, China, USA and AI APP models)
• Marketing Campaign and Strategy
• Marketing Collateral (Print and Digital)
Team: SEEDS Creative (Bernee, Nancy B, Eloi A and Sam T). Love this powerhouse team!
Proposals: 4
Concept: Multi-Lingual Australia Connecting Through Language & Culture
Campaign: Give It A Go!
A Client’s Business Growth
We are always excited when clients needed to re-order uniforms, and business cards and for us to design wraps for the company vans as it is evidence of the growth and effectiveness of their business and branding.
Northern California Institute for Bone Health, Inc. Founder
It was sad to hear about the passing of Dr Elliott Schwartz. He only had six months to live from diagnosis until 27/11/2021, the week of his birthday. Dr Schwartz has been our client since 2013. He is the brains and heart behind the Northern California Institute for Bone Health, Inc. May his legacy continues on through his wife, Patti, and the Institute’s archives. In his honour, I am retweeting the Oakland A’s tribute to Dr Schwartz.
Feeling inspired by Kenneth Cobunpue
Pandemic Lockdown Highlights
I am excited to have completed the 5-week Insights for Innovation course at IDEO U!
The course examined the value of empathy, consumer research, and provided guidance on crafting human-centric insights. The course was thoughtfully designed to encourage active learning through community participation with hands-on case studies, and real-time feedback from Design Thinking experts and cohorts around the world!
I am enrolled in the ‘Ideas to Action’ course to complete my Foundations in Design Thinking Certification.
“Empathy inspires appropriate action.”
Revisiting 3 of my Designer mentors.
1.Ken Cato is an accomplished Australian graphic designer. I recalled vividly sitting in the last row of an AGDA event, listening to his fascinating talk. I was mesmerized by the prominence of his works in Australia. Consequently, I shifted career industries purposely. Decades later, thoughtful and impactful design remains my primary pursuit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs-sS2_ov9Y
2. Lucille Tenazas is a graphic designer and educator. She is the Associate Dean in the School of Art, Media and Technology and the Henry Wolf Professor of Communication Design at Parsons School of Design. I met Lucille as a speaker at our Alma Mater, which was at a small private Catholic College in Manila. Before her arrival, the dean of the Arts Department asked a couple of students to design her publicity poster. I was one of the two students.
Lucille was the first designer that I met that inspired me to aspire and do design well. Her work is at MoMA’s permanent collection. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xASJw4UnYvA
3. David Carson is a contemporary graphic designer. His unconventional and experimental graphic style revolutionised the graphic design scene in America during the 1990s. He was the untrained Art Director of the magazine Ray Gun, in which he introduced innovative typographies and distinct layouts. He is the godfather of ‘grunge typography’ which he employed perpetually in his magazines. His book The End of Print is one of my treasured design books. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJgvgD-vjIc
“Never mistake legibility for communication.” David Carson
At the Facebook and Instagram Boost Conference – California
Getting the latest news, updates, and tools in social media.
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Case Study: Maria Health
https://issuu.com/home/published/maria_health
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Temescal Arts Exhibit
Together with 12+ Temescal Arts Committee (TACO) artists
Theme: Botanical
Hosted by Temescal Works, Oakland, California, USA
Title: I will survive
Size: 11 x 17
Medium: ink, graphite
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The Homeschool Co-op Project Based Learning Class
I taught T-shirt Design, Production and Marketing; and what is Origami? Courses at the Homeschoolers Creators Club. In five weeks, they learned how to follow a brief, design minimally, create a lookbook, film a 2-minute AD, brainstorm marketing and pricing strategies, and set up an online shop.
Teaching a various age group of pupils was quite an enriching experience. I was so proud of how they embraced the challenge of thinking outside the box, and successfully having their own t-shirts! Let us support their work by purchasing a shirt at projectlimitless.bigcartel.
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Design Thinking is making work that works!
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Visiting MUCHO
“Creativity is one of the leading capabilities of the present, and the future. Let’s make sure it’s valued as it deserves to be.” -MUCHO
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Anniversary Logo Study
One of the 25th-anniversary logo studies I designed for DAE Advertising.
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Awards
Congratulations to DAE, and AARP for winning the 3AF Silver Creative Campaign of the year 2016 with AARP’s “Member Stories That Inspire” campaign.
On the client-side, AARP was named as the 3AF’s 2016 Marketer of the Year, and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) was named as the 3AF’s 2016 New Marketer of the Year.
I am thankful for the opportunity to be involved as Art Director in this campaign alongside a sharp and hardworking team! A shout out to Ka Lok Tse and Yvonne Chang who carried most of the weight at this agency’s creative work!
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“Asian-American buying power is nearly 4x larger than that of the highly-coveted Millennial group.” – Nielsen
Asian-Americans Advertising
Working at an Asian AD Agency has been interestingly fun and subtly challenging. It has been delightful (to get paid really) to utilize my multi-cultural background, broad life associations, and insights at work.
Did you know about the Asian-American’s commercial power? Below is Nielsen’s report.
Asian-Americans buying power is currently $770 billion and is expected to increase to $1 trillion by 2018, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth. From 2000 through 2014 Asian-Americans buying power increased 180%—nearly triple the increase in buying power for non-Hispanic whites, which was 69% over the same time period. In fact, Asian-American buying power is nearly four times larger than that of the highly-coveted U.S. Millennial group ($200 billion). Put another way, Asian-American buying power is larger than the entire economies of all but 18 countries worldwide, just below the GDP of Turkey and larger than those of Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. It is also larger than the buying power of all U.S. states except California, Texas, and New York.
For the first time in U.S. immigration history, the largest number of first-year immigrants is not from a Latin country.
China and India have now replaced Mexico as the largest source of recent immigrants to the U.S., according to the U.S. Census. At 19.4 million strong and representing 6% of the total U.S. population, Asian-Americans grew 46% from 2002 to 2014 and are now recognized as the fastest-growing multicultural segment in the U.S. The group is expected to continue its growth trajectory, rising 150% between now and 2050 according to U.S. Census projections.
Nielsen’s latest report, Asian-Americans: Culturally Connected and Forging the Future, highlights the unique consumption and media habits that are helping to redefine the American mainstream. Diverse and deeply rooted in their cultural traditions, today’s Asian-Americans value high-quality products and services and are brand loyal shoppers.
YOUNG, EDUCATED AND AMBICULTURAL
With China and India taking the front seat as important immigration drivers in the U.S., it’s actually the younger Asian-American cohorts who are predominantly U.S. born. Seventy-nine percent of Asian-Americans under 18 are U.S.-born. These younger Asian-Americans, many of whom have been raised in multigenerational households with strong ties to their cultural heritage, are expanding the body of ambicultural consumers able to navigate seamlessly between cultures and are exerting a strong influence on the U.S. mainstream.
Asian-Americans are the most highly educated of all segments. Forty-nine percent of Asian-Americans have a college degree, compared with 28% of the total U.S. population. The average Asian-American household spends 57% more on average for college tuition than non-Hispanic white households. Higher education achievement levels, coupled with more wage earners due to the greater presence of multigenerational households, places the Asian-American median household income ($72,472) 39% higher than the U.S. national average ($52,250), according to the U.S. Census.
While the concentration of Asian-Americans in top metropolitan areas can lead to efficiencies for marketing strategists, buying patterns of many consumers of Southern Asian descent may vary greatly from the behavior of consumers of Southeastern Asian or Eastern Asian descent. These cultural variations and cultural nuances will dictate where and how to direct media efforts will be most effective. A few of the top DMAs for Asian-American consumers include Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C./Maryland, Chicago, and Honolulu.
TREMENDOUS BUYING POWER
Asian-Americans buying power is currently $770 billion and is expected to increase to $1 trillion by 2018, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth. From 2000 through 2014 Asian-American buying power increased 180%—nearly triple the increase in buying power for non-Hispanic whites, which was 69% over the same time period. In fact, Asian-American buying power is nearly four times larger than that of the highly-coveted U.S. Millennial group ($200 billion). Put another way, Asian-American buying power is larger than the entire economies of all but 18 countries worldwide, just below the GDP of Turkey and larger than those of Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. It is also larger than the buying power of all U.S. states except California, Texas, and New York.
With an average life expectancy of 87.3 years—8.6 more years than non-Hispanic whites (78.7 years) and a lower median age of 35 compared to 42, Asian Americans have substantially greater effective years of buying power (52.3) than non-Hispanic whites (36.7). When planning long-term marketing strategies, these additional 16 years could be a true advantage if loyalty can be established at an early age.
Other findings in the report include:
- Asian-Americans are selective shoppers and will spend more on foods that support a long-standing tradition of holistic well-being. Asian-Americans are 31% more likely than average to buy organic foods and are 23% more likely to evaluate the nutrition of products.
- Eighty-eight percent of Asian Americans own credit cards, compared to 66% of the general population.
- Asian-Americans are leaders when it comes to technology, mobile, and social media usage. They also watch and download more movies than any other ethnic segment. Overall, 42% of Asian- Americans are more likely to agree that the Internet is a source of entertainment.
Source: Nielsen’s Asian-Americans: Culturally Connected and Forging the Future Report.
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Gulangyu Heritage Society Art Exhibit
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Oakland Makers
The eco-friendly books designed by Bernee Lee were in a multi-disciplinary exhibit at Omi Gallery at Impact Hub Oakland. It ran from June 2 until August 2014, together with “Oakland Makers”: Andrew Werby, Hiroko Kurihara, Joshua Jakusd, Emily Winston, Jennifer Ivanovich, Aiko Kobayashi Gray, Jeff Goodwin, Vanessa March, and Rael San Fratello.
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BizWorld Logo
BizWorld, a non-profit in San Francisco needed to revamp their logo color scheme. Quick and effective solutions were pitched for the logomark, tagline, and .org extension iteration. The proposal was approved in the first round and implemented immediately into their corporate communications.
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Missio Dei Oakland Identity
Missio Dei Oakland’s heart is to reach out to the marginalised youth in East Oakland. They started meeting and connecting with kids on the streets, at the restaurants, and outside of school campus. They organise fun activities for the youth, provide a safe and loving place for them to hang out, as well as one-on-one mentorship. I had a chance to visit one of the groups to gather insights and could truly see how transformative their “missio” is among the underprivileged youth.
It was a privilege to see the fruit of their labor as I creative directed their brand identity.
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AirBnb San Francisco Hosts Community Dinner at Temescal in Oakland, CA
We were four of the local Rockridge-Temescal district Superhosts invited to dine together with two Airbnb staff. I observed a commonality among the invitees-an entrepreneurial mindset, a spirit of hospitality, and the creative use of design.
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Meeting Kit Hinrichs
Kit Hinrichs is considered one of the world’s most influential graphic designers and is partner in the global design firm Pentagram. He has more than 3,000 Stars and Stripes artifacts in his collection, which has been exhibited at the American Institute of Graphic Arts in New York and the San Jose Museum of Art. He lives in San Francisco.
Source: Penguin Books
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Green Festivals Panel Speaker
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Know no one, only a vision and a mission in her heart. She went to the Big Apple where cliques is a way of life.
Manufactured locally, a Made in America, eco-friendly, mental and emotional well being publishing, to provide a daily dose of positive thinking that leads to hope, inspiration and action. With uncertainty and certainty of purpose launched in a New York international wholesale tradeshow. Surprisingly, her work made it to the top 100 must-sees in the almost 1,000 vendors over 50,000 designs. It got picked up by journalists and influencers such as Sunset Magazine, Apartment Therapy, Stationery Trends, Design*Sponge, etcetera. It made it to the gift boutiques and museum shops in America, overseas and even gifted to the White House Obama family. The most gratifying part is that it inspired creatives, dreamers, exhorters, doers to live their dream. One, with tears as she paused and took in the positive dose messages.
Her work has a spiritual and positive impact.
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Slides to Digital
I had my 2″ x 4″ slides converted to digital. Below is a sample of a hand-drawn typographic logo I did for my advertising degree. This logo has been digitized and it still represents the company 2 decades later.
