Prodigious Life

New Home, New Journey

As some of you may know, I am slowly moving to a new tumblr account, which I will use in the next few weeks or so. Yep, you read that right, I will leave this soon.

Don't worry. I will still be the same j-joe you once knew. That pseudonym is going to rest for now and will be replaced by none other than.. me, Jereek Espiritu! Haha. Lately I've been thinking and thinking a lot about this movement.. maybe you could help me with this by reading my latest post on my new account?

Thank you for the awesome 4 years with j-joe. All of my followers will forever remain in my heart. Aha! I am about to leave now, so good bye everyone. Hoping to see you on my new home! 

P.S. If you don't have any idea of what's going on, I suggest you to read this first post on my new blog.

A Brand New Start

Four years have passed and here I am, still running this blog. Started from being a maker of wordarts, flashy-hipsterish gifs to dynamic typographies and vivid illustrations. Never did I expect to see this growth of mine when I signed up for tumblr. There was only one clear thing on my mind back then. To have this "blog" as my visual diary.

But as time went by, this so-called diary has been deteriorating in a dreadful manner. It may not seem like that to some, but for me, it was. 

Two years ago, 2012, was really my year. I was blessed and grateful enough to be part of such an amazing journey. I won a bunch of contests, went to a couple of events and seminars, and most of all, met a lot of artists. It was such a surreal experience every time I remember those moments. And for this year, I want to set things straight and put it back where it is supposed to be. I want to fix myself, my vision, my goals and my dreams.

Merry Christmas: 2013!

So far, college has been quite a great journey for me. I never thought I would encounter difficult yet fun challenges. Hopefully, as I go along, I'd keep my face and chin high up, knowing that God is with me. 

InstaQuote: Personalities 2

Not so long ago, Paul Walker and Roger Rodas, his friend, left an event for Walker's own charity for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda. Shortly afterwards, the car crashed on a tree which caused their death.

As for Nelson Mandela, he suffered from a respiratory infection which marked the end of his life.

Animo La Salle!

Say Yahoo, with Yabu!

Ever since this Japanese restaurant that serves deliciously oozing food in the city opened, there seemed to be a lot of raves. It was only then last week that I was able to eat there because the first time we tried to line up, we were at the 26th! No one would want that unless you have this so-called 'patience' which I lack. He he. I know of course that food is an exemption but we were there on the mall for an errand so we had to eat immediately. Haha such reason.

Stay Strong Philippines

Few weeks back, Typhoon Haiyan also known as Yolanda has completely destroyed the Visayas part of the Philippines, especially Leyte and Samar. It was said to be the greatest wind damage any city on Earth has endured from a tropical cyclone in the past century. Now, the people there are in big need of help. If you can donate or help in any way you can, please do. Here's a post on how to. Thank you guys on behalf of my fellow countrymen! God bless.

Typography 1

If there's one thing that often hold us back from living the life we want, that would be fear. But most often, that very fear of ours holds the greatest reward. It's because when the time we enter the 'cave' comes, it is only then we can fully grasp the treasure we've been longing for. Take that risk and go for the extra mile! (#NotesToSelf ☹)

A Child's Playground

Feature: Earth Manual Exhibition (Kobe, Japan)

A year ago, Typhoon Gener hit the Philippines bringing in dark-grey skies filled with rains that left the country in a gloomy state. However, despite this sad event, Filipinos have remained positive in their outlook in life. To show encouragement to our fellowmen, Ayala Museum has called for inspiring works from designers with the hashtag #FilipinoSpiritIsWaterproof.

Recently, Ayala Museum's graphic design campaign was selected to be part of the Earth Manual Project, an exhibition that focuses on a theme addressing disaster preparedness gathering exemplary creative approaches from different parts of the world, held at Design and Creative Center (KIITO) in Kobe, Japan. As part of the city-wide art festival (2013 Kobe Biennale), it will run until October 24, 2013.

It amazes me how design and art could be of help through social media. So, to the genius people behind this great campaign, I would like to thank them for giving us this wonderful opportunity!

If you guys know, my friends and I had a business when we were only 2nd year HS students. Amazing right? I, myself, can't believe it somehow that we managed to handle such task. Despite of school stuff, we were able to run it until a tragedy happened.. so to cut the story short: After releasing our first collection of ballers, the shop was closed.

While eating my lunch earlier, my father handed me a business card. It's owned by a teenager, who runs a small business somewhere in Mandaluyong City if I'm not mistaken. He said I could collaborate with him and see if things are going to work. So, I went to his site and found out he's more into printing rather than making his own designs (which I thought he was). Hence, I was a little bit disappointed. Then something popped out of my mind. The dream of having my own design studio. The dream I've been longing since the day I first attended Graphika Manila. And I thought, what kind of design studio do I really want? Is it going to focus on web design? Print? Logo/Branding? Advertising? Illustrating? I never had a clear vision of what I really wanted to do in the future. All I know was that I love designing and illustrating. Again, something popped out of my mind. My answer on the question asked at our yearbook. Since I'm one of the staff, I looked for it.

Question: "How do you see yourself 10 years from now?" Guess what, it answered the question that has been bugging me. Here's what I said:

Looking in the future, I see myself as a creative director of a design studio I run that makes simple and thoughtful stuff for the web & beyond.

Tada! I wanna be a creative director of my own design studio. But, of course, in order to have one, I should have a set of team. A team which consists of 3-5 people who have the same passion as mine and whose skills and talents could contribute a lot in bringing ourselves into another level! *winks* 

As far as my program is concerned, I think it's a good way for me to learn about the 'advertising' and 'marketing' side of the creative industry. Although I'm going to know them soon, I guess it would be a lot better if I know the tasks my 'design studio' would do first, such as coding the websites (primarily HTML5 and other programming languages), doing a full branding of companies, etc. With that being said, sometimes I feel that I should have taken MMA in DLS-CSB instead of ADV in DLSU (but I still love la salle, animo!) or ID in ADMU (although I wasn't able to take the exam) But!!! Sir Dan Matutina told us, during the Behance Portfolio Reviews, that we shouldn't stop dreaming of what we actually want to achieve in life. Whatever program we take in college or job we go to afterwards, it's always up to us if we're going to pursue our primary dream. He even had a tip for me, that I should take Advertising since I will know a lot more in the creative industry when 'reality strikes'. Aside from him, I have also met a lot of people that inspired me to pursue Advertising as my program.

Blog Design: Update

InstaQuote: Personalities 1

Last week, there was a major rampage of the human society caused by the iOS7. Some people loved it, some hated it. Either way, I ended up updating my iPad’s OS as well. With that being said, I got curious who was the person responsible for these intricate and well-crafted designs. Of course, before, it was Steve Jobs, who had a lot of innovative ideas, that did them. However, after he passed away, I never got to think who sort of replaced him. That’s where I knew Jonathan “Jony” Ive. He’s currently the Senior Vice President of Design at Apple and the person behind this iOS7!

As iOS7 is moving to a not-so flat combined with parallax effect trend in mobiles and tablets, I have decided to go that way also. Meaning, my blog will start to look neater/flatter and more friendly for readers. So, expect that change for about 2-3 weeks from now (well it still depends on how hell my week’s gonna be). I might post a screenshot of it soon!

Free-zing Fresh Fonts 3

It has been quite a long time since I have shared some of my favorite fonts (here and here now with LINKS!) because of a hell term in school. I just wish that this term would end fast. Anyway, here are the fonts I have found upon searching for fresh and sleek typefaces. Honestly speaking, this has got to be my favorite group ever. You can clearly see that Myra and Bellota both share the unique loops they give to the design itself, while Tomahawk and Metropolis possess a hipstery feel and look, right? With that being said, I hope you like this set as much as I did! Support and download them now!

Foodelicious