Creative fuel: This is who we are

On the second installment of our Supreme-Nokia collaboration, we seek out the designs of the times. This Supreme section features the mavericks behind Graphika Manila who are creating a welcome disturbance in design.

Dreaming in print was how we envisioned Supreme to be, and with partners in creative crime like the Nokia 2680 and 7210 Supernova, we are slowly but surely getting there. Causing a riot in visual innovation, these forward thinking and forward marching scribble soldiers have swished and swiveled their minds into creating work that excites and inspires.

More than their artworks, it is the need to be creative that drives them. More than the accolades, it is the appreciation for what they do. More than words, pictures and text, it’s what they communicate that matters.

This space is for them. And you’ll definitely see more of them in this Supreme space.

Fueling the wheels of change—it’s who we are.

Christian San Jose

My visual statement: Blame it on my youth, but I’m growing up mighty fine in design.

My dream collaboration: With Tinker Hatfield, Takashi Murakami, David Carson, Ray Frenden, Alex Trochut, Adhemas Batista, and other breathtaking designers and illustrators (all of whom you should Google after reading this).

I get inspiration from: Desultory thoughts.

Reality is: A shared hallucination.

Surreal is: Light-Iced, Decaf, Triple, Venti, Non-fat, Extra-hot, Stirred, No-foam, Caramel Macchiato with Whip Cream and Extra Caramel. Served with Strawberry Yan Yan.

In my phone, there is a photo of: Cookie Monster! He’s awesome, unlike Elmo, who’s just weird.

The last text message I received was: “Hun, d2 ka magreply. sendan mo tong number na to ng P100 load, may importante aq sasabihin sayo. last txt q na 2...”

Patrick Cabral

My visual statement: Defy convention.

My dream collaboration: To art-direct a film written by Neil Gaiman. I love surreal environments, steampunk and Victorian-inspired costume. Neil if you are reading this... call me! :P

I get inspirations from: Movies in general. I’m a movie buff. I watch a movie at least once a day. I watch movies even if I have a deadline. Other sources of inspiration are book and album covers, fashion, thefwa.com and works of modern artist such as Dylan Cole and Feng Zhu.

Reality is: Like experiencing gravity. If you jump, you will fall wether you believe it or not.

Surreal is: Creating a world where the rules of nature doesn’t apply.

In my phone there is a photo of: A beach for no particular reason. I’m just too lazy to change it.

The last text message I received: “Wer na u? d2 na me!” I know Nelz would be thinking that it was from a secret sex club (or from Susan Sarandon).

Aaron Roselo

My visual statement: I’m an supersaturated maximalist attempting to break the world’s chains from mundanity.

My dream collaboration: I actually have a long list of people I want to work with, so I’d say practically everyone who’d love to work with me.

I get inspiration from: RSS feeds of design websites, stockpiles of magazines and people-gazing.

Reality is: stranger than fiction.

Surreal is: floating elsewhere, getting to design anything that comes into my mind with an infinite pool of resources.

In my phone, there is a photo of: my cat who wouldn’t ever wanna get fat. sadly, she didn’t eat a feather pillow. yellow wellow.

The last text message I received was: from a friend enumerating his hong kong bargain finds.

Nelz Yumul

My visual statement: It is in the form of digital paintings and character illustrations.

My dream collaboration: Making collages with Dave Mckean, doodling with John Burgerman or shooting a movie with Anne Curtis, whichever comes first.

I get inspiration from: Travelling, because you get to observe a lot of people and places. You see all sorts of characters and interaction with the environment. I am also inspired by popculture: movies, comics, toys,etc.

Reality is: Suffering and pain. its true.

Surreal is: The small amount of time the weewilldoodle collective uses while doodling on a large scale surface and preserving the quality of the final artwork.

In my phone there is: A photo of  my pet rubber skull that I got last halloween.

The last text message I received: was this set of questions.

Rico Sta Cruz

My visual statement is: “Don’t worry, It’s okay if you don’t get it.”

My dream collaboration is: I’m not sure about collaborating with fellow graphic artists. However, I’d love to try collaborations with other creatives practicing other fields: may it be photography or even interior design. I’m not sure how that’ll work, but I bet it’d be interesting!

I get inspiration from: Electronic music has always been my top inspiration. I’ve always loved the idea of translating something we perceive with one sense (music) into something we’ll experience with another (visual).

Reality is: A real pain for having to force me to wake up everyday at 7:30AM.

Surreal is: Like a dream where you’re so sure it’s real, only to have some extremely incredible thing to make you ask whether or not you’re dreaming.

In my phone, there is a photo of: Everything! I can’t collect everything I see, but I can at least take a picture of them to keep.

The last text message I received was: A 2AM good night from a nocturnal colleague.