j-joe

[j-joe]

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.

Jet Pack

[j-joe]

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.

As we enter this new year, I'd like to share my visual diary in a more creative and appropriate way wherein you get to feel the artsy vibe in perusing my blog. For the next coming months, you would see some drastic changes, maybe on me, but more on my blog. Don't worry. It's for the better. I wish that this roller-coaster ride would be awesome once it starts. Hopefully, you'd come and ride with me! Haha. Cheers and thanks for the wonderful 2013!

[j-joe]

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. 

Merry Christmas everyone! Wishing you a lot of joyful thoughts!

[j-joe]

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.

These two people had shown a lot of dedication and compassion for people who are in dire need of something. Sadly though, their lives had ended soon enough. But hey, they had left inspirational words for everyone, so I thought of sharing them. Be inspired!

[j-joe]

Animo La Salle!

Here is the sample mock-up of the shirt design I made for a contest ran by the organization, Moo Media, I really love. Apparently, just like the usual contest you see on social media, the design with the most number of likes will have a high chance in winning. So, if you find mine worth winning, then you could help me by simply liking this photo here (comments are highly appreciated as well). Cheers and thank you!

[j-joe]

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.

For an avid fan of crisp yet lip-smacking appetizing food, Yabu is a big yes! From the unlimited Japanese rice to the mouth-watering Miso soup, you will surely love them all. It is really a good place to dine in if you want to get your money's worth! All you can just say is 'Yahoo with Yabu!' (naks slogan #advertisingmajor)

[j-joe]

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.

Photo credit: 1 / 2

[j-joe]

Typhoon Haiyan Rips Through Central Philippines

Typhoon Haiyan is a Category 5 storm, the strongest typhoon of 2013 and said to be the “most powerful ever” to make landfall (with winds near 195-200 mph). Perspective: Superstorm Sandy was at 95mph when it hit New Jersey; Hurricane Katrina at 129mph when it hit land.

Pre-emptive evacuations affect more than 161,000 families or more than 790,000 people in 37 provinces

Typhoon Haiyan as seen from space

Haiyan makes 6 landfalls - it affected an island chain in the central Philippines, making landfall in six islands. It gained wind power as it traversed through waters in between.

Haiyan traverses areas affected by magnitude 7.1 earthquake - The earthquake left more than 200 dead dead on October 16; 1000 injured; 350,000 displaced. The survivors have been living in tents and evacuation areas. It passed through Leyte, Samar, Cebu (2.5 million residents), among others. All with densely populated cities, some of which are the poorest provinces in the country.

100 people killed in Tacloban — first estimate of casualties in the city reported today, November 9. Because the communication lines are down, the news centers have yet to take stock of the full extent of the damage. But the numbers are still expected to rise. The devastation was described as if a tsunami had wracked through it.

2:03PM  11/9: An estimated 4 million people have been affected by the typhoon

4:20PM  11/9: 90% of Baco Town in Oriental Mindoro flooded

4:55 PM 11/9: Bodies still scattered in Leyte as Visayas in shock

5:19PM  11/9: Negros Occidental under a state of calamity

7:34PM  11/9: Local officials expect the number of bodies found in Tacloban to reach 500

eta: 7:45PM 11/9: Iloilo and Palawan declare state of calamity

eta: 8:04PM 11/9: Update: 134 reported dead

eta: 8:30PM 11/9: Thousands homeless in Ormoc, Leyte

eta3: 10PM 11/9: Red Cross estimates 1,200 casualties

eta3: 3AM 11/10: Aerial photo of Bantayan Island after Haiyan

eta3: 3:23AM 11/10: At least 200 believed dead in Eastern Samar

eta4: 11/0: Latest death toll could be 10,000

The victims need all the help they can get. Cities have been leveled, buildings made of concrete were destroyed by strong winds and storm surges. Communications have yet to be reestablished in most of the areas affected by the typhoon. The full picture left behind by Haiyan has yet to be established yet the devastation reported on television is already extensive. The government is bracing for large-scale relief operations. Virtually 1/3 of the country has been ravaged by this natural disaster. And we need help.  

HOW THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CAN HELP

donations via the Philippine Red Cross (including PayPal)

donations via Habitat for Humanity

donations via ANCOP Foundation USA

eta: donations via UNICEF Philippines

eta2: donations via CARE Australia

eta2: donations via Caritas Internationalis 

eta2: donations via GMA Network (credit card)

eta2: donations via World Vision

eta2: donations via AmeriCares

eta2: donations via Samaritan’s Purse (Canada)

eta2: donations via Canadian Red Cross (or you can text REDCROSS or ROUGE to 30333 to donate $5)

FOR THOSE IN THE PHILIPPINES

text donations via Globe

Red Cross and DSWD relief operations (infographic)

list of ongoing relief operations via Rappler

donations via ABS-CBN News

eta: relief operations via University of the Philippines

eta: relief operations via the Department of Education

eta: pick-up locations for donations via Air 21

HOW TO FILE FOR MISSING PERSONS

via GMA Network

eta: via Philippine Red Cross

eta: via Google Person Finder

ETA: AFTERMATH UPDATES

status of affected areas (updated frequently) via Rappler

list of survivors in Tacloban

[j-joe]

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 ☹)

Anyway, starting today, I'm gonna keep track on how many 'typography' I make for the rest of this blog's life. Hopefully I can reach more or less a hundred works!

[j-joe]

Stumbled upon your Tumblr and man are you good! Just want to ask, what do you do to keep your creative juices flowing?

Thank you dude! :-) Honestly, I stare at Photoshop for like 5 hours doing nothing. Kidding aside, I just browse the net searching for inspirational stuff (movies, artwork, music, etc.) and set a specific deadline, which is your greatest motivation! Hope this helps!

[j-joe]

A Child's Playground

As I was organizing my computer files, I have thought of an idea on how I will take pictures of my first cousin once removed (my cousin's daughter, ooh trivia!). How? In a surreal way! Although these photos may not seem surreal, trust me, you will see some improvement in the near future! Also, this was my first time trying this technique so they don't look surreal as it is, but I did my best so you can give me a B+ for that. Haha! What do you guys think though?

[j-joe]

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!

You can see my artwork at the middle right on the first photo! A good friend of mine, Gian Nicdao, is part of the said exhibit as well! *highfive* Anyway, the photos are courtesy of Ayala Museum. You can see more here.

[j-joe]

Busy Business Dream

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.

So guys, if you're kind of interested in having your own design studio as well, maybe we should talk and let's see if there's a good future ahead of us? Right? Hello there MMA, ADV froshies! Oh I forgot ID freshies (tour me at admu pls hehe) Hope I could meet all of you!! :-) 

[j-joe]

Blog Design: Update

Halfway done! For the past few weeks, I've been thoroughly coding my blog so it would help you navigate quicker and easier. As you can see, the text sizes have been enlarged, as well as the quote section. Also, each post will now have the share buttons (like, reblog, permalink and other social media) below for faster blog interaction, as you may call it. These details are just some of the big changes you will see soon. Can't wait until I finish it!

[j-joe]

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!

Anyway, here are two of the genius human beings from Apple that shared a bit of inspirational quote for everyone. Hope you like it!

[j-joe]

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!

Myra / Tomahawk / Bellota / Metropolis

[j-joe]

Foodelicious

Our second term has just started and it's killing me softly. Good thing, the organization I am part of requires us to join any "production" available and luckily, I was able to sign up for an event, 10th LaSallian Scholarum Awards, which was held at Makati Shangri-La Hotel! Knowing that hotel, we were served with exquisite foods that do not just look tantalizing outside but also so appetizing inside. I just hope there would be more events like this!