On Initiation Rites
I started designing in high school.
Just between you and me, I was playing with a pirated copy of Photoshop Elements I bought from a bangketa near my school. Weirdly enough, that became my version of a video game. Other people had DOTA or O2Jam. I had layers, fonts, and whatever effect I thought looked cool at the time (it didn’t look cool — bevel + emboss + stroke + a bit of a drop shadow 😆).
I’m probably revealing too much about how old I am here, but during those days, I didn’t know that was already my initiation rite into being a designer.
“Layers, fonts, and whatever effect I thought looked cool — that was my video game.”
On Integrals and Covalent Bonds
On paper, my path had nothing to do with design.
I took BS Food Technology. My parents told me studying in one of the most prestigious schools in the Philippines would make me successful. And me, who didn’t know any better and didn’t have the money to put myself through school, followed suit.
My passion for design took the backseat, but it never disappeared.
It was always there as an extracurricular, while chemistry, physics, and engineering classes took center stage. I was fighting tooth and nail just to get a tres, which honestly should have made it obvious that this was not really where I would thrive.
But shifting courses was never a choice for us, so I saw it through. 😮💨
On Hermetic Sealing and Convection Heating
Work came, and my first love became more like a distant memory.
I was developing, yes. But they were food products.
I did hone my research and quality assurance skills there though, so I guess that was a good trade-off. At least if you spend seven years of your life doing something, you should really push to get some reward out of it, right?
Maybe that Food Tech detour wasn’t completely random after all. It taught me how to research, test, document, refine, and care about whether something actually works — which is basically how I design now, just with zero lab coats.
“Research, test, document, refine. Same as design — just with zero lab coats.”
On Gambling on Yourself
Then 2020 happened.
The world was in chaos. Suddenly, the conventional got disrupted. And like everyone else, I had the chance to sit with myself and ask what I really wanted.
That was when I saw my love for design coming back.
It was pure audacity at first. One digital product that I don’t even make anymore. Just a tiny piece of tinder that helped spark the flame again.
By 2022, I fully transitioned into a different career.
Apparently, there are times when your parents won’t always know what’s best for you. Safe, yes. But best? Maybe not always. (sorry Mama and Papa, still love uuu both lol 🫶🏻)
Because sometimes, you really just have to bet on yourself.
That product I made due to some existential crisis? It eventually became millions in digital product sales, years of leading digital design for a U.S. consulting firm, and now, FamedDesigns — a digital systems studio built around the belief that beautiful things should work beautifully too.
On Being a Digital Systems Designer
Maybe I’m just a lazy person by nature, because every time I’m faced with a hardship, I always ask myself: How can I make this easier for me?
Those tools I obsessively built during my own R&D phase? Turns out, it wasn’t just me who needed them.
I hadn’t named it yet back then. I was just following my feeling.
- Is it pretty?
- Is it easy for me to use?
- Does it make this thing less annoying than it has to be?
And that question has since resonated with every project I do.
From there, I started designing systematically. Research the gap. Look at what competitors are doing. Find references. Ask what I could do differently. Ask what I could do better. Ask whether each design decision is contributing or confusing.
It all boils down to how the end user feels when using it.
No matter how pretty something is, if people have a hard time using it, it is useless. Point blank period. 💅🏻
“How the end user feels when using it. That’s the whole thing.”
On Being a Freedom Seeker
Outside of design, I’m usually traveling ✈️. And when I’m not traveling, I’m probably planning my next trip.
I love experiencing new places and seeing how people from different places think, move, work, and make sense of the world. I think that curiosity always finds its way back into my work somehow.
I have always prided myself on being a Type A planner. But lately, I’ve been enjoying just going with the flow and figuring things out as I go.
Which, strangely enough, feels a lot like design too.