Meet Jake Ruiz, he’d like to be Iron Man but until then he’s a young graphic designer from the Philippines and an IdeaDemocracy member.
ID: So Jake, what’s with the Iron Man business?
JR: Ironman (Tony Stark) is smart, resourceful, charming, funny and filthy rich. The only negative aspect to him is his enormous ego (which is usually his downfall). He has the ability to fly (which is a fantasy of mine) with his suit, as well as come up with super cool gadgets.
I could have picked real superheroes such as Superman, but I chose Ironman because of him being 100% human. After all human challenges are what makes life fulfilling to live.
ID: So where does Graphic Design fit in?
JR: Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had 2 passions: art and sports. I’ve always loved to draw, usually copying what I saw from comic books and also from the TV screen, to doodling in textbooks and copying the faces of my teachers when I was bored in class as a kid.
This passion for the arts eventually led to graphic design since I found the profession cool, and something I could do while getting paid and having fun.
Click the image to view more of his work.
ID: Where do you find your design inspiration?
JR: Pardon the cliché, but I get inspiration from everywhere. It could be in my surroundings, the patterns of leaves, the shapes of the clouds to the architecture of buildings. The various patterns and arrangements found in my surroundings truly fascinate me.
Other works of great artists inspire me as well. I mean which artist or designer has not been inspired by past practitioners? The only ones I could think of are prehistoric cavemen who made those ancient cave paintings and sculptures. The important thing in having others as inspiration is still staying innovative as well as making sure that my works are truly “inspired” and not rip-offs of other works.
ID: What’s Manila’s best kept design secret?
JR: Philippines are known worldwide for its beaches and tropical weather but we also have a lot of talent in the art and design scene.
Manila’s (The capital of the Philippines) best secret I guess is the amount of talent in the art and design industries here. Creatives here have the potential to match international talent in terms of output of art/design work.
Filipinos even win a lot of online international graphic and/or art contests in the Internet; to think competition comes from countries around the world. Examples of these are the graphic t-shirt design competitions where a lot of the winners are Filipinos.
ID: What do you think are the top three trends in Graphic Design today?
JR: From what I’ve observed, the top three trends in my opinion are:
1.) Retro elements – Retro elements such as classic ribbons with text on it, moustaches, as well as typography used in the 40’s and 50’s. I’ve just seen a lot lately (including some of my works – haha!). I guess a big inspiration for this trend is the surface of the Hipster sub-genre in culture.
2.) Clean and minimalist– For logos, here a few examples. Starbucks got rid of the text around the Mermaid and retained the Mermaid mark itself to represent the company. Microsoft Windows’ new logo is a very minimalist version of the famous Windows icon. Apple and Nike has done this for awhile.
Websites are getting cleaner as well, using less color and the power of great typography to bring out the message being communicated.
3.) Large Typography – Very large fonts in websites or posters used to both make the text the design itself as well as using appropriate typography as a way to communicate the message being conveyed.
ID: What’s the brightest Idea you had today?
JR: Waking up early for a run, eating a healthy breakfast of oatmeal and mangoes partnered with hot coffee – this BRIGHT IDEA of doing this most of the time will surely prolong my life.
ID: What do you like most about IdeaDemocracy?
JR: I have 3 specific things I like most about IdeaDemocracy, not just one.
First, they have IdeaContracts; which is a unique concept and is a far cry from the usual crowdsourcing websites, which makes the designer do speculative work only.
Secondly, I really like the portion where the client gives a brief to the designers. It is really in-depth and detailed, even going to a point to show the designers “IdeaStarters” of logos that they like in order to give the designers a great idea of what they really want.
Lastly, the founders of IdeaDemocracy are really approachable and helpful.
You can view jake’s profile on IdeaDemocracy here and you can view his website here