Uniqlo’s flagship store in Manila arrived as a celebration of the exciting ideas and discoveries brought by Filipinos to the Philippines’ capital region. The campaign, called Heart of the Future, gave me and my co-designers at Plus63 Design Co. an opportunity to represent the city’s diverse energy in a series of illustrations that decorated the store at launch.

Following an open-ended brief from Anonymous, the Singapore-based team helming the campaign, we imagined Metro Manila as a beating heart that pulsed with the movement and creativity of its residents. Each poster in the series depicts different facets of life in Manila, with mine focused on the workers who tend to the city’s growth.

Like my co-designers, I was given the liberty to deliver this message in my own style. I mapped the illustration with branching veins that connected the laborers of the region: our farmers, teachers, street cleaners, builders, and the million others who commute to work everyday. The work was a departure from my experience drawing flora, which allowed me to expand and prove my range as an illustrator.

This and my co-designers’ illustrations appeared in most of Uniqlo’s promotional materials: on paper bags, billboards, store banners, and on Japanese folding fans available exclusively during the launch.

Professional or Personal
Professional

Creative Discipline
Illustration

Role in Project
I worked on this project under Plus63 Design Co. I conceptualised and illustrated the artwork based on the theme assigned to me called "Work". My drawing interprets what Work meant in the context of Manila and the Philippines. The creative director gave us the freedom to use our own illustration styles in making the artworks.

Project Credits
Creative director: Dan Matutina
Other illustrators for the series: Craig Halili, Joanna Malinis, Dan Matutina