GRAPHIC design has enjoyed a surge of popularity in the past couple of years, but it isn’t everyday that you see a shirt adorned with witticisms like “Kamias You Are” and “Boni Fasyon”. This tongue-in-cheek wit is what design group Electrolychee is best known for.
Founded in September 2005, Electrolychee is the result of “designing duo” Marcus Nada and Bernie Sim’s decision to be their own boss and form a designing group. From a list of possible names for the team, they chose Electrolychee because it suited the nature of their work most. The electro part is the vector graphics, while lychee, a fruit tree, symbolizes the manually drawn artworks.
It seems natural for Nada and Sim to put much thought into the name of the studio. Their drawing style says as much, and there are lots of things going on in one picture, making it feel like a collage. However, everything is thought-out and has a purpose. Indeed, as the two say, they manage to harmonize chaos.
Chaos, however, is not all that Electrolychee is. Nada, a UST Advertising Arts graduate in 1997, has a very clean and proper way of designing, according to Sim. The latter, who has a “self-taught” art background meanwhile, complements her partner-in-crime’s formally-schooled approach in designing. Sim took up Advertising Management in De La Salle University, and according to her, she did not take formal lessons in art.
The harmony of both trained and instinctual renderings is nowhere as evident as in their advertising campaigns, which range from the whimsical (a lipstick case featuring a girl and swirling petals) to the startling (a promotional poster for a music venue, with Beavis and Butthead-like illustrations). Their artworks do not really fall into a certain school of art, yet the way Electrolychee render pictures show the discipline that Nada has learned in Advertising.
Having important clients is nothing new for the two. Even before working as a team in Electrolychee, Nada and Sim had already established themselves separately, so they already had potential clients. A partial list includes companies like Nike, Shu Uemura, Pony, and Bratpack.
In 2006, Electrolychee worked with Nike on “3 Laws,” a campaign to launch the Nike Flight basketball shoes. The main illustration showed a basketball player in mid-dunk, with the advertising copy word “flight.”
In the same year, Electrolychee worked on the “Sum of All Parts” campaign, showcasing Nike’s Air 360 line.
“We’re just a small team, so when he has an idea and I have an idea, we just bounce it back and forth,” Sim told the Varsitarian.
Dealing with each for a major decision gives them the chance to branch out to more endeavors, both as Electrolychee and as individuals. Their own line which carries a wide range of merchandise called Strange Creations, highlights both their design talent and their humor. Strange Creations melds lifestyle with aesthetics as seen in its graphic t-shirts, pin buttons and plushies, making what Electrolychee calls as “wearable art.”
However, the two insist that Strange Creations is a backyard endeavor, something to keep them busy. Their aim is not to make money from their t-shirts, but rather to make their store serve as a creative outlet.
Admittedly, their designs appeal to a certain demographic. It is not hard to imagine Nada and Sim’s designs worn by the young and artistic. The distinctly local humor is something any Filipino can relate to and welcome.
But they say that foreigners have also bought their shirts simply because they like the designs. A visiting artist told them he liked their “Zumazaya” tee, which featured Zuma, a Filipino comics character famous in the 1950’s. The artist did not know the comic icon; he was just amused by the “green [man] skip-roping with a double-headed snake.”
What probably gave the two the most exposure were not their ad campaigns or Strange Creations, but rather their album cover designs for bands. Electrolychee has done work for artists like Cambio and Chillitees, lending their quirky renderings to albums Derby Light and Extra Rice, respectively.
Nothing is better than designing the album packaging for people who trust his (and Sim’s) vision, says Nada. Adding to that, mutual respect is something that makes the project even more enjoyable. He says that the secret is to try and put one’s self out in the market. Introduce one’s work and if that is good enough, one is bound to get noticed.
“They get us not to do what they want but what we really enjoy doing, which is a good enough proposition for anyone else,” said Nada.
Coming from people who, when asked to describe their studio in three words, say they are “playful,” “organic,” and “astig,” it could not be any other way.
