Punchdrunk Panda

Personal Blog, Portfolio

(Overseas) entrepreneur; white cheddar popcorn junkie; bread and peanut butter is my life.

1a. How would you describe your art (style)?
• This is honestly tough to answer cause I don’t know my personal style. I never really went through formal training on graphic design so I learned by mirroring whatever inspired me. Sometimes, I fail and sometimes, I get lucky.
• However, I really like child-like design (i.e. kite runner) and if I had more spare time and talent, I would love to be a children’s book illustrator. I think that’s a cool hobby! :)

1b. Do you have any favorite materials to work with?
• I love my Bamboo tablet. I was cheap when I bought this, so I got the cheapest Wacom tablet. It’s still serving me well.
• I used to love colored pencils but boy, it’s been so long since I held one.

2. What have you been up to nowadays?
• I don’t think it’s a surprise that I’m not based in Manila. I’ve been pretty transparent about it.
• I’m based in Toronto, Canada and after I completed my MBA at Queen’s, I was lucky enough to fool people that I can do brand marketing ;) I manage Orville Redenbacher’s, a popcorn brand, and despite it being detrimental to my waistline, I am loving every single day of it!
• Not to say that I don’t love running Punchdrunk Panda. I’m lucky to have committed staff, business partners, and volunteers to help me out as well. I love helping local artists. I love looking back at how Jen and I started, and how PdP has evolved. Being able to establish Punchdrunk Panda is probably one of my greatest achievements to date and I’d like to thank everyone who has been supportive of it.
• Other than work, I love adventures. I love challenging myself mentally and physically. I know. I sound crazy. But anyway, this is the reason why I join races and run like an energizer bunny, and partake in adventure-type travels. By the time this is posted, I’ll probably be biking in French Pyrenees. I read that it’s not an easy ride but I’m really looking forward to the scenery and meeting new people! Just recently, I signed up for this marine bootcamp training – it was probably one of the toughest things I had to do, physically and mentally, but I’m glad I completed it. Not too sure if I’m going to do it again but if I do, it’s something I definitely have to train for.

3. Where do you draw your inspiration from?
• Passionate and optimistic people. When I talk about inspiration, I’m not only referring to art. I’m referring to my life’s inspiration.
• How I got to where I am right now is not exactly a straight path. There were definitely a LOT of bumps and detours along the way… but then I read books about start-ups, hear my manager’s story on his path to success, and stories like that, and I’m inspired to just keep. on. going.
• Relating this to art/PdP, I fancy Maxim Cyr (http://www.behance.net/recycledwax), Meomi (http://www.meomi.com), and Rob Cham’s works.

4. What do you think about the current state of art in the Philippines?
• I think we’re starting to see a proliferation of young artists right now. I may be oversimplifying things but typically, artistic people would just go to ad agencies, where most of their creativity gets overshadowed by the size of a brand logo. But I think local artists are becoming gutsier now – looking for other opportunities to showcase their creativity.

5. What do you like best about working with PdP OR What can we expect from your future designs?
• Oh, I own PdP so my answer will be very biased. I am the best boss ever! Kidding!
• I think PdP still continues to surprise people and I’m always looking forward to how consumers react to our product launches. Facebook likes, Tumblr reblogs, etc. excite me!
• Rather than talking about my future designs, I’ll just talk about future PdP designs. Definitely, designs from PdP/PdP’s artists will be more inspirational. We’ll launch designs that are centered on personal growth, promoting the Philippines, conserving energy, and all that tree hugging themes. I know, it sounds boring and limiting but PdP will prove that inspirational messages don’t necessarily have to be bland.

6. Any parting words of advice for our readers? (Can be anything: for those who want to pursue art, general advice for personal growth/motivation, etc)
• Pick one of these 3 mantras and you’ll be in a better spot tomorrow:
o People make time for the things they want and make excuses for those that they don’t
o Flow to the work
o Rough it!

Gail is one of the founders of Punchdrunk Panda as well as its current owner. You can find her current available designs for the brand HERE. Her latest design is the camera strap Ride With Me, where she showcases her love for biking and going on adventures.