MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Oro Design Conference, positioned as Northern Mindanao’s premier design conference, wrapped up its fifth edition last May 31. This time, it featured a cool blue motif and brought together five designers from five different cities across the Visayas and Mindanao.
ODC25 brought in five powerhouse voices from across the VisMin creative landscape: homegrown talent Antler Studios, Julz Arboleda of Dotted Studios from Iligan, Stephanie Tudtud-Guibani of Cebu-based Whitebrick, Jad Maza, the Iloilo-based typographer, and Marvin Te of Davao’s Plainly Simple.
Starting off with Angkie Borres of Antler Studios, the name Antler isn’t just personal. It started as a play on his name, but he was charmed by its almost folklore-like symbolism, where he says he gets his “magical touch” in design. Although he has full-time work, he has managed to maintain this one-man studio for seven years now. His biggest takeaway from years of practice might just be the basic thought that as designers, doing good for clients and for the self allows everything else to follow.
Second was Julz of Dotted Studios, who came all the way from Iligan. Speaking onstage was a full-circle moment. From sitting in the crowd at past ODCs to now being one of the speakers, his journey proves that design begins with a single point: an idea.
For Julz, everything starts with a dot. And when that dot—yours—meets another dot—a client’s—that is where something powerful can emerge. This is where the name of his studio comes in.
His mission is to go beyond just making beautiful designs, but to create beautiful differences.
Then came Cebu-based studio Whitebrick, represented by Creative Director Stephanie. She came in with a rallying cry: better is the new black.
In her talk, aside from real-life case studies, she emphasized the weight of collaboration not just as a tool for better output but as a buffer against creative burnout. She emphasized that asking for help is a strength, and that through collaboration, bigger things can happen.
It was her final notes that posed a challenge to the crowd: it’s not that people don’t value creative work, but that some people do not value the process. It was a call to take no shortcuts and to return to doing things with our hands. That last point, perhaps, was a nod to her background in papercrafts.
Coming in fourth was Jad, a typographer from Iloilo, who made type personal as a way to showcase national pride and make our culture more visible. He noted that typography is everywhere, and if it is everywhere, where are the Filipinos in the picture?
He created Maragsa in 2020, a typeface inspired by the kudlit, a mark from our native scripts. For him, typography isn’t just letters — it’s storytelling. Through letters, Filipino culture can be seen and heard. For him, it is both a quiet protest and a proud celebration of heritage. He ended his talk that it is not only through words that stories can be told, but that letters themselves possess the power to tell beautiful stories.
Last was Marvin of Plainly Simple from Davao, who shattered the myth of the “born creative.” He didn’t grow up drawing or designing, but through constant practice, he grew into it. His advice was clear: start with the basics. Learn the rules before you play with them.
His reflections on AI were practical, not panicked. He acknowledged that this technology is here to stay, and emphasized the importance of building systems that support creativity, especially for those who don’t feel naturally creative, this a full circle to his background that creativity can be learned.
We can safely say that Oro Design Conference continues to shine brightly as a creative hotspot, hopefully not just in Northern Mindanao, but in spreading a creative revolution throughout the entire VisMin region.
This event is led by the Oro Design Collective, proudly sponsored by Chingkeetea, VjANDEP Bakeshop of Camiguin, Anglerfish Print and Design Studio, and supported by the Communication Design Association of the Philippines.
