A Life of Pluses: DM9’s Herbert Hernandez at Raw School 2011

THE PHILIPPINES, OCTOBER 13, 2011: Being a creative director, a husband and a father, and a guitarist for two bands, Herbert Hernandez is quite the example of a man who balances his roles admirably.

 

Hernandez, however, doesn’t want to call it balancing. “I don’t balance my life; I maximize it because that’s what’s fun,” he told his Raw School students, who braved the rain to attend the class last October 12.

 

Different “worlds” outside the walls of the office, he said, provide different viewpoints and insights that could then be used in advertising. “I have four worlds,” the young award-winning creative director of DM9 JaymeSyfu said in the vernacular. “My family, two bands (Moonstar88 and 6CycleMind), and DM9. And I pick up a lot of insights from these four worlds.”

 

Hernandez talked about the “pluses” in life that spell the difference between monotony and productivity. Mobile phones, for example, are now used not only for communications purposes, but also for taking pictures, playing music or games, and even as a daily planner. People today, he said, should be the same so as not to be stuck in the rut. “Look at Manny Pacquiao. He’s a boxer and a politician and he’s a recording artist too! It doesn’t mean that he’s good in singing but he enjoys it. And we should all be like that.”

 

The pluses in life should also include different traits and attitudes. Hernandez put an emphasis on collaborative efforts, which for DM9 resulted in the much-acclaimed “Bruise” signature campaign for Gabriela.

 

The phrase “giving the extra mile”, though clichéd, is also a very important thought to apply in making ads. “Never, ever do anything that your clients can do for themselves,” Hernandez noted. “We’re being paid to do something different, something creative. Raise the bar (of your own works). It doesn’t mean that you’re required to win awards. Just raise the bar.”