Playing outdoors can look different for everyone. It can be in the literal sense of playing with friends, going outside, having fun. It can also be in the figurative sense of experiencing what life has to offer, no matter how grand or mundane that is. In all these things however, everything and anything starts with the outside—nature, cityscape, and the community.
adidas City Lab explored this idea by working with artists to craft art and design–which translated to tangible products like shirts and patches. Through our conversations with the adidas collaborators Jer Dee, Finn Santos, Awkwardbutable, and Therese Luna, we discussed their own interpretations of “playing outdoors”, their perception on what constitutes “outside”, and their various interests that contributed to how they made their designs convey a profound and interesting experience for people who will come across them.
Jer interprets playing outdoors as going outside and connecting with people. “Playing outdoors means going outside and connecting with people, and just feeling the love,” he shared. “It’s also dancing to music in a club—even if you don’t know the people around you, when you’re dancing, you can feel the connection with each other. Ultimately, playing outdoors is relative to the people I interact with, with the environment also playing a big factor. My interactions with people fuel my understanding of the outdoors, which includes talking to strangers, conversing with people and getting to know their niches and interests, and seeing our similarities in the end.”
“For me, playing outdoors really is informal playing—it’s just practice, not competitive at all, and there’s that element of community in it.” Finn said as he defined the prompt. “There’s always happiness involved, like that is what the sun in the t-shirt design is representing. I also made a goal of walking 10,000 steps a day, and through this, I explored my city more. I saw the different old signages, store designs and through that, I grew a deeper appreciation and understanding of my locality’s creative culture.”
Cyrill, on the other hand, finds that playing outdoors is finding that third place. “Since we’re always too busy with work and with life, these places are often lost and disregarded. I want to find third places where I can be myself with my friends and families. ”
Finally, as Therese interprets playing outdoors as simply stepping outside. “Growing up in Metro Manila, I’ve been surrounded by buildings but also by trees, the sky, fresh air. This is why stepping outside is important in my creative process, and something that I consider as my definition for playing outdoors. When I’m stuck, I physically step away from my work as it helps me clear my head. This appreciation for nature translates to my work filled with the outdoors.”
Filipino culture and creativity thrive especially when the outdoors is involved. For these designers, playing outdoors often has a huge role in their creative processes. The outdoors is a powerful source of creativity, inspiration, and ambition. Get to know the designers and gain better appreciation for their adidas City Lab designs below.
Jer Dee
Jer Dee is a visual artist, creative director, and DJ. For adidas City Lab, he initially thought of using an ubiquitous definition for the prompt, “playing outdoors”. For adidas City Lab, he initially thought of portraying basketball games–a sport well-loved by the Filipinos with barangay competitions being a common sight in the Filipino backdrop; or diskuhan, a communal activity done in the same way.
However, upon much thought, he ultimately decided to focus on street games as a way to showcase the Filipino spirit. A staple in one’s Filipino childhood, street games capture the Filipino spirit with the dynamic energy, teamwork, innovation, and resourcefulness–translated visually with the repeating linework in his design. It also focuses on the aura and energy of the figures rather than its details.
“I want people to see and feel that it’s not a literal interpretation of ‘playing outdoors.’ I want them to insert themselves into the art, feel whatever they feel, and experience how they define the Filipino spirit,” Jer has said regarding what he wants people to experience.
Finn Santos
Finn Santos is a layout artist and designer for brands such as Nobody Clothing, RadioHi, and the like. He also runs and manages Freedom Print Lab where lots of creatives have their art printed. While he started design as a hobby, he realized that there’s a need for printing shops that are catered to creatives like him. Hence, Freedom Print Lab was born.
For this collaboration, he still wanted to promote his city—Marikina. In his t-shirt design, he recreated the Marikina Sports Center, a sports complex that has garnered the love and appreciation for locality from Finn’s point-of-view.
“For me, I want the audience to find the layers I put into my work. It’s not enough that it is just eye-candy. When they see it, and they find it aesthetically-pleasing, then that’s still okay for me. It would be better, though, if they see it, then they realize what the reference is. For the latter, it’s more fulfilling for me. My work is just a gateway to a more profound concept they can still research about,” Finn shared.
Cyrill Acuña aka awkwardbutable
Cyrill Acuña, mostly known by his username awkwardbutable, is a freelance illustrator also from Marikina City. His art style focuses on telling Filipino stories that focus on the most mundane parts of life. His world as awkwardbutable is an antithesis of what he was used to creating when he was younger—something grand, perfect. Now, he just finds the charm in little things instead.
For adidas City Lab, his design was an ode to a previous art piece of his that fits the theme of “playing outdoors.” As someone who often illustrates, he has had a lot of prompts, ideas, concepts that he kept at his disposal.. He went back to the inspiration he had in 2020 which focuses on Marikina–a place that has a balance between city and province, and how, in both cases, we see the common theme of maximalism. That is what he wanted to showcase in this collaboration.
“For me, playing outdoors is exploring and living alongside the grit and textures of our streets. It doesn’t mean to romanticize the idea of it but by just living and doing our most mundane everyday errands and work we are interacting with our culture. I want people to feel that they can relate to my art and that it is accessible also for the general audience,” Cyrill said to us.
Therese Luna
Therese Luna is a type designer and an art director at a tech company who likes to spend her time doing art projects. For her, type is an art form in itself. It is something present in our everyday lives.
“While we’re just used to seeing these things as we know it, there are people, type designers, who really study how to make things both pretty and functional,” she shared. For this collaboration, she wants people to notice the effort that these people put in their craft.
She has always been in awe of how much inspiration is out there when going around Metro Manila—from store signages to packaging to old magazines–all of these things have striking and vibrant colors. She loves how the “Filipino aesthetic” can’t just be pinned down to one specific look—it is, instead, an amalgamation of different visual elements, styles, influences she hoped to translate into different letters and numbers.
“I want the patches to give people a stronger appreciation for Filipino typography or signages. When we’re so used to seeing something, there inevitably lies a deeper appreciation for it since we see it so much. It also helps promote this art form, a craft that has been done by so many people,” Therese shared.
The exclusive collaborative project with adidas for City Lab is now available in local adidas stores in Trinoma, Glorietta, and Two Parkade in BGC.
CREDITS
WRITER Ina Palaruan
EDITOR Tricia Quintero
PHOTOGRAPHER Zaldine Alvaro
DESIGNER Bea Pangandian
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH adidas Philippines
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