WBW 25: Fulfilment Doesn't Fall on Your Lap, It's a Decision You Make

Once when you felt unhappy with what you were doing and someone told you to "appreciate what you have", did you think it was full of BS? Sucking it up more often than not makes you settle for less as oppose to finding your fulfilment. But pursuing your passion takes guts. It involves making difficult decisions which includes resigning from your job, starting a venture with no business background, turning down sucky but financially rewarding jobs and having a lifestyle adjustment. Watch how Marcushiro and Bru share their journey of creating Electrolychee and the decisions they have made to make this a very passionate, fulfilling and fun endeavor.

Who is Electrolychee?

Electrolychee is a local design studio that was formed by two young and passionate individuals that give Electrolychee its brand and identity – Marcushiro and Bru.

Both individuals graduated from UST and DLSU respectively and both worked in publications and music industry. With their common passion for art and with the respect both of them earned from peers in the industry, in 2005, after 5 years of working, they decided volt in and form Electrolychee.

Specializing within the realms of slick, computer-generated vector art and organic, hand-drawn imagery and having started producing Electrolychee branded merchandise, they are already on their journey towards success in making Electrolychee not only a design studio but a lifestyle store as well.

Some extra info

As mentioned by Marcushiro and Bru, they're very much in the music scene. Currently, aside from Electrolychee, Marcushiro is part of bands Bagetsafonik (click here for the band's MySpace page) and Corporate Lofi.

And as shown - as a bonus - at the end of the show, Electrolychee is also involved in animation film stints like that of Just Tiis League - "an animated short that reflects how ordinary Filipinos cope up with the everyday urban living in the Philippines."

When asked what's his greatest failure?

When asked what's his greatest success?

Show notes:

Where did Electrolychee come from? Where did the idea come from?

• Bru was retrenched when the company she worked in shut down. Marcushiro who was working in a sister publication decided to resign at the same time
• They were tired of having to time in everyday at work and doing boring drawing and layout work
• They had a common respect for each other’s work and recognized that their works complemented each other. Thus, Electrolychee was born

Before Electrolychee…

• When they were young, both of them already liked drawing
• Marcus had inclinations towards art when he was in elementary and high school but only realized that he wanted a career in art when he took up Fine Arts in UST
• Bru had the typical Chinese thrust of taking up a business and took up Advertising Mgt in DLSU. Still pursued artistic extra curriculars such as the school paper. All the jobs

First Few Months

• Before starting, they already were doing book covers, album covers, and a lot of children’s illustrations, but what took off was the album packaging that they did
• With their love for music, they would frequently go to gigs and approach the bands and offer their design services for the band’s album. Some were free but some gave indie rates.
• With the smaller projects, they have more artistic freedom
• They did not mind doing it for free for people, it becomes part of your portfolio
• They were able to do some projects that caught attention in the music industry and among agencies and Electrolychee took off from there
• Up to now, they would still do some projects for an indie fee as long as they like the music
• Fortunately, all the projects that approach them are the ones they would want to work on

What do you get out of this?

• Feeling of satisfaction that you are able to express what you want in your work
• People responding to the work you’ve done
• Other designers would just follow a peg and that would stunt their creativity. They don’t want to be in this position

Process for coming up with a design

• Ask the client to provide a full creative brief
• If they like the project as described in the brief, they would decide which of them would be more fit to take lead on the project
• Get inspiration from books, internet, or just go out and look for it
• They would then send studies and pass it to the client
• To help with drawing inspiration, they would always have a sketchbook and just doodle ideas
• Their sketchbooks is a rich idea source for many of their projects

Did you ever have an experience on a big project with lots of revenue but did not turn out as planned?

• There have been some projects where no one would follow up and then nagkatamaran and all you want to do is just wrap up the project
• There have not been any projects which they’ve hated
• If they don’t like a project, they would turn it down
• If they will be talking with big companies, they would charge a larger amount for the hassle of the red tape, the egos, etc.
• Luckily, there have not really been any bad experiences which did not work out. There were some clients who would cancel their project. All their projects still end up a win-win situation.

Following the "practical"

• People will not be happy if they follow their wallet
• If you are not happy, what is the point of the money?
• It is easier to do something that you love because you are inspired. You enjoy every step of the process and the outcome as well
• People respond to something that is creative and well done
• It's not as fulfilling monetary wise, but there are ways to make your passion profitable
• When they started in 2005, they started it not because other people wanted them to do it, but because they really wanted to do it

Have their been times when you think you would have been a better person if you stayed in your old jobs?

• Marcushiro answers he  could have been richer in the advertising world, but bugbog sila. Something he decided against
• So it boils down to a lifestyle choice
• They work to save enough money for travel around the Philippines and rest of Asia
• Travel is an expense of the company since they draw inspiration from it

Tips for the viewers

• You should pursue what you love, what you envision doing up until you retire
• For designers looking for their own style, it will really take time. Just do a lot of work. You can pick up work from other people, but eventually you will have to evolve into your own style.
• It helps that you have previous jobs before starting your own business
• You pick up work skills, computer skills, people skills

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