IT’s hard not to notice how different they are. Especially compared to most people their age. They don’t dress differently—at least, not in the stereotypical way creative people are known to dress—nor do they act in any overtly strange or different manner. They seem comfortable enough around this writer, who only a day earlier, called them out of the blue to talk to them about the thesis exhibit they organized along with the rest of their graduating batch of Visual Communication and Industrial Design majors. They’re used to talking, it seems. And they certainly have a lot to say.

The best demonstration that the mind works independently of the body is through drawing. Provided, of course, that you’re terrible at it. If you are, then you know how it is: you look at things and you know you have a good grasp of color, depth perception, and attention to detail. But when proceed to commit on paper what you see, stick figures come to life, playing with chicken wire.

THERE is no denying that Kish, a lifestyle home store located in the posh neighborhood of Greenbelt 3 in Ayala Center, always rivets the attention of people passing by with their collection of colorful furniture designed for modern homes and offices.

THE art of tattoo, despite its increasing popularity, still summons up a certain stigma because of the stereotypes attached to them. Rather than the historical and cultural significance of this art form, what has actually been retained in people’s minds are the negative associations that television or literature has attached to it. And, largely, it was to dissuade these notions that tattoo lovers and art enthusiasts spearheaded the first major tattoo convention held recently at the Garahe Bar in Malate, Manila.

WHEN it comes to industrial design, very few can come close to how the very quirky Apple Computer has changed the way people look at, not just computers, but other similar hi-tech devices as well. From the very first all-in-one Macintosh computer to the latest Mac Mini and iPod Shuffle, Apple has provided some of the most fascinating eye candy to ever grace people’s desktops and beyond over the years. It didn’t hurt that Apple’s hardware delights were, and are, still extremely useful.

Contemporary Binondo design architecture, when arrayed against the traditional richness of Chinese ornamentation, falls as prosaic as any modern, bottomline-oriented commercial enterprise could get. Go to any Binondo eatery and, save, for the signage and other literature, there is nothing that would make you feel any different from a visit to any other street-corner carinderia anywhere else in the country. One can argue, of course, that when you’re in Binondo, you don’t need design atmospherics, with the abundance of glorious food at your (dinghy, rickety, formica) table to occupy your attention.

Full-on fashion people know that a store or an atelier is no mere selling floor.