With so much history and a large population tied to the language, its always perplexed me why there isn’t more work on Alibata, an ancient writing script of the Philippines.  Also known as Baybayin, I had referenced this writing in a previous post revealing some of its history and displaying my work with the language.  While I’ve studied it throughout the past few years, working to better understand and experiment with the language and typeface, many times I have wished to see other artists who work with the script and apply a modern style to the historic font in order to garner the respect of the design world today.

Meet Nico Puertollano, an artist hailing from Mandaluyong City of the Philippines with his upbringing in New York City.  Nico’s talented and unique artistic approach on the type is evident from the first glance of his homepage.  He’s taken the font and customized it to his liking before applying it to various canvases – skateboard decks, spray-painted walls, and murals immediately grabbed my attention.

Thankfully, Nico gave me the time to conduct an interview so that I can gain insight to his influences and his work.

Please Introduce Yourself

My name is Nico Puertollano and I was born in Manila, Philippines. I moved from to NYC when I was 8.  (I) Lived and went to grade school to college in NYC.  I got my BFA from the School of Visual Arts.  I knew from an early age I wanted to do something creative and visual.  After college I worked at Rhinofx in NYC.  At the same time I had a few art exhibits here and there.  Painting was always a passion of mine.  I moved back to Manila in 2004 where I met my wife and started 27+20 design boutique.  27+20 focuses on design for print and broadcast.

How Did You Get Into Alibata?

“…see how the script would have evolved if the Spanish and Americans did not take over the Philippines.”

I got into the whole Alibata thing back in college.  I was studying Japanese at the time.  I went to Japan a couple of times.  I think growing up in NYC I never really thought of myself as a Filipino, I had a great interest in Japanese culture and the martial arts but it was only later that I started to wonder about my own history.  Back in SVA I was really into typography and culture and I was studying the relationship between culture and language.  That triggered me to research about the Filipino language which led me to Alibata.  So since then I’ve been researching and understanding the script more in the cultural sense and trying to see how the script would have evolved if the Spanish and Americans did not take over the Philippines.

What Are Some Of Your Influences?

In terms in influences, I think I get a lot of inspirations from my friends who are also artists.  Music and movies are also a big influence and just the day to day daily grind.  Of course street art has had a big impact in me, growing up in NYC from the mid-80′s.

Can You Describe Your Artistic Process?

I am a bit of an introvert and I tend to pre visualize things… there are also times I just see colors and shapes in my head.  When I create a painting or a mural I often have music playing and the music is kinda what drives me to create…Usually with murals and painting I often just create at the moment…I seldom sketch the idea, I like the idea of creating at the moment and taking in all the things around you to inspire the creation.  I also think the idea of impermanence is a big part of my process.

Many thanks to Nico for the interview.  This guy means business so be sure to follow up on him through his website, hopefully we can collaborate on some Alibata projects together.  Big ups to this Kuya for taking this ancient text and helping it evolve.  Alibata will continue to make its resurgence into the world with artists like Mr. Puertollano.

All images are property of Nico Puertollano.

Tags: alibata, baybayin, nico puertollano, philippines artist

This entry was posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 1:36 am and is filed under Artists, Typography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.