Dual Story

Tattoo artist and skateboarder Boots Brandon of Redeemed Tattoo has escaped death twice. His journey from artist to entrepreneur took him on a series of side roads that, not unlike the early Visayan pintados, required a warrior's spirit and an ability to withstand pain.

We visited his studio to see how he does his grayscale creations, which now attract a steady following in the likes of Jericho Rosales and Bea Gomez.

Read more about his ten-year run in a soon-to-be-published project. We're down to the finish line! See you this September for the launch!

Growing to become the largest coffee chain in the Philippines, Bo's Coffee returns to the island of its origin, Cebu, for its 28th-anniversary celebration.

The Coffee Appreciation Session led by Head Coffee Developer Karl Vasquez showcased beans from their farming communities where they work with social enterprises like The Dream Coffee & Tea and Kalsada Coffee to make the coffee chain more equitable for farmers.

We're showing you some scenes from this event branding and activation, which is just one of the many collaborations we've had with the brand for the past five years.

Ugh, five, who'd have thought we'd celebrate our Year 5 too. We now have a better appreciation for the grit it takes for brands in any industry to sustain themselves and their passions. Thanks, Bo's Coffee, for this partnership marked in similar values since the start.

If you’re like us, you might be constantly confused about balancing your legit serial entrepreneur side with your creative side. Because we don’t work in ultra-corporate settings, a creative wardrobe goes beyond just a power suit.

In our July learning sessions, Cebuano fashion designer, painter, and lecturer Edwin Ao shows us how to balance both sides. Edwin has presented his collections in Malaysia, Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, and Paris. We humbly welcomed him to our tiny office as he gave us the rundown on dressing with the brand in mind.

What about you? What's your go-to meeting outfit?

The intern game is strong this year! We're so excited to show these talented student designers the messy, unfiltered, and imperfect side of creation and to learn some new design trends from them as well.

Welcome to the Dual Den, Jake (CIT-U), Jhona (CIT-U), and Maia (USC)!

Socialized housing developer Johndorf Ventures has given VisMin homebuyers bang for their buck for nearly 40 years. But when they approached Dual Story in 2022, the real estate supply chain shifted: land was getting pricier.

This shift required a rethink too of what type of projects they needed to direct their efforts to. As the competitive development scene in the Philippines continues to grow, Johndorf realized they now need to open other segments in the lower and upper middle market as well. This rebrand prepares them for their expanding verticals.

Dual Story ensured the revamped look matches their new strategy, ensuring doors are opened for the company and aspiring homeowners nationwide.

When artist and community maker Wyndelle Remonde grew tired of the commercial mill of artistry, he retreated to his hometown, Argao, and adaptively reused a dilapidated resort. Wyndelle transformed it into a coastal artist retreat. He also opened Studio 201 Gallery for fellow creators to exhibit their work.

When we visited him months ago, a storm was brewing. Wyndelle is in the middle of that maelstrom now. Details on how to extend a neighborly hand in this post.

Watch out for the full article on a soon-to-be-launched project.

Lookie, a Stevie! Our friends and collaborators from the Mandaue City Public Information Office turned in our co-designed campaign, "Move Mandaue," which won a Bronze in Innovation.

The Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards is an international business awards competition open to organizations in the Asia-Pacific region. It recognizes innovation in all its forms.

While still on its crawl stage, we're happy that more cities see the importance of identity-finding. Congratulations, Mandaue!

The DREAM Program was a direct design solution to the gap creators in Region 7 constantly grapple with: how do we run the business side of the creative business?

Throughout the ten-week set of modules, we learned from each other, tested our concepts, refined our models, and realized that the creative ecosystem in Central Visayas is more diverse than we thought.

We're happy to co-design this online program with DTI Region 7 Central Visayas and The Company CEBU, and even happier to have connected with friends from Bohol, Siquijor, and Negros Oriental.

Here are the participants on pitch day last May 16, 2024. And here's to strengthening the creative ecosystem, friends.

We can't wait to see each other's visions take off!

In the middle of the sweltering heat, we traveled north of the city to visit artist Ronyel Compra as he forages for raw materials for his art. He finds termite mounds at the back of an empty property. Ronyel brings it back to a poultry house, now serving as his studio, mixing water and other natural emulsifiers before transferring to canvas.

This May, highlighted by the Araw ng Manggagawa, we remember the hard, often laborious work it takes to elevate tactile material to art, as well as the connection of the natural world to its making.

Watch out for Ronyel's breakdown of his design process in an upcoming soon-to-be-revealed project.

Keep safe in this rising heat index, friends!

Diagnostic tests, while a critical component of healing, can be traumatizing. A cramped lab, delayed results, and unhygienic practices can cause patients to step back from practicing proactive healthcare.

Found in Banilad Town Center, Cebu, One Health Access borrows components from the hospitality industry, such as private rooms, a restful ambiance, and a wellness concierge, to improve and "redefine healthcare and wellness for every Cebuano." The idea is to provide clinical expertise without the clinical experience.

From ideation to their recent launch this April, we started working with the OHA team in 2022, nurturing their vision to find "a better way to get better."

What do you think of this image build?

📍One Health Access is at the Second Floor of Banilad Town Center

We’re going to space, the tech space that is!

For our friends in the creative tech circle, applications are now open for the 7th Cohort of the Startup Island PH Mentoring Program.

Startup Island has churned out successful ventures that have gone on to receive Series A and Series B funding. They welcome teams with disruptive ideas and big, hairy, audacious goals!

Here's what you can expect:
🚀 Mentorship: Valuable insights from a network of seasoned entrepreneurs
🚀 Skills Development: Business model development, fundraising, and go-to-market strategies through exclusive workshops.
🚀 Network: Connect with fellow founders and industry experts
🚀 Community: Collaborate alongside passionate founders in Cebu's vibrant startup scene

Applications close on May 10, 2024.
✍️ Apply now at bit.ly/SIPHNow!
For more info, go to: .Ph

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In partnership with DTI Region 7 Central Visayas , The Company CEBU , and Digital

BEAUTIFUL ALEGRIA is the official campaign of the municipality of Alegria [Alegria Cebu Tourism Office]. It strives to rediscover the municipality's abundance beyond its popular waterfall canyoneering trail.

As the doorway to Mt. Lanaya and home to the School for Organic Farming, Alegria has the produce for farm tourism. The mountain breeze and rolling hills away from the drones of city life make it an ideal slowcation spot too. Our habal-habal driver aptly described it as "usa ka plete nalang padung langit," just a short ride away to heaven.

What do you think of our campaign logo ex*****on and visual identity?

Alegria, Cebu, is the municipality you shouldn't sleep on if you're looking for a watering hole to cool down in this March heat.

While they’ve been called the "Sleeping Giant of Cebu” before, Alegria hustles to gain recognition for their safe canyoneering (seven jumps from seven falls, dang!) and their multi-awarded organic produce.

We visited them to do a design sprint with their council and work mainly on their logo. Together, we found anthropological indicators of the colors and symbols representing their spirit of alegre (happiness).

After a municipality ordinance approving the proposal, Alegria now has a new logo. This maximalist symbol has a place for each of the nine barangays. Each icon can be taken apart and used independently.

Thank you to Alegria Cebu Tourism Office for hosting and creating a collaborative space for us.

📷: Photo 1: of Cancalanog Falls

This International Women's Month, we visited the women artists and artisans of Caohagan for a soon-to-be-revealed project. There's much to learn from them about our visual culture and creative practices, such as how they combine colors and stitch their top layers.

The quilters of Caohagan sew stories that draw inspiration directly from their immediate environment—the sun, waves, dogs, trees, and colors of the island—and yet, while facing the same material every day, each fabric artist free-motion quilts a different piece from scrap fabric every time.

Our managing editor, Lara Eviota, and creative director, Bunny Bailoses, share some field notes from this trip (not including the part where their boat almost capsized; that's for another time 😳).

In the meantime, Happy International Women's Month to all the babaes in our lives. Thank you for being the creative force where everything springs forth!

We're excited to partner with DTI Region 7 Central Visayas, Company CEBU, , , and other award-winning creatives from the Visayas (names to be announced) for the redesigned DREAM PROGRAM specifically with the creative entrepreneur in mind.


DO YOU:
* operate an online creative business, formal or informal (one year and counting)
* dream of growing your passion into a sustainable livelihood?
* want to improve your creative portfolio for local and national clients?
* want to be prioritized in government opportunities for creatives?
* feel the need to grow your network of mentors and fellow creatives?

Enroll for a 12-session online program that takes you from A to Z of running an online creative business.

The DREAM Program runs you through Contract Management, Time and Project Management, Business Registration, and more—all with the creative in mind.

📅 Applications are open until March 8, 2024 (Friday).
✍️ Register now at https://bit.ly/JoinDREAM2024

Life is hectic. Life is stressful. But whatever happens, breathe. No matter how short, the time you’ve been given to do so becomes an opportunity for transformation.

Set in the Balinese-inspired grounds of Crimson Resort and Spa Mactan and Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay, Aum Spa gives you that time to breathe–to chant a grounding aum–amidst the hustle of everyday life.

Look at some corporate applications we designed for their in-house spa brand. Ready to get your self-care on? 🧘

Crimson Resort and Spa Mactan and Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay recently reopened their in-house spa brand Aum Spa.

When they talked to us about a brand refresh, we knew we needed to deepen our cultural understanding of the word so it would emanate better in practice. "Aum" is a sacred Buddhist practice, a chant to realign mind and body.

By serendipity, we also found a Baybayin term,umaum, which means a maternal hug. We saw this finding as an opening to pivot the brand into a more Filipino-leaning identity with "Rituals that Reset."

More examples of this rebranding out soon.
Congratulations, Aum Spa!

What is your creative ritual? We're starting our first Kinutil Session- our monthly learning session- with some good old Kinutil.

Kinutil, which means "to stir" in Binisaya, is also a concoction from the highlands of Cebu drank mostly by farmers. Tuba or coconut wine is mixed with raw egg and cacao for a potent combination intended to loosen tongues and minds.

This month, we tackled the topic of Trademarks and Copyrights with IP Expert Atty. Josh Ventura. We can't wait to share some of the IP head-turners we learned from Cebu's IP Expert.

What do you think we should tackle in our next session? Here's to drinking some hard knowledge, friends! Happy Sunday!

📷: Special thanks to our partner, PointUp Studios , for documenting.

What started as a dream to "share the joy of healing to all" just expanded into multiple platforms. From an urban center in Sikatuna Street to this Wholeness Farm in Busay, Wellnessland enables everyone to take control of their health through training in clean eating, permaculture, breath work, and other tools for sustainable well-being.

The brand identity extends to the center and the farm as they both come from the same vision. We also designed joyful elements that they can expand and stack together (see for instance the different color combinations that pair well no matter what intensity you use them) so it's easy to diversify usage as they grow their built environment, ecosystem, and brand equity.

Congratulations to partner collaborator Wellnessland Wholeness Farm! Can't wait to try those wellness packages soon! Check out their page on Airbnb to book your stay.

Wellnessland Urban Center's approach to healing is all about joy, and never fear. Making it their reason for being to awaken man's consciousness to heal themselves and each other, this movement in Katungod Street is led by couple Drs. Romy and Milagros Paredes, who both saw a different paradigm when it comes to well-being and health.

Here, they have a community center, a treatment area, a cafe, and a grocery that helps you transition easily to a more holistic way of being.

Our touchpoint design elements and carefully chosen applications aim to create a more friendly atmosphere, not found in any other medical clinic in Cebu.

Every year, we make resolutions based on big themes like wellness. Our team is no different. It seemed provident then to collaborate with a brand whose essence is to "bring the joy of healing to all," just as we were starting to push for corporate wellness.

The start of our partnership with was made in the stars. Trying to learn more about wellness, our CEO visited the clinic of Author and Wellness Expert Dr. Romy Paredes as a patient to try and take control and simplify her health habits.

"Wellness is a letting go thing," Dr. Paredes said, going on to teach the simplest methods of health and healing. "People get sick because of two things: excess and deficiency. Merong excess sa katawan na dapat wala, at merong absent sa katawan na dapat meron."

We are delving deeper into the practice now, and it has helped the team simplify logo systems and visual structures for this commission as well. Dr. Paredes didn't want a new logo, having already generated substantial brand equity for over eight years. He just wanted to have a better structure to fit a new model and venture.

What do you think of the new brand identity? More tea (yes, far healthier than coffee we've been told) about this project soon!

Hello, 2024! Starting the year with a monthly series of secret studio sessions called Kinutil, which true blue Cebuanos will understand as "to stir." 🍵

Our studio is small but we can accommodate two or three friends interested in these sessions to join. Our first round this January 26 will be about the currency of the creative industries (drumroll please) 🥁🥁🥁: intellectual property.

Learn about copyrights and trademarks from Atty. Josh Carol Ventura of UC Law and Pepito and Ventura Law Offices. Send us a PM if you're interested.

Here's to a learning and stirring year, friends!

A celebration that reflects what many of us in the team wish for each in 2024--deep rest, everyday well-being, and the quiet security the creative community longs for, and deserves.

Merry Christmas to all our partners, collaborators, and fellow crazies. We're taking our solstice break but we come out of hibernation first thing on January 02, 2024. See you then, friends!

P.S. We miss everyone in the squad who couldn't join us physically. Zoom date soon!

How are your holidays going? Before we sign off, share with you our continuing work for "Your Homegrown Brew."

Our love affair with Bo's Coffee goes back to 2014. It is an evolution of what manifesting Filipino means for the biggest national coffee chain as it deepens its identity as a proudly local brand.

With its first Paskong Pinoy Christmas Tree Launch in Cebu, we return to where it all started for this homegrown brand. Working with them on the key visual identities, key opinion leader outreach, and overall event management, we recognize the spirit of collaboration that continues to run between us.

It's always good when a client says the output is "better than they imagined." 'Til next time, Bo's Coffee! Maayong Pasko sa tanan!

Thank you to our constant collaborators, Spotlight Events and Pointup Films. We couldn't have done this without you!

Before December turns everything merry and bright, we'd like to sit with the sentiment of the month when it started: remembering that all of us live with the absence of someone.

While love is grieved forever, planning for eventual demise allows you to grieve without the distraction of financial burden. This was our approach when we took on the challenge of branding .memorialpark.

As the only private cemetery in Northern Cebu, the branding needed to match the entity's exclusivity level while the colors had to assist the company's financial agents in marketing a pre-use product. So, we took inspiration from bold colors usually found in financial literacy and preparedness brands, while adding gray tones as base.

Overall, we feel the brand is the right balance of sad sweet, respectful of the nature of its function but anchoring on the living. What do you think of how we tackled this brand?

We believe that design is the intangible thread that makes society push for better.

At Dual Story, we strive to foster a design culture of endless curiosity, adaptation, and exploration.

If you're interested in being one of us, send your CV and design portfolio to [email protected].

Our 2024 roster is ready for someone like you.