PhilWeavers · The Philippine Webdesigners' Network · Weaver Spotlight - Bryan Veloso, SXSW Blog of the Year Winner

Interviewed by Jose Illenberger / Published June 24, 2006

Actually, I have no creative education. I really loved communicating using the online medium, as I wasn't really that good at any other outlets, such as sports, music, etc. I have been self taught ever since and like to stay that way.

Please tell us more about Bryan Veloso.

Ahh, time to build up my ego. Anyway, I'm 23-years-old and I live in San Jose, CA with my fiance and 3 cats. Just recently, I've gone solo with my yet-to-be-announced design firm venture. Last May, I graduated from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island with a degree in entrepreneurship. After that, I worked for Facebook, a social networking service. I think the most notable points about me would be that I have my personal site, Avalonstar, that I drive a Mazda RX-8 (with a few modifications) and I'm a big fan of anime and video games — and an outward fan at that, I have no problem telling people what I like.

Do you identify with your filipino roots? were you born in the US to fil-am parents or did u migrate? What was it like growing up in america as an asian and how do you think it has affected you as a designer and as the person you are today?

I was born in New Jersey, so I'm a naturalized American. My parent's didn't teach me Tagalog or Visayan since they didn't want me to be ridiculed at school for not knowing English. That has come back to bite me in the ass, since I now feel awkward when it comes to communicating with even the people on the PhilWeavers mailing list.

To tell you the truth, I didn't really respect my Filipino heritage until I got to high school. When I was growing up, I was one of the only asians at my elementary and middle schools — so I came out pretty "whitewashed" for lack of a better word. When I got into high school, I suffered culture shock at the sheer number of asians at my school. As a designer, I don't know how much it has affected the way I design but I do try to find influences in more asian works than I do anywhere else. You can probably see from my site that I'm a pretty big fan of Japanese culture.

On the other end, I'm in a minority when it comes to "bloggers + designers" out there. There aren't that many Filipino or even asian names you can bring up when talking about standards, blogging and such. Maybe I'm just missing a lot that's out there, but this is from my point at view at least. I take advantage of this being a unique factor to who I am. I mean, how many standardista's do you know of that love anime and play DDR (besides, it's thanks to the islands that I now play DDR).

Ever been to the philippines?

I've been to the islands multiple times, last time I remember going was back in 2003. I've been there at least 5 times before that. It's great for a trip, but being from outside the Philippines, I feel more like a tourist than anything else when I'm there. You natives are really good at picking out who the balikbayans are. When I'm there I usually just travel with my family to Cebu and Leyte (where most of my family is). I haven't spent much time in Manila or Quezon City since there's really not much reason for me to stay. I do plan to take a trip back there in the next year or so.

Do you really like lumpia?

I love it. But I have to be biased and say that my mom's lumpia is the best. She hasn't made it in a long time since I'm no longer living at home anymore, but I try to bother her about it whenever I'm down there. My relatives would make their own lumpia at parties and come to me saying, "you like lumpia right?" and try and force it down my throat — it's just not the same as my mom's.

When did u learn that building websites is what you want to do? tell us more about your creative education..

Actually, I have no creative education. I started building websites when I was 13 and entering high school and the rest is pretty much history. After my first few websites and the purchase of Avalonstar's domain name, there was no turning back. I really loved communicating using the online medium, as I wasn't really that good at any other outlets, such as sports, music, etc. I have been self taught ever since and like to stay that way. People ask me why I never majored in design and that's because I don't like to be taught my hobby. My hobby is there for me to grow and develop myself. Sure, there are a lot of people that probably learn concepts faster than I, but we all have our own pace.

Tell us more about Avalonstar?

Avalonstar's my baby. My dad bought me avalonstar.com back in 2000 and it started out as just a place to talk about myself. It wasn't a blog per-se, just some static site amongst the sea of static sites back then. It evolved into a display for my digital art when I started doing that in 2002. I would call that "era one" of Avalonstar and it lasted for about a year. For most of 2003, Avalonstar was dormant and even dead at times, I didn't update it because I had started to suffer a complete designer drought brought on by college and a changing personal life. In late 2004, I jumped back into blogging as I stopped using Blogger and LiveJournal in lieu of building a blog that would reside on Avalonstar itself. From 2004 on, I would call that "era two" and is still going on now, it's pretty much the blogging era. As you can see, it's taken a large part of my life and it's because of Avalonstar (along with many other factors) that I'm in my current situation. It's been a complete rush and a source of frustration at times. Avalonstar is something that defines me, and I don't think I'll ever move on from it.

What is a blog to you? and how does it keeing one contribute to your career as a graphic designer?

My blog is my way of having a central place to communicate with people. I'm constantly thinking about things, whether design related or otherwise, so I turn to my blog for opinions in those cases. It's really just another place to connect with your friends and soon-to-be friends and contacts,

aside from the supersleek avalonstar, what other websites do you maintain or have created?

Heh, this should be short. I only "maintain" one other site right now, and that site is Buzzword Hell (.com). I hope to be coming out with a few new looks to my consortium of sites by July 1st.

What is Web 2.0?

It's a buzzword. Plain and simple. But to me, web 2.0 is the coming of a new generation of entrepreneur. I don't think I've ever seen so many people that want to start out on their own, and for a person that majored in entrepreneurship, it definitely puts a smile on my face.

When did u start building web2.0 blogs?

Don't think there's such a thing as a web 2.0 blog, as web 2.0 mostly applies to web applications. But I did start blogging back in 2001 on my now extinct LiveJournal. I moved on to Blogger after that as part of the "Designer's Life" project and then finally moved to Avalonstar.

What is SXSW? When did u hear about it? and tell us about how you feel winning it?

Well, SXSW or South By Southwest, is a convention that started out 20 years ago revolving around music, and about 10 years ago they started conventions revolving around the interactive and film industries. I've known about it for some time, but I never went because I could never afford it. A bunch of my good friends had gone in years prior and urged me to go as well. So I saved up my money and made it to Austin, Texas this past March. If you're planning to go to ANY web conference, you HAVE to come to SXSW. Believe me, you're life will be changed.

Now, the award I won was for "Best Blog" at the SXSW Web Awards. So I didn't actually "win" SXSW (I believe the official Eminem site won "Best of Show"). As for how I felt about it, I was stunned. I was up against 4 other awesome blogs including ones from the likes of Shaun Inman and Kelsey Ruger. To me it was the culmination of all the work I have put into Avalonstar since 2000. When I started it, I never even realized how far it could come, and the award was tangible proof of how far it has come. It's also the first award I've ever won, so that was definitely a rush as well.

Who would you consider that has greatly influence you in your design style?

I guess it's evolved since I started, but I could split it into 2 groups of people. The first (from 2000-2003) would be Chris Dang, formerly of Halovision now working for Fantasy Interactive, Alex Yang of DirectPixel, Chris Tanaka of Dream Infinity and Gaile Jaro, a fellow Filipino formerly of Femstyle. They were all good friends of mine, and their design styles really drove mine. You can fuse that with some of my more current inspirations. People like Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton are the reason I only design with grids now. Others, such as Veerle Peiters, Mike Rundle, Jon Hicks and Jason Santa Maria have influenced the way I combine minimalism with digital art.

What sites do you frequently visit for design inspirations and challenges?

I never try to focus on a certain site or number of sites because I find myself mimicking them too much when it comes to actually designing. I really just peruse the numerous CSS galleries for different pieces of inspiration. When it comes to non-internet related inspiration, I love looking at books full of logo designs such as the ones offered by Giant Robot. In addition, just being observant of your environment can provide for some very interesting pieces of inspiration (I know that was out of the scope of the question, but I had to mention it).

What does it take to succeed in this industry?

Dedication. Ambition. Transparency. Passion. Humility.

To succeed, you have to be ambitious. You have to know what you want and aim high. You have to be dedicated to those goals you make, and make sure you're willing to work your ass off for it. People appreciate honesty, being transparent to your audience is necessary for building trust and a good reputation. You shouldn't have anything to hide. Love what you do and love it to death. Show people the passion you have in your work and they'll see it too. Be humble. Nobody likes an egomanic. People will respect you for that as well. You'll get your credit in due time.