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Summary
Born in Manila, Philippines. Grew up in Yonkers, New York. Lover of design, technology, and the humanities.
Design is my life. I drew rockets, cellphones, houses, and sneakers when I was a child. Though I grew up modestly, my parents worked hard to be able to send me to a technical school to learn the fundamentals of electrical & mechanical engineering, computer science, and industrial drafting.
I moved to the U.S. for high school and applied all of that creative energy into graphic & web design, theater, and poetry. I studied English & journalism in college and later combined my love for technology and the humanities to move into digital product design.
I've had the privilege to work on a lot of great products with great teams. Today, I constantly study and think about how product, design, and engineering can create better products, better teams, and better businesses that lead to better lives.
In my free time, I scour the web for fonts and collect random visual inspiration to use in side projects. I like to get lost in a good book, watch a fun or deep TV series, and drink a good cocktail. I'm also a huge Michigan Wolverines fan so I watch every football and basketball game.
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Purpose
Combining my life experience, personality, and personal gifts, I've arrived at three core purposes that I strive for:
- Infuse technology with art and soul and do it through my work and lead by example.
- Empower people to do things through technology in a manner that moves their being.
- Inspire others—especially the youth and the underprivileged—to build technology with soul.
These things motivate me every single day, keep me grounded, and help me when things get difficult.
Ultimately, it's the standard by which I measure my life.
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Influences
Below is a list of books, essays, & talks in design, business, & leadership I return to often to help me think about building impactful products, teams, and businesses.
And much like software which is never finished, designers are never finished. So I update this list as often as I can when I find something worth returning to.
Note: I don't agree with everything from these authors, let alone with anyone, but their thinking has definitely helped stretched my own.
Books
The Courage to Create
by Rollo May
The Art of Living
by Epictetus interpreted by Sharon Lebell
The Courage to Be Disliked
by Ichirou Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
What Is a Designer: Things, Places, Messages
by Norman Potter
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
High Output Management
by Andy Grove
Function, Restraint, and Subversion in Typography
by J. Namdev Hardisty
A *New* Program for Graphic Design
by David Reinfurt
Detail in Typography
by Jost Hochuli
Are We Human? Notes on Archaeology of Design
by Beatriz Colomina & Mark Wigley
Beauty
by Stefan Sagmeister & Jessica Walsh
Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart Into a Visionary Leader
by Brett Schendler & Rick Tetzeli
Designer Maker User
by The Design Museum
Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life
by Rory Sutherland
The 33 Strategies of War
by Robert Greene
Build Better Products: A Modern Approach to Building Successful User-Centered Products
by Laura Klein
Collaborative Product Design: Help Any Team Build a Better Experience
by Austin Govella
Leadership, Strategy, and Tactics
by Jocko Willink
Aesthetic Intelligence: How to Boost It and Use It in Business and Beyond
by Pauline Brown
Practical Design Discovery
by Dan Brown
Just Enough Research
by Erika Hall
A Guide to The Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
by William Irvine
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
by Peter Thiel & Blake Masters
Several Short Sentences About Writing
by Verlyn Klinkenborg
Siddhartha
by Herman Hesse
The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life
by David Brooks
Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee
by Shannon Lee
Leading With Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit
by Lee Bowman and Terrence Deal
Essays
- Fundamental Truths by Rebekah Cox
- Tech as a Taste-Based Industry by Jong-Moon Kim
- The Importance of Being Ruthless by Jon Schlossberg
- Where We Can Go by Dan Eden
- How to Make Things High Quality by Julie Zhou
- Managing Product Development by Integrating Around Concerns by Ryan Singer
- Finding Fulfilling Work by Sean Rose
- Fuck Content by Michael Rock
- There is No Such Thing as Neutral Graphic Design by Ellen Lupton & Leslie Xia
- Youth Mode: A Report on Freedom by K-Hole
- No to NoUI by Timo Arnall
- Intuitive Means Familiar by Jef Raskin
- The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me) by Elon Musk
- Divine Discontent: Disruption’s Antidote by Ben Thompson
- Letter to the Equity Partners of Philadelphia 76ers by Sam Hinkie
- My Urge to Fail and Fail Again by David Duchovny
Talks
- Applied Discovery by David Cole
- Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change by Neil Postman
- Insights: 2020 by Leland Maschmeyer
- Understanding Identity, Power, & Equity in Design Leadership by Antionette D. Carroll
- Ten Things I Have Learned by Milton Glaser
- This is Water by David Foster Wallace