John Abila

Age: 29 years old
Ethnicity: Filipino, Filipino-Canadian
Occupation and/or Company: Designer, Art Director, Freelance Graphic Designer
Years of experience: 7 years

Personal & professional philosophy:
My personal/professional philosophy is to do work with integrity, faithful stewardship, to celebrate culture and community, accountability, and to take work seriously but not take myself too seriously.

Upcoming project:
I am working on a passion project called “Baybayin Neue”. It is a font/typography project based on the ancient and nearly extinct Filipino script called Baybayin. This project aims to revive this script and encourages future generations to tap into their heritage. The Kickstarter campaign, which has really taken off, is running now until Philippines Independence Day, which is June 12, 2022.

What is the highlight of your work?
My favorite project is a Toronto-based youth program called “Beyond the Rim”. More recently, the design work I did with the “Deep Time” hall of fossils exhibit at the Smithsonian museum.

Future goals:
My future goal is to join a team/collective of designers whose work specializes in cultural institutions, non-profits, B-Corporations, and grassroots organizations. I also want to produce free educational design-related content and to contribute to the creative economy.