Designing success

"I NEVER CONSIDERED MYSELF A DESIGNER; I’M JUST A FRUSTRATED ARTIST," INSISTS YOUNG, hotshot Cebuano entrepreneur Jonathan "Jay" Aldeguer.

Despite his well-recorded pronouncements of being a frustrated artist, Aldeguer has looked past this self-professed limitation and went on to put up one of the most profitable design-oriented businesses in the country’s tourism industry today.

"I did the next best thing," the 35-year-old president of the ubiquitous Island Souvenirs tells STARweek, "which was to get the best designers and artists out there who can not only execute my artistic vision, but do it even better."

Aldeguer has become a poster boy for entrepreneurship, his knack for which first surfaced in grade school when he got orders from classmates for his cartoon drawings, which he sold for P4 each, 50 centavos more for colored ones.

With his instinctive and clear insight into business–which he says was cultivated with help from his parents–Aldeguer is representative of a new generation of businessmen who banks on the dynamism of youth, an energetic appreciation for local artistry and faith in the tourism industry’s drawing power, particularly of his home province of Cebu.

The idea of selling souvenir shirts came to him after backpacking exploits abroad after graduating from college in 1991: he stuff his backpack with t-shirts which he sold to friends back home. During a subsequent trip to Baguio, he was looking for the best t-shirt design and the vendor handed him shirts with the same design as those his parents gave him years before.

Trusting a gut feel that this was a promising yet untapped niche, he went into business peddling souvenir shirts from a small bamboo cart in a department store in 1992. His shirts stood out not just for their very Filipino festive look, but also for their graphic identity and quality workmanship.

"We don’t have superior quality t-shirts, but what we have is that design advantage. Our designs are created to project the character of the Philippines, obviously because it has an international appeal," says Aldeguer.

True enough, after its first year alone, Island Souvenirs posted a phenomenal growth rate of 300 percent! He says, "That’s the classic example that the demand was there, the market was there and yet no one had come up to meet the demand."

Today, more than a decade after the birth of his bright idea, Aldeguer, now president of the Aldeguer Group of Companies, claims that jumping into the water and getting his feet wet has been rewarding beyond the financial success. With about 30 stores and roughly 100 department store outlets, with franchises in Singapore, Okinawa, Macau, and San Francisco, his business is reported to be worth P300 million. But, he says in earnest, "I don’t know. I don’t count in terms of assets (but) in terms of growth and fulfillment."

He also downplays the impact of Island Souvenirs as a business model, although it has been credited with institutionalizing a business that had long been denigrated as a mere cottage industry.

"I’m happy that our designs have made an impact in the souvenir industry," he admits. "And yes, I’m happy we helped professionalize the industry, but I never looked at it in such a grand scale... you know, I’m here to professionalize it. It was just a business idea that evolved into something bigger than I expected."

And big indeed it has become, and Islands Souvenirs success has not gone unnoticed. Awards, which begun pouring in since 1997, include being named by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Philippine Retailers Association as World Class Retailer of the Year three times, consequently gaining him a place in the Hall of Fame, as well as one of The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) of 1997, the youngest recipient of the award to date.

It should thus come as no surprise that Jay was chosen by the British Council to represent the country in the first-ever global search for the International Young Design Entrepreneur, the culminating activity of 100% Design, London’s biggest architecture and interiors product fair. After besting a number of established designers aged 25 to 35, Jay leaves on September 10 to compete against nine equally impressive finalists from Argentina, India, Lebanon, Lithuania, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Thailand.

"I was rather apprehensive getting nominated by the DTI because I know for a fact that there are a number of great designers in the Philippines. I never considered myself a designer, I’m just a frustrated artist," he shares, "but when I understood what the British Council was looking for–somebody who is able to cultivate or nurture a certain design sector in his respective community–I began to understand. In fact, it was made very clear that you need not necessarily be a practicing designer, but you can design in a commercial context, otherwise it would be useless."

The British Council also picked Jay for his current and intensified initiatives to boost tourism through Destinations Media, his multimedia company that broadcasts CEBU TV 28, a pioneering 24-hour cable channel that promotes Cebu, its people and lifestyles to both local and international audiences.

Jay acknowledges that this distinction is, like the others he has received, a humbling experience and yet another assurance that he is venturing in the right direction. "Being recognized by an international body is something else," he admits. "And I’m pretty excited as my competitive nature is getting the better me. But more than that, I feel strongly about it because of the objective of this search, which is to develop entrepreneurship. Because number one, we have the talent and this is one of the few avenues wherein we can gain a position in the global setting."

The hectic two-week itinerary will bring Jay and his co-finalists to London and then to Glasgow, Scotland, a small yet edgy city that is fast-becoming a design center in the United Kingdom. During 100% Design, the high profile exhibition in London, Aldeguer will get the chance to further publicize the country’s design scene through a 20-minute presentation, including showing off the "Pigalle" chair by fellow Cebuano designer-entrepreneur Kenneth Cobonpue, a concrete example of an innovative Filipino design that deserves to reach the global market. Cobonpue attracted the attention of the British Council’s creative industries unit last year as the youngest member of Movement 8, the elite furnishings and houseware design group that epitomizes Philippine design excellence and has won raves from critics, buyers and the public all over the world.

Aldeguer, who also sits as the president of the Philippine Retailers Association-Cebu chapter, is making the rounds talking with the Visayan design sector and with the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) as part of his preparations for the competition. He concedes that the country is not very well known as a design hub overseas, but he points out that "we are very diversified in terms of design– from retail to furniture to fashion. That’s what I’m going to take with me, the belief that we really have it and we have what it takes to make it in the sector of design globally."

Whether he cops the plum in this competition or not, Jay is upbeat about the projected upshot of the event, foremost of which is establishing a network of contacts among UK designers, design-led retailers and manufactures, publishers and cultural institutions, which would further his main goal of "really looking at trying to nurture certain design sectors that needs attention so that we can compete globally."

He explains, "We have a lot of work to do. But if you ask me, talent is the biggest asset we have. Manufacturing giant China can make any furniture tomorrow, but I can guarantee that China would not be able to be as artistic and design as fast in terms of the technical side of doing things," he adds.

It’s a grand vision, but Jay is trying to make it happen beginning in his own backyard. On his drawing board is the possibility of working on a new avenue to develop merchandising and creative programs for tourism-oriented institutions and companies abroad. In simpler terms, he wants to export design. "For instance, why would international institutions order t-shirts all the way from the Philippines, when what they really want from us is just the design? So we’re looking into licensing, developing a merchandise line for hotels and resorts, which we’ve already done locally. We’ve done shirts for Shangri-La and Marriott."

Aldeguer is bursting with ideas, and this father of three–to Anton, 12; Andrea, 10; and Ariana, 4–carries this passion over to things outside of work. He is learning to cook, dabbling in black and white and soon digital photography, trying to get back to triathlon, and who knows, he says, he might be making a movie soon. "Life is too short to confine myself to one path," he enthuses.

And who is can argue with Jay? This openness to fresh quests has served him very well and has taken him to greater heights than even he imagined. He now shares his can-do philosophy as a sought-after speaker to students, and he relishes these opportunities to inspire and encourage young minds. Jay gives this advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: "Almost every industry is innovation-driven and very dynamic; and this innovation and creativity really emanate from the young. So my advice is, just believe in yourself more. Don’t be scared to dream big–and make sure you make it happen."