RSS Feeds: 16 Manufacturers, 175 Products, 7 Weeks:
Reflections on a mission to Manila
By William Gordon
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Last June through October, I worked in the Philippines through the Filipino Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for an organization called CITEM (Center for Industries and Trade Exports and Missions). CITEM helps and monitors local exporters with factory visits, trade shows and promotion. I designed products for 16 local manufacturers located all over the Philippines, and ended up designing about 175 different products for these companies in a 7-week period. The factories then had 2 months for prototyping and production before they exhibited the products at the biannual Manila F.A.M.E. Internal Trade Show (Furnishings and Accessories Manufacturers Exchange), which occurred October 18th-21st. Out of the over 175 designs I produced, about 100 different products made it to the show. I designed home products including furniture, lighting and various home accessories using a wide variety of natural, indigenous materials.
There are as many sex workers in the Philippines as there are factory workers. This is a numbingly tragic statistic, when you are confronted with the economic realities that push devoutly Catholic girls to be molested by middle-aged western men. Over 40% of Filipinos live below the poverty line. As a designer I saw the equation simply: More products sold at higher margins mean more work for the factories, which means fewer girls being tempted to this line of work. And the self-hatred I had developed as a designer working for a large corporation where the complexities of globalization wrestled with the plight of the individual worker pounding out my crap seemed to lift, once I realized that I could do something to help.
I worked as a Merchandise Design Consultant (MDC) for Home Products. There is one consultant for each product area represented at the show (including Home Products, Fashion Accessories, and Holiday Décor) and the consultants design special product lines for manufactures represented at the show. These product lines are then introduced at "special setting" exhibit pavilions—also designed by the MDC's. The MDC program was started over 10 years ago to stimulate interest in the Manila F.A.M.E. show (as well as to create a link between manufactures and designers), and several other Asian product shows are now doing their own version of this program after realizing that design is one of the few elements that can keep them from being swallowed up by the Chinese goliath. (The routine is well known now: Small manufacturers in small Asian countries like the Philippines come up with new product designs geared for western buyers. Super low-cost manufacturing in China then quickly rips off the products from these Filipino manufacturers, and the cycle continues.)
Karim Rashid gave a speech to the Chamber of Furniture Industries in Manila while I was there. Seeing Karim's injection-molded, futurist presentation, contrasted against the handmade, craft-oriented sensibilities of the Filipino furniture manufactures, gave me a jolt back to the machine-made modern design world that I had left over four months before—and to the realities of the people-made design world I now knew.
Design is one of the few ways to keep ahead of this curve, and western designers are prized for their knowledge of the primary markets for Asian export goods: Europe and America. The Philippines produces some of the most highly sought-after Asian designers because of their creativity and familiarity with western culture. Even so, the status that western-trained designers have here is tremendous. The shear need for design talent far outstrips the supply of good designers. (If you are having trouble finding a job in the States or Europe, come to Asia—you might have a much easier time of it.)
In the Philippines, as in many other developing countries, people still make everything. Karim, in his talk, was quick to cast aside this people-made world in favor of a high-tolerance, disposable worldview. He called for an end to handmade manufacturing—to which the gathered Filipino manufacturers gazed in disbelief. Theirs is a world with few computers, much less CNC and injection-molding machines. Capital and research and development don't exist. Karim was talking about the future being robotic weaving machines; in their world, if they want something made it's very simple: a person makes it with their hands.
The people at CITEM took complete responsibility for me: They helped me get my apartment; they gave me an office from which to work; they even helped me get into local social circles so I could make some local friends. And most importantly, CITEM acted as my liaison to the manufacturers, facilitating factory visits all over the Philippines. Now, not all third world factories are sweatshops. Much depends upon the factory owner in terms of quality of life for the workers, as well as the quality of the products. Most of the factory owners I met have great respect for theirs workers' well-being, and are deeply involved in community development. Some owners, on the other hand, run shops that create hazards for their employees and their communities. It was good to see, however, that the factories which have respect for their employees and good work habits are typically also the ones who enjoy the best long-term success.
These are the places that make the stuff that goes into Neiman Marcus and Barney's. This is where the Fifth Avenue bleached blondes touch the poor teaming masses of the world, but not quite. The factories can be oases of economic development as easily as they can be slag pits. Some of their owners have very high esteem for their employees, and voice the need for new sales and new products as a way to preserve the livelihoods for their people; others run shops that create hazards for their laborers, their neighborhoods and themselves. One of the worst of these—and one that I was slated to work for—was shut down by his neighbors while I was here, but several factories I visited have special housing for employees, and do lots of community development work.
Visiting these factories, and becoming friends with their owners and employees, I discovered how even a small factory can be an economic oasis for an impoverished community. The reality is that a five-dollar-a-day job is a good job for a lot of the world. This is a hard one to accept, coming from the world of $30/hr. UAW jobs. But the alternative for many of these people might be sex work, or getting their kids to panhandle in road traffic. $5 a day is a living wage in the Philippines. What's important to remember though is that designers can affect the lives of the people who produce their products in very positive or very negative ways. That is why it is critical for designers to be involved with the factories that produce their products. I feel now that a designer is as much responsible for this as any other contributor, and should not escape blame when his or her product is made by children or in bad conditions.
I learned so much about design's relationship to the developing world working around the Philippines, but the one thing I kept getting reminded of was that design is still just about people. And it's not just about the people who buy and use the stuff, or the people who sell it, or the person who designs it. Design is about the people who make the stuff. This is an easy fact to forget in product design, with computerized, machine-driven manufacturing seemingly taking over and creating a further sense of detachment between designer and maker. The fact is, people are still the key to manufacturing in the developing world. The reason we have cheap, high quality goods in our stores is not because of the triumph of computerized manufacturing, but rather because of the rise of the third world worker. As a designer visiting these factories, you quickly realize that the issue of third world manufacturing is much more complicated than you ever thought.
The factories which CITEM represents employ approximately 100,000 people all over the Philippines. When you multiply this through an average 5-person family, its economic reach balloons to about a half million people. CITEM produces a F.A.M.E. show in Manila twice a year (once in April and again in October), attracting about 3000 buyers from around the world to see over 500 different exporters. The October Manila F.A.M.E. show I was involved in accounted for over $64 million in total sales. This is a major boon for the Filipino economy, which has seen a sharp drop in foreign direct investment in the past decade (in comparison with its neighbors) because of an unstable government, as well as a sharp rise in competition from its neighbors in consumer goods manufacturing.
Southeast Asia is one of the next design frontiers, producing goods that fuse quality with creativity beyond just low cost. For a long time, Southeast Asian design had been relegated to handicrafts and regional products. But now, with the coincident movement toward more handcrafted, high quality products in the home, this region's expertise is being tapped for mid- to high-end products, as many brands grapple with the quality and creativity gap that exist with much of Chinese production.
You've heard a lot about China for a long time now in terms of low-cost Asian manufacturing. But there is a lot more to Asian manufacturing than China, and there is a lot more to Asia than low-cost manufacturing. The rich cultures, high quality and creative use of materials found throughout Southeast Asia present a unique alternative to the low end, high volume world of Chinese production.
The Philippines, in particular, are a major center of furniture and fashion accessory production for the global market. Filipino products are known for high quality, artistic craftsmanship, unique use of natural materials, as well as strong creativity. Each company uses a multitude of different natural materials, combined with some very modern techniques. The materials include shell, coconut, various woven materials, abaca, rattan, stone, wood, leather, and sugar cane stalks. Injection molding machines don't exist, and often the factories are located in the owner's back yard. So when these companies need to make "plastic products," they turn to resin. Resin is mixed in various creative, and some not-so-creative ways, with many of these natural materials in order to create durable, aesthetic effects. Because of the high skill/low cost workers, fiberglass and resin are used extensively here. (Contrast with the U.S., where fiberglass work, due to labor costs, is typically cost-prohibitive. That's why you see so much roto-molded stuff in the U.S.)
As a designer, you are at the mercy of the craftsman—just like it used to be. Mostly this relationship produces wonderful results, and at an amazingly quick pace. And handmade production does allow you to make things that are still impossible for machines; the variations and imperfections give life to details, and can add a (literal) human touch to minimal designs.
The design process for this program was very straightforward, and as rapid as it gets. First, I visited the factories and show rooms of the different companies, and documented their products and processes. Because of the shear volume of products, I designed everything on computer. I presented all the designs to the companies as Alias renderings with basic dimensions called out. The companies then interpreted the designs in there own way. Some companies needed supervision and a lot of handholding to realize the product. Others, I had no contact with after presenting the rederings, and they produced brilliant renditions of my designs. I relied completely on the individual skills and intuitions of craftspeople at each company, and rather than being suspicious about how "manufacturing would inevitably compromise the integrity of my design,"—an idea prevalent in U.S. design circles—I felt privileged to have the wisdom and collaboration of these makers. They would often come up with ways of improving the designs that I, of course, would never have imagined, and this was a great way to work. (And again, this is exactly how things used to be!)
I received $650 per company as a design fee. I was contracted to design 3 collections of 3 products each for all the companies, but I usually gave a few more designs than I was asked. I also received a per-diem of $8,000 for the 5 months I was in the Philippines. I know this is way under what I would get paid in the U.S., but I saw this opportunity as something completely unique. The amount of creative freedom given to me was just amazing; I had nobody to answer too. I also made several presentations to trade groups about design trends and the importance of brands. I made speeches to owners of furniture companies who have been in the business for decades. But my unique perspective gave credence to what I said. This was a welcome shock coming from the world of corporate design, where what you have to say is rarely valued. Here, if I wanted it done, it got done. In all, the bargain felt right: the amount of creative freedom and resources I was allotted, as well as the low cost of living in Manila, made up for the low pay I received for the designs I provided.
When I left corporate design I was a self-laothing designer. I felt like I was doing nothing but making pretty stuff for rich people at the expense of some poor worker. Many designers I talk with are eaten up with the shame over low-cost Asian sourcing. The lack of control you feel in the corporate system when your products fly off to be made in God-knows-where is very troubling. But as one of the key connections between the factory floor and the market, designers have a pivotal role to play in this, the real futuristic world we live in, where everything is indeed made by hand. It is now time for designers to assert that responsibility. Each generation of Industrial Designers raises a particular issue to the forefront. In the 80's it was universal design. In the 90's it was sustainable design. I believe that the shame of exploitative manufacturing is what this generation has to face.
My experience designing for Filipino manufacturing was one of the most enriching of my life. I learned that people-centered design has a middle component, living between ethnography and interface. Hand manufacturing is the reality in much of the world, and designers, sitting at their desks sending off PDFs to unknown destinations, may be a modern paradigm, but ultimately a hollow one. I would encourage designers to go and visit where their products are made, and, especially, with the people who make them.
Philippines Overview
The Philippines are a diverse group of over 7000 islands located at the tip of the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia. With a population of over 80 million, the Philippines are the third-largest English speaking country in the world. English is one of the legacies of the over 40 year American rule over the islands. And that, along with their embrace of western culture, makes the country an easy starting place for exploring Asia. Tagalog is the national language, and it is freely mixed with English, Spanish and over 80 local native languages. The Filipino ethnic identity is just as mixed and diverse as it's geography and languages, comprising a mixture of Malay with many other Asian and European ethnicities.
Manila, the capitol, is a kinetic, sprawling metropolis with over 15 million people. Manila is a major center of business and trade, but most Philippine manufacturing is located in provinces outside Metro Manila. Cebu City, located on the island of Cebu in the central Philippines, is the next largest city, and is a major center of furniture and fashion accessory production. 40% of Filipinos live below the poverty line. You would not have any clue of this going to the many malls of Manila, which make you feel like you are in Atlanta or Chicago, but better. Like many other developing countries, the gap between rich and poor is tremendous. Small-scale manufacturing is one of the key economic contributors that keep small communities above the poverty line.
William Gordon is a freelance designer through his company Faxon|Gordon, based in Brooklyn, NY. William's current projects include developing his own fashion accessory brand produced in the Philippines. Before working in the Philippines, William worked for Kohler Co. designing kitchen bath and home products. He was born and raised in Atlanta, GA and has since lived in many diverse places such as New York, Copenhagen, Manila, and Sheboygan Falls, WI.
