Style Guide: Aleah Gabrielle Lascano Paraiso on the Variety of Her Work
Studying at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, Aleah Gabrielle Lascano Paraiso embarked on a degree in advertising arts. Since graduating, she’s been working with Qatar based production company The Film House as a designer where she’s created illustrations for brands such as Land Rover, PUMA, the Qatari football team Al Duhail, OFF WHITE and many more.
Honing her skills through each brief, Aleah believes that her versatile style has adapted to tackle the different needs of each client. Where she started off creating simple PowerPoint presentations, her tools have evolved and she now works across Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and After Effects to further develop her process.
Speaking to LBB to share her process, Aleah explains her unique style and how it’s a result of her journey so far.
LBB> How would you describe the work that you do?
Aleah> The work that I do at The Film House is versatile in style depending on what is needed from me. As an embedded designer/illustrator at a production company, the work is pretty elastic and can involve illustration, storyboards, animation, layouts and asset design for live-action filming. All of which have different output styles, but a similar process.
LBB> And do you have a particular style (or styles) that you like to work in? If so, how would you describe that?
Aleah> There’s so much variety in output, I have to adjust to various styles, whether it’s a cell frame line-drawn animation, or making webpages for a scene set in the ‘90s. The variety is what keeps me interested every day, tests me and it’s a continuous learning experience.
LBB> How did you gravitate towards the particular medium you work in?
Aleah> Way back, I started with simple presentations on PowerPoint, which evolved into much spicier presentations when I started to add my own design assets. And with the internet as my inspiration tool, I started to teach myself how to use different Adobe software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, and After Effects which helped me produce better, more evolved work.
LBB> And when you started developing your creative skills and styles, what were your inspirations and influences?
Aleah> The internet is everything. There’s a lot of design inspiration out there, we’re saturated in it – whether you scroll through social media to stumble across or find it yourself, or go actively searching on Pinterest, for example, and Behance or dribble. On social, I follow artists and designers like Elliot Ulm, FAHMEEDX, Ben Marriott, Ryan Good, Lyrical Lemonade, and even simple tags such as #illustrations, #design, and more, that suit my interest. The world around me also highly influences my creative style. It might not be London, Berlin or New York here, but Doha has a lot to offer in very different ways – fashion, society, space, and calligraphic-inspired design, for example.
LBB> How has your style evolved over time – and can you talk to us about some of the stylistic experiments or avenues you’ve explored over the years?
Aleah> During my early years, I was into illustrative minimalism. I wasn’t a fan of crowded visuals. It was easier and quicker too. But, as the years went by, I was exposed to other design trends such as 2D and 3D illustration-heavy designs, typography-heavy designs, texturised designs and the use of motion to add more appeal which allowed me to experiment more. Because of the variety of styles I’m exposed to at The Film House, I do a lot of multidimensional and contemporary indie art, such as textured collage work and poster art for social media from film grabs.
LBB> And was there any one particular moment or project that really crystallised your understanding of what your style is or should be? If so, can you tell us about it?
Aleah> I worked on a project for the Qatari football team Al Duhail with PUMA wherein I was tasked to create collage images that would be used on the film and for social media posts which I loved. I realised that was definitely a style I could really connect to.
LBB> What sort of ideas shape your style today?
Aleah> I’m keen on connecting with the design subject that’s in front of me. I put myself in the world of the subject and try to visualise how I would see it as it is.
A few examples and ideas that shaped my style are the following: OFF WHITE - CAPSULE COLLECTION, Adobe x Keith Haring | Creativity For All, and some Nike, Adidas, and Puma sports and lifestyle collaboration campaigns.
LBB> Working in the commercial sphere, is it more important for an artist to have a distinct brand or style? What’s the balance between having a distinctive voice and being able to accommodate the visual language of the brand/campaign?
Aleah> Having a distinct style is definitely important as brands can identify with your specialism; who you are and what you create. However, it’s equally important to learn how to step out of your desired zone. You can do both at the same time. Most artists have a distinct or preferred style but learning how to add your touch to a brand-demanded visual language can be crucial to buy their trust and reliability.
LBB> Typically, on a commercial project, how do you like to tackle a brief?
Aleah> At the very beginning, I want to know if they have anything specific that they want to see or if they have any reference and guide of what style they’re into. My work is so varied, it’s different things for different projects, but for commonality, I need the tech specs, key content and tonal references and importantly I need to know the deadline!
LBB> What projects have you worked on recently that you feel were a really satisfying marriage between a brand and your own style? What was it about these projects that made them really interesting to work on?
Aleah> Some of the projects that I loved working on were Al Duhail SC X PUMA (graphic design), Land Rover – DEFENDER (graphic design), Interpol (design assets and poster), and Qatar Museums – Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech (frame by frame animation).
These projects made it really interesting to work on since I got to connect properly with the brand and art style of the output needed.
