Artist Review: Rocco Francisco by Christopher Cruz

 Rocco Francisco is a Filipino artist pursuing his BFA degree in Graphic Design. An ongoing work that has interested me is his fictional brand algabright. This fictional brand algabright was designed in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Blender. The brand is designed with two distinct colors, green and blue, though green is the most prominent. Rocco's work showcases aglabright in various forms from packaging, office space, and business cards. Rocco’s pursuit and creation of this fictional brand stems from his family who work in various engineering fields.

algabright Model render

The meaning behind this brand is related to nature and environment due to not just the colors but the name. algabright has the base words algae and bright. Furthermore, Rocco decided to design the name and logo itself in round lowercase letters. His smart choice comes from the understanding of wanting to be welcoming with his brand instead of the sharp angular appearances most company’s logos have. The overall structure of the artworks reveals that this could be a solid and sound company since there is a render of a potential office building and workspace. There is also the preliminary logo “sketches” where you can see the process and finalization of this brand. This clearly reveals that it was not just a project of interest or dedication but explorations and research as you can see with the various alternate logo designs of the brand algabright.

algabright office render 

The work makes me feel safe and secure due to the colors chosen. It overall was a smart decision as blue psychologically is associated with trustworthiness and stability. Green psychologically is associated with nature, growth, sustainability, and wealth. When viewing the brand, it affects me in a way where I know that it is credible and is reliable in its products and service.

I would say this is art. Just like many other companies, it uses various fundamentals and principles used in art to demonstrate its stance and its mission. The use of green reminds of Nvidia, as its logo uses the color green and is a company where its technology is used in advanced and complex applications and softwares. I would also argue that algabright as a fictional brand is good art since it also uses tactics businesses use like ethos, pathos, and logos.