This Christmas, The SM Store makes gift-giving more festive and fun with special-edition holiday gift bags and wrappers designed by young New York-based visual artist Monica Ramos.
This year’s theme is centered on gift-giving, “one that focuses on the frenzy and excitement of exchanging presents.”
It shows people of all walks of life celebrating the joys of the season by exchanging gifts, with many heartwarming vignettes. These include a girl juggling presents on her head, a dog delightfully gifting his pet mother, friends exchanging gifts, a jeepney loaded with Christmas décor and presents on its roof.
Monica says her favorite parts of the design are “the more tender human relationships, like the young girl tugging on her lola’s hand and a couple exchanging presents.”
Born and raised in Manila, Monica has been working in illustration for the past few years. “It’s an interesting career choice, trying to distill ideas into interesting visual metaphors.”
Monica says she needs to be emotionally engaged before working on her illustrations. “I start with a daunting blank page!” she admits. “Depends on what kind of job it is… If I am painting for myself, I usually just begin and see where it goes.
“I flip though my notebooks to find recurring themes or images that could fit. I draw from my memories, things I’ve read in books or heard in songs. I need to feel emotionally engaged before I can draw anything.”
Her designs for SM’s gift wrappers are drawn from her own experiences. “Christmas has always felt very special,” she says. “In the weeks leading to it, I’d comb through the weekend bazaars, looking for presents for everyone I knew. Some years, I made gingerbread men or chocolate chip cookies for my friends and teachers.”
As the holidays approached, “I liked dressing up in my ‘fancy clothes’ for all the family parties. I’d be so excited to see all my cousins for noche buena and be allowed to stay up until midnight, when the older cousins and I would be responsible for distributing all the gifts under the tree.”
Get your Christmas bag for P50, and have your gifts bought at The SM Store wrapped for free at the Gift Wrapping Section.
The SM Store Christmas gift-giving-design bags and wrappers are available at all SM Store branches.
