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Solo first held their Model Search in 2009, wherein skills in graphic design and modeling are showcased and voted upon. In 2010, the highlight of the Solo Last year’s winners were Jaggy Tallada and his graphic artist Simon Agregado, and Jhoanna Flor and her graphic artist Alexis Fusilero.

**Personal opinion mode on**

Hehe, it took me quite some time to post this because some of my friends entered this contest and I was sort of keeping myself in suspense. I almost didn’t want to know the results. But it can’t be helped. Now, amidst the overuse of Photoshop downloadable brushes, dodge tool abuse, default typefaces and stretched logos, the finalists have arrived. I think you can pretty much tell which ones I really like.

In no particular order:

Paparazzi (Ann Margaret Viente)

I love how the colors in here really pop BUT I wish the designer had chosen better fonts…

Slice of Glam (Phoebe Rutaquio and Em Rejano)

Entangled (Mickoy Esteves and Lawrence Antaran)

I appreciate how elements of Larry Alcala’s comics are incorporated seamlessly into this one.

My Music, My Style (Irene Sy and Benedict Lim)

Digital World (Marilyn Bie and Carlo Lagman)

Rock Strut Solo (Earvin Aquino and RJ Narareno)

I am Solo (Greg Bato and Joel Forte)

Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down (Andriea Magnaye and Juliandrew Magnaye)

I’m not too fond of the lace patterns but the the artists were definitely on to something when they decided to utilize the line patterns on the leggings’ original design. (Plus, the model reminds me of Marian Rivera, who, despite all my biases against her, looks really good in print.)

In The Shadow of a Master (Paul Grageda and Mike Grageda)

The Soloist (Mehran Khaledi and Louie Parinas)

Proof of Life (Maverick Mangilit and Toots Coronado Jr.)

I like this, though I believe slight adjustments to its existing gamma can improve its composition tremendously.

Move Up (Charles Kenneth Aquino and Mac Eugenio)

Hm. Brushes and stretched assets. Hm. (Then again, this is not the only one. The others are just less obvious.)

Counting Classic (Seph Cham and Edric Chen)

Drawn to You (Shai Lagarde and Edric Chen)

Equilibrium (Junice Alexis Camon and Alexis Fusilero)

Encore (Ann Pamela Forbes and Richard Guevarra)

The model is what actually struck me about this piece of work. Without even looking at the camera, her form drew me in. Is she a dancer?

Solo at Ako (Pooyan Hasanpoor and Ann Viente)

Criteria for judging are as follows:
Creativity & Styling 15%
Layout 10%
Voter’s Choice 35% (Hm. At least that’s clear.)

Anyway, these guys and gals will be battling it out till they reach the final stage on March 2011. Grand prize winners — both the models and the artists/designers — will be given cash and product prizes. The winning models will be gracing the walls of all Solo stores.