Marikina, Metro Manila – Filipino creativity makes waves in international metaverse NFT design competition HypeX MetaSneaker Brawl as young designer-maker, Chad Tanutan, sparks interest with an ingenious footwear concept.
21-year-old Chad Tanutan is an aspiring footwear designer from Victories City in Negros Occidental, taking up industrial design at La Consolacion College - Bacolod. He began his passion for creative design back when he was still in high school. Being a avid fan of basketball, athleisure sneakers sparked his interest in the world of footwear. He shared that he began drafting up some of his personal designs at the back of his school notebooks for fun, and later advanced to digitally illustrating his work and posting them on social media. Chad is also a hands-on maker. Eventually learning the basic foundations of shoemaking after visiting Zapateria, a creative hub, and incubator for footwear enthusiasts.
Together with Zapateria, Chad was able to be mentored by the creative community, further enhancing his design process, he became an official collaborator and design consultant. Later, he was able to launch his own footwear brand, Continuous Grind.
As innovation in the digital landscape shifts, Zapateria noted that there is a space for Filipino craft and creativity to be part of the cyber arena. In his dedication to showcasing his talent, Chad joined HypeX MetaSneaker Brawl, a digital footwear design competition wherein the participants are given the opportunity to bring their creations into the metaverse. The winner of the contest will have their entry minted and released for public sale as an NFT.
His HypeX entry named “The Bay” is inspired by the NBA team, the Golden State Warriors as well as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Chad noted that he drew the concept from the bay area nightlife. Integrating the colors of neon light atop the dark canvas to best depict the energy of the scene along with a Modern Warrior twist for the metaverse. Group 3’s “The Bay” landed a spot in the Top 16 semi-finalists round and is now up for the public vote to choose the grand winner. As of writing, the entry is leading second with 261 votes.
Vote for Group 3’s “The Bay” at www.HypeX.io and join us as we step into the future.
Step 1: Go to www.hypex.io/vote
Step 2: Click "Vote for Designs"
Step 3 : Click "Group 3 and scroll down to find “Designed by Chad Gabrielle L. Tanutan, Victorias City, Phil."
Step 4: VOTE!
Semi-Finals voting round ends on February 10, 2022, at 4:00 pm PHT (February 9, 2022, at 11:59 pm PST).