Dressing up space for the ’Gram

Motif Studio’s chief designer MJ Ringor

Social media exerts such a strong influence on people’s daily lives that even when it comes to office spaces, one’s workplace has to be “for the ’Gram.”

It’s a trend that’s in demand here in the Philippines, and will be for a long time, says the owners of Motif Studio, a newly launched local design studio by MJ Ringor and his wife Kaye, in Makati City.

“Having an ‘Instagrammable’ space—it’s all about that now,” says Kaye. “When you buy a condo, you’d want a space like that because you need to post it on social media.”

“The issue of function actually comes after,” adds Ringor.

Still, the two say that when their studio comes up with a design, they strive for spaces that don’t just look good, but are also well-planned.

“We want to create well-designed, well-planned spaces that are affordable,” says Kaye. “Say you want a couch that looks nice—but will it fit your living room in your condo? Our designers are here to tell you, okay that looks great, but let’s find a better fit.”

Motif’s office is one of the design studio’s best examples of a well-planned space.

To fully utilize the area, Motif dedicated a section of the office to co-working spaces. The office even has a sleeping area, placed not in a room, but in a large gap between the roofs of their meeting rooms and the main ceiling.

Sustainability is also one of their core values, says Ringor.

“Most of our clients also prioritize sustainability. They want to save, they look to revamp, recycle,” he says.

Two of Motif’s more prominent clients are Nico Bolzico and Erwan Heussaff, who had the studio design their deli Chingolo, which sits right below Motif’s office on Chino ‍‍‍‍Roces Avenue, as well as one ‍‍‍‍of their workspaces called Hectare Two.

Ringor says that they, likewise, enjoy working with Bolzico and Heusaff, since they all share the same design philosophy surrounding sustainability. With Chingolo, Ringor says they retained the ceiling originally installed by the space’s previous tenant—also a food establishment—as well as other elements which their clients liked.

Motif Studio is an offshoot of the couple’s first business, Mundo Design and Build, which operates as both as a design and construction firm, with projects that are more focused on the latter.

While Mundo has been running successfully for the past decade, Ringor says his first love has always been design—hence, the creation of Motif. The studio provides interior design solutions, as well as other services, such as garden and landscape design; lighting design; wall art or graphics; styling; interior staging; and even tidying (thank you, Konmari).

Some of their clients include Jewelmer, Union Bank of the Philippines and TaskUs, a business process outsourcing firm. As its chief designer, Ringor sees Motif Studio as a “creative collaborator” with clients, and not an “absolute authority” when it comes to design. ‍‍‍‍

Motif Studio’s office in Makati City —CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

As millennials themselves, both Ringor and his wife also wanted a firm that would cater to the design needs of younger generations.

Kaye—the business’ finance manager—says she and her husband also wanted to give their designers more creative freedom, which Motif allows.

“Plus, there’s a whole different market for design-only services. We can do even the smallest spaces,” Ringor adds.

Kaye says that aside from workspaces, they see a lot of work coming their way from the retail industry as well, since brands are also rethinking their store designs.

“In the next few years, we expect that these spaces will still have that fun element,” Ringor says.