Young Davao entrepreneur finds niche in online design

REPORT FROM BUSINESSWORLD Davao City — A young designer entrepreneur in this city has found his niche in the information technology industry. When Ray Rubio was just 18 years old, he launched Cubepixels, a trailblazing computer aided-design business that has led to the international recognition of his skills. Mr. Rubio is the recipient of major awards from two prestigious international design competitions, both online-based. In 2002, he brought home the grand prize in the Sept. 11 Commemorative Coin Design Contest in the US, following the Sept. 11 terror attack. The following year, he won the Best of Show award given by CorelWorld in San Diego, California. With this, CorelWorld took him in as the official partner in the city as he continues to expand his business. Who would ever believe that a young man who looks so casual with his baggy denim pants and body-hugging T-shirt is behind the success of Cubepixels Design Studio? Now at 27, Mr. Rubio, a graduate of Media Arts at the AMA Learning Center in 1998, is already a successful entrepreneur. The number of awards and clients that his company earned are clear indicators of his success. His firm was originally created to provide tutorial lessons on design applications for print and Web. "I worked as a part-time graphic designer and I also did some online tutorial lessons during those days. I even had students from Africa and Canada," he said. In 2001, Mr. Rubio had an opportunity to share his talents with the students of Genetic Computer Institute, a local computer school, as a graphic design mentor. But this teaching stint only lasted for a year. "When I was still teaching at Genetic Computer Institute, I was already getting some orders from my students and from my co-teachers. There were also orders coming from other people. So, I thought that I would be a better graphic designer if I will focus my whole attention to it," he said. In October 2004, Mr. Rubio rented one room at the second floor of Asic Building at this city’s Bonifacio St. and formally opened his studio. Among the services being offered by the company are conceptualization of logo design, poster templates for any event, and desktop publishing, to name a few. — Carmelito Q. Francisco/BusinessWorld