FullBleed

Since graduating from McGill University in Montreal, Claire Manibog has been working as a philanthropic advisor — and she loves it.

“Basically, I help people like Bill Gates make smart choices when they donate their wealth to charity. I work with an incredible team of smart, young people and their energy, optimism, and brains keep me motivated every day.”

Though, Claire doesn’t seem to be short on motivation.

The DC native was born to a French mother and Filipino father who both worked in international development. Claire — who speaks fluent French, basic Chinese, and some Tagalog — studied the same after being influenced by an early exposure to the developing world. For example, she was on an airplane to the Philippines at the tender age of one month.

“Seeing what the world is like outside U.S. borders is a humbling experience,” she said. “The combination of my travels and the fact that some of my relatives in the Philippines live in very poor conditions led me to study international development in college.”

So, how do her international development and design interests mesh?

“One passion of mine is how design — whether 2D, 3D, or in motion — can create positive social impact. From designing affordable laptops to communicating to an audience that might not be able to read, I find the whole process of designing for social impact fascinating. That’s why I am also a freelance graphic and web designer. The balance keeps me happy.”

She credits Egon Schiele as being her biggest artistic influence.

“His work is both violent and calming. There’s a lot of truth in that paradox, which inspires my work, whether it’s design or drawing or painting. My family’s also influenced me; they’ve shown me that it’s okay to be an economist, engineer, artist, writer, or DJ, all at the same time.”

Her artistic side increasingly manifested itself throughout college, when she took courses in animation, photography, and graphic design. Claire completed a semester in Paris through the Parsons School of Design, which “was like being a kid in a candy store.”

“There’s nothing better than being an art student in Paris,” she said. “I also delighted in studying illustration and animation with professors there who encouraged all the students to discover a world beyond Disney/Pixar … an incredibly rich one, I might add!”

After discovering the world beyond DC while growing up and pursuing collegiate studies, Claire made her way back to DC and started exploring its creative community.

“As a newbie to the DC creative community, I have yet to become fully engaged, but my cursory sense is that web tends to dominate. As a print person, I’d like to see more events focused on print. I wish DC design was a little gutsier, but that goes with the city we’re in. Still, I think we’re getting there!”

She has been flexing her creative design muscles by pursuing freelance work, which has been influencing her consideration of future professional and creative opportunities.

“I would also like to live abroad again. Right now I’ve got my eyes set on London, because it’s an incredibly international city on the cutting edge of design. I’m also a huge fan of Agenda, the typeface for the London tube.”

Wherever she lands, she’ll take with her an admitted “passion for good, smart design and good, smart ways to improve people’s livelihoods.” Ideally, she’d like to fuse those together with a focus on supporting women and girls in developing countries. She believes that by doing so, she’ll be helping to facilitate empowerment, which she thinks is a major element toward alleviating poverty.

As she looks to the future, she’ll be trying to live some advice she received in the past.

“Many people have told me, ‘take a risk,’ but I haven’t always listened. But, when I have, it’s always paid off.”

Find out more about Claire at www.clairemanibog.com.