In this episode of Roots, designer Tim Quirino returns after five years to share his journey from Meta to Threads and now Shopify’s Remix team. Tim reflects on embracing creativity without constraints, building brands with personality, and finding freedom in “vibe coding” and play. He also unpacks how AI is reshaping the role of designers—making the work both more exciting and more dangerous. Beyond design, Tim opens up about life at 40, choosing intentionality, and why pursuing what excites you is the key to growth.

00:00 Reconnecting After Five Years

01:50 Tim's Journey at Shopify and Threads

09:00 The Creative Freedom in Startups

17:24 Embracing Playfulness in Design

24:32 AI's Impact on Design and Development

30:37 Personal Growth and Future Aspirations

Katrina Lachica is the Senior UX Manager at Cebu Pacific, where she leads efforts to strengthen design culture, streamline operations, and build out research practices.

She brings over 13 years of experience in the software industry, with past roles at Lexagle, ING, Sakay.ph, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. With a strong foundation in web development, Kim has spent the last 8 years specializing in design operations and design systems—bridging technical depth with design strategy.

In this episode — we talk about building UX maturity in legacy organizations, making design systems work in the real world, and growing your career by staying curious and scrappy.

JP Dionisio is an Enterprise Webflow Developer at MakeBuild who has shipped scalable marketing websites and work forTypeform, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Globe, and Samsung. He is also a Webflow Global Leader, rallying 1700+ Filipino creatives as head cheerleader of Webflow PH. His north star: design with purpose and lift local talent onto the global stage.

In this episode, we talk about JP’s pivot from architecture to Webflow, how he attracted offers from prominent enterprise Webflow agencies, and why designing systems—not just pages—sets you apart.

Jo Malinis is a graphic designer, type designer and educator. She is currently the Library Curator at Type Network. Jo founded Type63, a platform celebrating Filipino type design and typography, and is the co-founder of Type Fair PH, an in-person gathering and celebration of Filipino type and talent.

She has a postgrad certificate from Type West at the Letterform Archive. And also taught Visual Communication Design and Type Design at UP Diliman.

In this episode, we talk about designing type from cultural references, learning type with limited access, and building Type63 to find the community she didn’t have.

Ari Liloan is a Filipino-Italian illustrator based in Hamburg, Germany, with clients like The New York Times, TIME Magazine, Red Bull, Xbox, Google, Meta, and Instagram.

Ari is a maximalist through and through. In an industry that rewards speed and simplicity, Ari insists on complexity—layering dense ideas, intricate linework, and vibrant textures into editorial illustrations that demand a second, third, and fourth look.

In this episode, we talk about choosing maximalism in a world of minimalism, the wild story of landing a first client on Tinder, and staying creatively irreplaceable in the age of AI.

Chia Amisola is a Product Designer at Figma (working on Sites for people to make websites), an internet artist (making websites), and Director of Developh (helping people make websites). They create art, lectures, and tools that explore a more intimate, handmade internet. See more of their work at https://everythingi.love.

In this episode, we talk about growing up on the internet, founding Developh, building Figma Sites—and how Chia uses performance, code, and ritual to challenge how we design, teach, and feel the web.

Neicy Pilarca is a product designer based in Tokyo, where she designs for identity and access management at HENNGE, a cybersecurity firm.

She studied Management Information Systems at Ateneo and moved to Japan in 2019. Since then, she’s worked across healthcare and cybersecurity—designing everything from emotion recognition tools to wellness apps, and even found herself at dinner with Figma’s CEO.

In this episode, we talk about moving to Japan straight out of college, navigating language barriers at work, breaking into UX without formal training—and what it means to grow as a designer far from home.

Neicy's LinkedIn

Lloyd Zapanta—known online as @lloydiecat—is a multidisciplinary artist, type designer, and civic creative based in Metro Manila.

He’s the CLM Creatives Lead at GoTyme Bank, where he shapes how customers experience the brand across digital touchpoints.

Outside of work, he’s known for his Baybayin fonts, community-driven typewalks, and sharp critiques of bad public design—like his viral redesign of the MRT-3 wayfinding system.
He also serves as a pro-bono art director at Novice, a platform for up-and-coming Filipino creatives.

In this episode, we talk about how bad signage makes cities harder to live in, what good type can do for public life, and why Filipino design needs to start with clarity, empathy, and everyday people in mind.

Lloyd's Instagram