Personal Profile
Where abouts are you from?
I live in the Philippines, specifically in Los Baños, the special science and nature city in Laguna.
What is your technical background and education?
I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry and worked as a government employee for six years. I resigned to pursue my passion for music and arts. Then, I worked as a freelance graphic designer and WordPress developer for different clients from different countries for nine years.
What inspires you to design watch faces?
My family inspires me above all. Designing, other than music, empowers me and makes me feel good. When gear watch users give their feedback and communicate their suggestions and I learn that they are satisfied with my work, it inspires me to create more and design unique ones.
What are some of your hobbies?
I play guitar, I sing, and I play online games.
Mario Paladin
Your Brand
When did you create your brand?
In 2016, I set up my website for web development and tried to think of a name for it. Me and my wife came up with using my nickname Ballo, which means dance, and added the word “zi” which means beautiful or multiply in some languages.
How many watch faces do you have in your collection right now?
I started in March 2018 and I have so far released 19 watch faces.
Do you have a particular theme you like to create your designs around? If so, what is it?
I like to play around military/tactical theme.
What are your top most popular and/or most download watch faces in your collection?
My top sellers are Stealth Carbon and Tactical Ticker Ash (which was suggested by a gear user as a variation of Tactical Ticker).
What designs are you working on next and when can we expect to see them?
My next project is another hybrid watch face, which will be released in the third or fourth week of September 2018.
Identify all the items you create for the Samsung Galaxy/Gear series: Watch Faces – Apps – Themes
I only create watch faces at this time, but I plan to engage on developing other apps or themes in the future.
Watch Face Community
Please talk a little about the watch face community and what makes it interesting/special for you?
The watch face community, in my view, showcases different personalities of different people around the world through their designs. It’s really great to realize that I’m working in the “world of artists”. It’s just wonderful that in such a little screen size, many people could create thousands of workpieces. In my case, the user comments that affirm my work makes it even more interesting.
Why should designers consider developing watch faces?
Everybody loves watches. Designers take delight in their work. So, as a designer, to see your work worn by gear users feels very rewarding, and to earn from it is even more so.
What are the common pitfalls you see when designers first start out and how should they avoid them?
Many of the new designers I observed get excited when they hear about the sales of the “pioneers” and they tend to focus on earning therefore creating many watch faces rather than focusing on the quality. The outcome is usually poor design, so it results to low sales and negative feedback. Designers should contemplate on the quality so that the users will be satisfied, which will lead to high sales and positive feedback – quality over quantity.
If you could a new developer one piece of advice, what would it be?
If it’s possible, connect with veteran designers and join a community of designers or developers to get ideas to start with and then be innovative according to your vision. As much as possible, try to create unique ones and prioritize the quality of your products.
Which developers create watch face designs you really like and that inspire you?
I get my inspiration from real watches so I can’t really specify any developer.