As a kid, Andre Magracia was always drawn to how products worked. The rotary phone, his lolo’s typewriter. He’d fidget with them just to see how they worked.
That restless curiosity eventually led him to De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, where he graduated with a degree in industrial design. Passionate about basketball like a true Pinoy, his thesis centered on footwear specifically for street basketball in the Philippines.
During the pandemic, he pivoted to digital product design, but his industrial design background still shapes his work today. He completed his Master’s degree at the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York.
Today, he is based in Brooklyn, leading product design at JUICE Creative Group. He’s worked on everything from online learning platforms for one of the largest U.S. universities to crypto gaming platforms, AI-driven tools, and restaurant websites.
His independent project, Sneakpeak, which will help sneakerheads track exclusive drops, has won multiple international awards for app design, including Gold at the MUSE Design Awards and Online Design Award, Silver at the NY Product Design Awards, Bronze at the A’ Design Award and Competition, and was named App of the Month by DesignRush.
“I’m proud of where I come from and how much we Pinoys love sports, especially basketball,” Magracia said. “I hope Sneakpeak can help more sneakerheads everywhere find the perfect pair for their next pickup game.”
His approach to visual design carries echoes from home. Jeepneys are covered in hand-painted art: religious symbols, pop culture, personal tributes. As a kid, he just saw them as transportation, but looking back, he realizes they taught him that functional things can be full of character. Magracia tries to improve what exists without stripping away those stories.
That philosophy is evident throughout his work. For Taco Guy, a casual Mexican restaurant, he redesigned the website to capture the brand’s unconventional personality through organic shapes, hand-drawn fonts, and playful illustration. The site redesign won Gold at the W3 Awards and saw over three times more visitors compared to the previous version.
That mindset extends beyond his client work. Andre co-founded Liit Creative, an initiative with a fellow Filipina designer. Together they offer free workshops, toolkits, and mentorship to early-career creatives. He also mentors through Project Alpaca, a nonprofit supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds in tech.
“For a long time, I stripped a lot of identity out of my work to assimilate and appear more employable,” he admits. “Reconnecting with my own interests, culture, and storytelling has led to much stronger work, and that mindset now shapes both my design practice and how I mentor others.” From Brooklyn to the global design stage, Magracia continues to prove that bringing your full cultural identity to your work isn’t just authentic, it’s what makes great design unforgettable.
