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Creative direction — Manila / remote

debbie-ing.

Creative direction for brands that need less “what now?” and more “watch this.”

debbie-ing ideas into shapedebbie-ing teams into motiondebbie-ing stories into systemsdebbie-ing chaos into something shippable

How the work connects

Find the idea. Build the system. Make it felt.

I turn messy ambition into story, structure, and creative direction people can actually use.

01

True Legacy Homes logo
01Brand strategy2026

In the middle of everything.

Estate sales, downsizing, inherited homes. Always more emotional than anyone expects.

Real homes, real transitions, and a trust story built across every touchpoint.

True Legacy Homes campaign showing a downsizing message
Lead campaign
True Legacy Homes estate sale holiday campaign
Seasonal narrative
True Legacy Homes social content
Trust proof

The situation

Families navigating estate transitions are not in shopping mode. They are in grief mode, logistics mode, and uncertainty mode, all at once. The old messaging missed all of that.

The result

Reframed the brand story, then carried it through campaign concepts, paid social, CRM, content planning, and everyday messaging. Strategy became a system the team could actually use.

StorytellingPaid mediaSocial strategyCRMBrand voice

Make the next step feel clear.

02

Missio logo
02Content systems2025

Great mission. Chaotic content.

Powerful story, limited structure. One of those is fixable.

A repeatable content system for high-volume, church-specific communication.

Missio portrait content card 01
Content card 01
Missio portrait content card 02
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The situation

The mission was clear. The machinery to communicate it was not. Content went out reactively. Voice drifted post to post. Nothing compounded into anything.

The result

Built social media workflows, content systems, and a strategy that balances creativity with consistency. Now the work builds on itself, week after week.

Content systemsSocial workflowsEditorial strategyVisual direction

Good systems make consistency easier.

03

Boehringer Ingelheim logo
03Campaign direction2023

Presence over polish.

Misinformation moves fast. Credibility has to move faster.

Expert presence first. Public response close behind.

The situation

People were overwhelmed and skeptical. Polished messaging felt distant from their reality. The problem was not information. It was trust.

The result

Shaped expert-led content, live conversations, and social response into one trust-building system. Less distance. More useful presence.

Presence builds trust.

04

San Miguel Corporation logo
04Brand & community2022

From product to community.

Pet owners are not buying nutrition. They are caring for a relationship.

Nutri Chunks website hero
Brand home
Nutri Chunks Join our Pawmily signup
Community signup
Nutri Chunks social content
Social content

The situation

Pet food is a deeply emotional category. The brand was showing up like a commodity. Nice packaging, no real connection to the people buying it.

The result

Shifted toward participation. Everyday routines, shared experiences, and long-term connection over single transactions. When people feel recognized, loyalty follows.

Community buildingSocial contentBrand participationLoyalty design

Recognition builds loyalty.

05

Jollibee Foods Corporation logo
05Digital experience2024

Digital as a destination.

Most brand websites inform. Few create memories.

Joy character waving

The situation

Jollibee had decades of genuine story. The challenge was delivering it without making anyone feel like they were reading a company archive.

The result

Shaped the experience flow, story beats, and digital touchpoints for an interactive brand world. History became something people could explore.

Interactive designExperience direction3D webCreative tech

Make the story playable.

06

GIZ logo
06Advocacy film2023

People before policy.

Advocacy lands better when it starts with real life.

GIZ advocacy film frame
Opening frame
GIZ advocacy film frame
Interview arc
GIZ advocacy film frame
Opening frame
GIZ advocacy film frame
Interview arc

The situation

The subject was bigger than any institution. If the film led with policy, it would feel distant. The story needed people, place, and stakes.

The result

Worked on narrative direction and pacing so the interviews, visuals, and institution all served the human story.

Narrative directionDocumentary storyInterview pacingAdvocacy film

Lead with people.

07

DOST logo
07Science communication2024

Science that feels human.

Science communication has an accessibility problem. We made it personal.

DOST science moment
Human moment
DOST broadcast moment
Science story
DOST animated science story moment
Science story
DOST animated research application moment
Research application
DOST animated public science moment
Public science

The situation

DOST was doing genuinely important work. The challenge was making it feel that way to people outside the institution. Complexity was getting in the way of connection.

The result

Translated complexity into real stories, real applications, and tangible impact. Science stopped being something that happened to people and started being something for them.

Science storytellingAV directionPublic communicationMotion assets

Make science feel close.

08

08Short film2024

Love as a locked room.

Cinematography for a psychological horror short about care, resentment, shame, and the terror of not knowing who is family.

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The situation

The film lives inside a decrepit house and a volatile mother-son standoff. The cinematography needed to make the domestic space feel unstable: intimate enough to feel trapped, dark enough to let memory and suspicion distort the room.

The result

I approached the image language around pressure, shadow, and withheld information. Performance close-ups, negative space, and decaying interiors turn the house into a witness, so the horror comes less from spectacle and more from what the frame refuses to fully explain.

CinematographyPsychological horrorLightingShot languagePerformance tension

Let the frame hold the tension.

The work, practically

01

Brand strategy

Positioning, messaging, and the core idea everything else can follow.

02

Campaign direction

Concepts, scripts, visuals, and rollout thinking with one clear point of view.

03

Content systems

Editorial plans, formats, and workflows teams can keep using.

04

Design

Digital experiences shaped around how people actually move and decide.

05

Film & broadcast

Films, AVPs, and live moments with a clear story underneath.

06

AI generation

Fast visual exploration, guided by taste, context, and restraint.

Debbie Melgarejo, creative director

Origin story

Creative direction for the messy middle.

I work where strategy, content, film, design, and production start overlapping. That is usually where the interesting problems are.

My job is to find the throughline, sharpen the story, and turn it into work that can ship without losing the idea.