Re-Inventing the Cañao

Part One

Serving as your Cañao Adviser over the years has not only kept me closely connected to the heartbeat of our Rotary Club—it has been my safe haven, a space where I can give back with intention and heart. So when the opportunity to take on the role of Editor-in-Chief was presented, I accepted it with both humility and resolve. I knew this would take more than skill—it required a heartfelt commitment, a fresh lens, and a vision for something better.

There was one candid remark that truly stayed with me—shared by PP Veeh in a moment of sincerity: “Almost nobody reads the Cañao anymore.” That simple observation echoed in my mind for weeks. It stirred something deeper. How did something so rich in tradition become something people skimmed—or skipped—altogether? That was my wake-up call.

“Almost nobody reads the Cañao anymore.”

With that challenge in mind, I began a quiet but meaningful reflection. I explored other club newsletters and took inspiration from what works today. The realization was simple yet profound: our layout had grown too crowded, too dense. While it may have served us well in the past, our long-standing design had gradually become visually overwhelming—especially for readers who now consume content differently.

The first step was symbolic. We reimagined the cover page—not just redesigned it. We stripped it down from its cluttered layout of Masthead, Program, Contents at a Glance, and often a GHS photo. In its place now stands a simpler, more elegant new Emblem: a dancing male and female within a gong. It is a quiet nod to our cultural heritage—evocative, symbolic, and easier on the eyes.

The Program For Today, along with Participants For Next Meeting, has been relocated to the back page—Page 12. This subtle shift encourages the reader to flip through the entire issue to reach what they need. It’s a small touch with big intention—getting members to re-engage, even unconsciously, with our content.

Using Adobe InDesign’s “spread” feature, we now design two facing pages at a time (e.g., Pages 02-03, 04-05), allowing for a cleaner, more cohesive visual experience. The Contents at a Glance now appears on Page 02 and features no more than 10 curated items, keeping things lean and mindful of the attention spans of our readers—especially our treasured senior members.

Page 03 now highlights the President’s Message, complemented by a subtle but important change: we’ve shifted from traditional ID-style photos to warmer, three-quarter portraits. This small choice makes a big difference—it humanizes our leaders, adds personality, and builds a stronger sense of connection.

Word counts are more intentional now. We’ve set a limit of around 500 words per article, using fonts no smaller than 10 points. Our goal: articles that inform, inspire, and invite reflection—without overwhelming.

This reimagining of The Cañao is just the beginning. It is our collective hope that this renewed format will draw you back—not just as a contributor, but as a reader who looks forward to every issue with curiosity and pride.

Part Two

My journey as Editor-in-Chief of The Cañao for this Rotary Year, actually began on 05 May 2025—a date that quietly marked the start of what has become a deeply engaging commitment.

Since then, most days have been spent immersed in this labor of love. What initially seemed like a role has evolved into a near full-time calling— one embraced wholeheartedly.

One of the innovations I’m particularly excited to introduce is what I affectionately call our “letter-icons.” These are simple single-letter emblems thoughtfully assigned to each page or spread, giving our bulletin an easy-to-follow structure. My hope is that, over time, these icons will become friendly visual cues — gently guiding you, our dear readers, to the content you most enjoy. In a way, it’s like developing our own club-specific language, a system of logic we can proudly call our own.

Here’s a glimpse of our Letter-Icons Galore — each one representing a key part of our weekly journey together:
P – President’s Message: A whole page of thoughts and reflections from our own Pres. Joe Ursua, now with a warm half-body portrait to connect with each of you visually.
S – Secretary’s Update: Where PP/Sec Cora will faithfully share how our club is progressing, also accompanied by a portrait.
R – In Retrospect: A weekly narrative on how the latest club meeting unfolded, along with a portrait of the Retrospector.
R-scenes – Previously “Scenes We Like to See,” now expanded into a full two-page spread celebrating the best captured moments.
H – Happenings Page: Highlighting special events attended by our members — with H-photos to match!
M – Member’s Page: A space for heartfelt contributions from our very own club members.
L – Leaders of Rotary Page
T – Treasurer’s Report
G – GHS Profile with Photo
C – Club Speaker: When our GHS is also a member of RCB, this page will celebrate their voice.
E – EIC Meditations: My personal corner — where I engage directly with you, dear reader.
F – Feature Page: Filled with helpful tips, ideas, and inspiring stories worth sharing.

Alongside these new elements, our Layout Artist Oli and I have made a key design decision — opting to use Calibri font throughout, for its clean, slender readability. We found Helvetica a bit too bulky and not as reader-friendly across devices.

The middle letter of Cañao must always be spelled with the proper “ñ” — that familiar curl above the “n” is not just aesthetic, but essential. It’s a point of pride, and I’m committed to preserving this as part of our editorial decorum.

We are keeping to our European date format — no commas, two-digit dates: e.g., 07 September 2025. Please extend your cooperation so we may preserve this consistency across all submissions.

Part Three

Let me take a moment to share something rarely talked about—the technical side of producing our Club Bulletin, The Cañao. We now use Adobe InDesign to lay out each issue and create the PDF files you read.

This task is often quietly handled behind the scenes, usually by a layout artist working with the Editor-in-Chief (EIC). But perhaps I’m the only EIC who insists on getting personally involved at this level—especially now, as I’ve chosen to re-invent The Cañao for RY 2025–2026.

Luckily, I’m no stranger to layout-design software. I fondly recall using Adobe PageMaker (InDesign’s predecessor) during my earlier stint as EIC in RY 2006–2007, under President Mike Pearson. Back then, we still printed hard copies of Cañao weekly and worked closely with Unique Printing Press. It was during that time that Archt. Sherwin Cheng and I transformed the old black-and-white emblem into the now-familiar triangular version. I’d spend Thursdays and Fridays finalizing layouts and personally delivering them to the Unique layout artist. 

From 2005 to 2009, I also served as the Canao Adviser—and often as its ad hoc layout artist. I collaborated with various EICs: Dhory Vicencio (2007–2009), John Cunanan (2006–2007), and myself (2005–2006). Those were years of learning, collaboration, and great joy and sacrifice.

Fast forward to 05 May 2025—faced with the sudden silence of our previous layout artist, Youichi, who had worked with my RGC&A Office for four years. He no longer responded to my messages. It was disheartening, especially since I had nurtured his career in architecture and more. But as life needs to go on despite the loss of certain talented people, this challenge pushed me into doing it again. I decided to learn InDesign myself and began doing all the prototyping and layout work from scratch.

My learning InDesign turned out to be an uphill climb, and not as easy as earlier expected. But my resolve was slowly rewarded, as my earlier trials soon saw the new pages slowly evolve.

For the new masthead, I have used a special app called Art Text v4 (Mac-only), which I’ve been using even earlier than 2013, to create our special RCB Diamond Jubilee logos. The dancing pair you see from around year 2000, is now re-imagined within a 3D gong motif. The "Cañao” letterings, features a unique font called Abbey Road NF—yes, chosen by your EIC, an unabashed Beatles fan.

You may also notice a new layout style: text presented in three columns, with the rightmost reserved for images. This design choice aims to ease your reading experience—less eye strain, and a format reminiscent of the newspapers of old.

There’s still so much more I could share about this creative journey—its adventures and misadventures—but perhaps it’s best to let the work speak for itself. I hope you enjoy the “Re-invented Cañao” as much as I’ve enjoyed shaping it for you.

Let’s continue this journey together.