A TYPOGRAPHIC BARANGAY BY CORINNE
The environments around us are filled with stories. Our worlds and spaces built from smaller pieces of narratives & culture rooted in our memories. Abstract forms are charged with meaning alongside the utilitarian purposes they were created with.
Like the worlds around us letterforms are wrapped in layers of meaning. They act as one of our primary means of communication. However, this is not only done through the words that these letters make, but also their forms. Each letterform holds its own story and roots. Worlds and narratives push on the abstract structure of the letter to create its form. Alone letters can stand as cultural artifacts and vehicles for expression.
Like the worlds around us letterforms are wrapped in layers of meaning. They act as one of our primary means of communication. However, this is not only done through the words that these letters make, but also their forms. Each letterform holds its own story and roots. Worlds and narratives push on the abstract structure of the letter to create its form. Alone letters can stand as cultural artifacts and vehicles for expression.
SEPT 2020 / PVD, RI, USA
MARCH 2021 / PVD, RI, USA
ONGOING / PVD, RI, USA
if javi had any related thoughts he could write them here, each div is diary entry-esque
MARCH 2021 / PVD, RI, USA
TYPE DESIGN
MONOBLOC SANS: bold
MONOBLOC SANS: reg
MONOBLOC SANS: light
fluoral bar is pretty legible
fluoral swirl is not
fluorl lttie boop
EXHIBITION
PERLAS NG SILINGANAN BY JAVIER
MARCH 2021 / PVD, RI, USA
APRIL 2021 / PVD, RI, USA
Ultimately, I find that Perlas ng Silanganan is an excellent way to understand and represent post/ and de/colonial Filipino identity and culture. Our country’s history is so riddled with colonization that it is impossible to not address our colonial roots when discussing our nationalist pride.
Perlas ng Silanganan is the perfect title for this text — it encompasses the multifaceted history of Philippine colonization while simultaneously acknowledging how post/colonial Philippines continues to evolve and take from its colonial past. As I unpack the history and trajectory of Filipino graphic design, it is apparent that the field can, too, be understood as a Perlas ng Silanganan in how its vernaculars are a result of colonization while still being distinctly Filipino.
Perlas ng Silanganan is the perfect title for this text — it encompasses the multifaceted history of Philippine colonization while simultaneously acknowledging how post/colonial Philippines continues to evolve and take from its colonial past. As I unpack the history and trajectory of Filipino graphic design, it is apparent that the field can, too, be understood as a Perlas ng Silanganan in how its vernaculars are a result of colonization while still being distinctly Filipino.
FEB 2021 / PVD, RI, USA
FORMAL EXPERIMENTS
MANIFESTO
COLONIAL PERIOD IN THE PHILIPPINES
hllow
1565–1946 / PHILIPPINES
Within the Philippines, vernacular hand painted signs are a means of expression and have become a strong marker of the modern Filipino aesthetic. However, it is important to note that the latin language system was imposed as a means of enforcing power during the Spanish colonial rule. The jeepney that are adorned with these vernacular letterforms were introduced by the American army during their period of colonization. Beneath these letterforms that are deemed symbolic of the Filipino visual language lay systems and structures forced upon the Filipino people in moments when their voices were deemed as less valid. Despite this, the Filipino people have taken these structures of oppression and transformed them through their personal values, experiences and emotions into a vibrant vehicle of self expression.
The Philippines was long considered the Perlas ng Silanganan (Pearl of the Orient) while it was colonized by Spain & the United States. I distinctly remember being told that it was “such a shame” that the Philippines lost its path to economic wealth (due to its loss of colonial status) and thus lost its title as the Pearl of the Orient. The term, however, is problematic in its roots. After all, the “Orient” is a fetishisitic construct created by the West, used as a tool for the continued Othering and oppression of individuals from the East and Global South. The continued colonization of Filipino culture post-1946 independence is apparent in the lack of criticism towards the phrase from local Filipinos.
FEB 2021 / PVD, RI, USA