Project Type: Branding
Role: Designer & Illustratorâââââââ
Role: Designer & Illustratorâââââââ
Meryenda (a Filipino term used for âsnack timeâ) is a newsletter exploring the complexities of Philippine culture and diasporic foodways. My friend, Jessica Hernandez, and I started it together in June 2021 to explore our own identities and reclaim stories through Filipino food.
Audience:Â the Filipino diaspora, those interested in Philippine history and culture, those curious/ struggling with their identity as a hyphenated Filipino.Â
Mission:Â when we feed ourselves history, we start to understand ourselves. When we start to understand ourselves, we find empowerment. When we find empowerment, we initiate change.
The goal of this project was to create a brand that reflected one of our core values, community. The best conversations are had over a meal, and we wanted meryenda to be a place where community members felt welcomed at the table.
Exploring Color
I wanted our to reflect color palette the overall warmth of our project; the light beige that we use for our background helps ground the overall palette. The main colors coral and forest green, contrasts of one another, reflect the range of conversations that we hope to encourage through our work.Â
Illustrations
I created illustrations inspired by the Filipino-style meal kamayan, which is when the meal is beautifully spread on banana leaves and guests are expected to eat with only their hands. Kamay translates to hand(s) in English. The visuals of cut mangoes with the hash marks, sawsawan (dipping sauces), and lumpia are placed as visual breaks in our blog posts.Â
To represent our message of wanting to invite everyone to the table, I also included illustrations representing other utensils to eat with, including chopsticks, fork, knife, and spoon.
We'd love to have you at the table, too! You can subscribe to our substack below:
