Filipino Town, also previously known as Manila Town, was an ethnic enclave within Seattle’s Chinatown-International District neighborhood that has repeatedly faced threats of erasure, despite historical evidence and first-hand accounts of the Filipino people and culture that once thrived there. I felt it was important to draw attention to this issue by preserving Filipino Town, especially during Filipino-American History Month (October) while uplifting and celebrating local artists from the Filipino community of Seattle.

Concept Design, Creative Direction, Marketing Campaign Strategy, Logo Design, Brand Strategy, Social Media Strategy, Research, Content Creation, Merchandise Design, Budgeting, Shopify E-commerce Design & Management, Packaging & Shipping Fulfillment, Copywriting, Photography, Community Outreach, and modeled the merchandise :)

My merch design for this campaign was an extension of the original “icons” I created for Hood Famous Cafe + Bar’s initial opening. I wanted to create a subtle nod to our heritage without using the typical visual elements or colors our community is used to seeing.

These simple line illustrations are representations of iconic symbols in Filipino culture that are both recognizable within our community but visually interesting to non-Filipino folks viewing our storefront, and reminiscent of what you will typically find in a sari sari (variety) store in the Philippines or a Filipino-American household.

The icon designs include: a jeepney, Hood Famous’ ube cheesecake, barrel man, barrel woman, a jar of Good Sheperd’s ube jam, a bottle of patis (fish sauce), calamansi, dried chilis, saba bananas, a bottle of banana ketchup, a walis ting ting, Santo Nińo, a walis tambo, bakery utensils, a prayer candle, a can of sardinas, and a banana leaf.

• Raised awareness of Seattle’s historical Filipino Town and it’s threats of erasure
• Created ongoing annual campaign and merchandise line
• Pre-sold 164 shirts within two-week sale
• Exceeded sales goal by 373%
• Organically increased Instagram growth rate by 7% in one month
• Garnered media interview with the International Examiner