Gawang-Kamay

Crafting a visual identity and a directory website for a hypothetical handicraft services micro-enterprise in the Philippines. Built and completed for IDES 102.03: Web Design class in university.

Brief

To build a visual identity for a local business that empowers and heralds Filipino handicraft artists without sacrificing quality for profit-driven demands

For the website, the goal was to create a nationwide directory website; in such a way that it lets potential clients view, compare, and book professionally presented services of local pottery, textile, and weave artists so that each artist in the directory gets to close a project at least twice a year.

Duration

February to July 2021

Role

Research, copywriting, illustrations, iconography, layout, and website prototyping

Professionally handmade, imperfectly charming.

Gawang-Kamay takes as its life-long mission to empower and herald the rich Filipino handicraft culture. We are a people who love to craft and make things by hand, and we have developed a skillful culture out of it.

One of the challenges of taking handmade craft into the sphere of e-commerce is that in themselves, commerce and art rarely have a seamless marriage. In order to emphasize the endeavor that is being taken by Gawang-Kamay, this phrase becomes the guiding principle in crafting the design and voice of the brand.

Gawang-kamay does not seek to bring handmade goods to a scale of production that is unsustainable and merely profit-driven. It seeks to bring our local products to the global market without taking away the fact that these items are, first and foremost, products of tedious hours of work from Filipino communities. In this sense, it declares itself a paradox that insists to thrive.

Visualizing the paradox

With the specific brand vision in mind, it was important to visualize the duality of Gawang-kamay. It seeks to globalize the idea of local, thus it only makes sense that the visual elements remain rounded and inviting—staying away from rigid lines and unwelcoming figures that makes it easy to forget that the services being offered are made by people with stories to share.

Visual Design WIP:

Designing the website

Inherent to the nature of this e-commerce venture is a professional-looking website that can help the local communities bring their products to the global market. The design process for the website takes the staple elements of an e-commerce site but allowing the services to be specific to the needs of the viewer—just as the crafting culture of the partner communities are distinct.

As of writing, the prototype for the website is stil lin the works and this page will be update with a link to the Figma working prototype once it is ready for hand-off.

Prototype WIP:

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