Katotohanan

Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN), held at CSULB, is an annual event that showcases Filipino culture through a series of dances, skit, music, and so much more. Katotohanan (“Truth”) is a skit that focuses on the struggles of the indigenous people in the Philippines called the Lumad.

For the 2023-2024 PCN season, I served as one of the organization’s programs coordinators, in which I designed the cast and board merch, as well as help create the programs booklets. The story of the Lumad people is incorporated all throughout the design using traditional patterns and symbolic themes from the skit itself.

Woodblock prints, linocuts, and other printmaking styles have long been associated with activist art because of their bold, expressive, and handmade qualities. We incorporated this into the logo to emulate that tradition and emphasize the story's connection to political and social justice issues in the Philippines. The quills represent the writing and reporting that brought attention to the Lumad people's struggle, while the ink drops symbolize the lives lost. Encircling the type is a pattern inspired by the traditional woven skirts of the Lumad, connecting the identity to their culture and heritage.

Here are some references used in the ideation of the logo:

Right On! Is a Powerful Little Paperback That Boldly Visualized Student Protest in the 1970s

Ancient Philippine textiles studied by Prince Charles’ School of Traditional Arts

You have nothing to lose but your chains

The graduation ceremony for students of the Lumad Bakwit School

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