Personal Business
Mi Isla se Levanta
El Isla del Encanto
Music has been an important part of my life since my childhood, and girl groups hold a very special place in my heart for their songs about love, independence, and belief in oneself. One such group from the K-Pop scene of South Korea epitomized these themes, paving the way for all-girl groups that would come after.
References
Puerto Rico is known as a tropical paradise, and in this design, I leaned into that initial belief held by most tourists and the U.S. at large. Taking careful consideration, I spent the summer of 2019 designing this piece as my very first hard enamel pin in a series of pins that I devised to be launched as the first products of my independent business, Vené.
The elements of the pin design are as follows:
- The famous watchtower of El Morro, the castle (sometimes called a fort or citadel), that overlooks the Caribbean waters of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- The Caribbean waters of Puerto Rico are home to many variations of unique sea life from manatees, crabs, fish, and coral reefs.
- The national flower of Puerto Rico is El Flor de Maga, a unique hibiscus flower with large, thick, waxy petals the size of an adult’s face. Translating to the magician’s flower, El Flor de Maga was revered by the indigenous people of Puerto Rico, the Taino Boricua, to have magical properties due to its ability to change color throughout its blooming period of life.
- The icon is based on the petroglyph found on the island. It represents the Taino deity of the sun, Mauatiatibuel. His glyph can be found across the island, and I believed was an important piece to represent the mythology of the island that many Puerto Ricans themselves don’t even know about.
Sketches
Initial Font Exploration
Established in 1990, the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GPHCC) is a not-for-profit organization devoted to promoting the advancement and economic growth of Hispanic businesses and professionals in the greater Philadelphia region. We accomplish this through educational programs, and a broad range of services and special events. The GPHCC proactively serves a diverse membership—consisting of entrepreneurs, Latino businesses, Latino professionals, corporations and government—with the overriding goal of helping these critical constituencies capitalize on the many opportunities their diversity, enhanced by our Latino multicultural mix, offers.
Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Logo Exploration
Sationary
Working from reference provides a strong platform to build upon. Although, I believe as a designer we sometimes need to strip away the safety of a balanced experience in order to provoke the truest emotions and convey purer messages.
In my process I embark on a journey of discovering what the piece wants to become, and how I want to communicate that identity with the tools afforded to me. In the process of creating DARA, I sketched around the form of the model and captured an exact likeness. Then I worked to pull away elements that hindered the experience, while elevating some that would aid in provoking the desired emotions.
Below you will see the development period, and follow visually with me as I made decisions to remove and alter the piece.
Application examples
A massive storm, with a death toll higher than that of Katrina, hit Puerto Rico in September 2018. This force of nature was hurricane Maria, and it killed over 3,000 United States citizens. However, rather than headlines describing us as a people in need, I only saw phrases like “foreigners”, “immigrants”, and “freeloaders” to name a few.
People here in the states did not realize we as Puerto Ricans, like them, were in fact United States citizens. This massive ignorance was further empowered by the many tweets and discussions by Donald Trump, who disrespectfully stated
“Puerto Rico is one of the most corrupt places on earth.”
I was distraught as a Puerto Rican. I was infuriated as a Latino. I was driven as a graphic designer. This harrowing series of events led to my creation of Vené, an online store dedicated to the representation and education of Latin culture, beginning with Puerto Rican culture.
A massive storm, with a death toll higher than that of Katrina, hit Puerto Rico in September 2018. This force of nature was hurricane Maria, and it killed over 3,000 United States citizens. However, rather than headlines describing us as a people in need, I only saw phrases like “foreigners”, “immigrants”, and “freeloaders” to name a few.
People here in the states did not realize we as Puerto Ricans, like them, were in fact United States citizens. This massive ignorance was further empowered by the many tweets and discussions by Donald Trump, who disrespectfully stated
“Puerto Rico is one of the most corrupt places on earth.”
I was distraught as a Puerto Rican. I was infuriated as a Latino. I was driven as a graphic designer. This harrowing series of events led to my creation of Vené, an online store dedicated to the representation and education of Latin culture, beginning with Puerto Rican culture.
Website Design
Overview
Established in 1990, the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GPHCC) is a not-for-profit organization devoted to promoting the advancement and economic growth of Hispanic businesses and professionals in the greater Philadelphia region. We accomplish this through educational programs, a broad range of services, and special events. The GPHCC proactively serves a diverse membership—consisting of entrepreneurs, Latino businesses, Latino professionals, corporations, and government—with the overriding goal of helping these critical constituencies capitalize on the many opportunities their diversity, enhanced by our Latino multicultural mix, offers.
Mission
To develop, promote and advocate for Hispanic business in the Greater Philadelphia region while encouraging the advancement and economic growth of the Hispanic community.
Vision
To be recognized as the premier resources organization and voice servicing Hispanic businesses as well as the major force of positive change in the Latino business community
Elevar Ad Spot
Music has been an important part of my life since my childhood, and girl groups hold a very special place in my heart for their songs about love, independence, and belief in oneself. One such group from the K-Pop scene of South Korea epitomized these themes, paving the way for all-girl groups that would come after.
Iterations
DARA is a vector illustration based on Sandara Park, known to all her fans as Dara, who made a surprising return herself in Park Bom’s music video for Spring. At the time of the song’s debut, Dara had not released any music of any kind since the group’s disbandment. That was three years of nothing but modeling and acting appearances on her part, so when she appeared here it meant a lot to the fans.
Clothed in a burning crimson suit jacket, Dara had a forlorn look-conveying all of the pain that fans worldwide struggled with. It was a slow-burning experience to watch Park Bom be the target of ridicule as she was apprehended back in 2015 for unknowingly transporting medication for her ADHD from Korean news outlets and fans alike, accusing her of smuggling her ADHD medication into the country.