"We want a sense of ownerships as farmers because if we just give away the land and animals we take care of, they will just sell them instead."
The Philippines is more than a tropical island of beaches but also a land where modern-day feudalism is still alive. Most farmers found in the Philippines do not own land as many land-grabbers and modern-day slave owners give no money to the workers.
How do we solve this?
Young people, specifically, Millenials have created a powerful movement of revolution and progress through protesting the government and also supporting advocacies. We want to tap into their passion to help this crisis with the farmers because we believe in their power and knowledge in social awareness.
Puso comes in as an advocacy organization that makes suman (ricecakes) as a way to empower and help our farmers in a much more ethical way while also serving Filipinos representation for their regions. Puso becomes an accessible way for millenials to take part in this advocacy with cheap prices and easy eating during protests.
The Design System
Puso's logo and name comes from a method of folding banana leaves on Suman, but also from the kindness of the Filipino heart. The icon in the center and logo both visually become a symbol of suman-folding and also an abstraction of a human heart.
Puso's design system reflects more than just trend but a visual cue of values. It stems from the history of socialism, power, and revolution. This is most apparent in the use of a simple red, black, white palette with illustrations that do not shy away from the reality of what the farmers are going through.
Application
Due to Puso being an Advocacy brand that wants to give most of its proceeds to the farmers, we want to minimize the packaging while also being practical. Puso uses current newspapers showing the political landscape of the land as packaging to show social awareness while also using stamps as a simple label for the product.
On the individual packing of the Suman, we will put stickers that are easier to produce with messages that direct the audience to participate in online protests with Puso such a the hashtag #radicalsuman
Different online promotions will be posted as to engage Millenials to support and buy Suman from puso. There will also be stickers posted around street corners to signal and gain traction affordably without costing much.
