the kultura

intro + purpose

What started as a senior capstone project during my undergrad at The New School has blossomed into a growing Substack newsletter. Inspired by own experience as an immigrant, I sought to build a bridge between cultures through thoughtful reporting and stories. I expanded The Kultura to more than just a newsletter, and into a meaningful space where audiences can engage in discourse that explore the immigrant identity.

brand identity

The Kultura, in essence, is an incisive look into personal identity in the Filipino diaspora. Inspired by the people I spoke to in developing the newsletter, I sought to evoke a communal brand identity using the elements of Filipino culture. I designed the logo on Canva because of its vast range of Filipino-created and Filipino-inspired typeface that I thought evoked the Philippines.

My color palette was mud yellow, red, and blue - colors in the Filipino flag. Since the sun is commonly seen as the icon to represent the Philippines, I wanted to incorporate it as much as possible throughout the brand identity.

content

Substack is a trending and growing newsletter and subscription platform modeled after similar direct-to-consumer products like Beehiiv and creator platforms like Patreon. I chose Substack because of features that allow creators to engage directly with their readers more intimately—a perfect space to grow a meaningful reader-base and harness thoughtful engagement.

The stories I publish focus on a wide range of topics: politics, culture, the arts, climate justice, food, and personal essays. The narrative always draws back to the Filipino diaspora or the immigrant identity, creating opportunities for my readers to relate and discuss with shared experiences. With Substack’s features, I was able to take my storytelling to the next level and started a podcast series titled “a kultura konversation”.

Read and subscribe to my newsletter here.

print

As part of my capstone presentation when I first started as a project, I designed and printed a physical zine with funding from the Civic Engagement and Social Justive (CESJ) Mini Grant. The opportunity allowed me to work with a professional photographer, illustrator, and New York printer to realize the vision I had.

Download PDF ^︎︎

Illustrated cover by Caitlin Du