KWENTONG DALISAY
Ateneo de Manila University Senior Thesis (2021-2022)
Overview
Kwentong Dalisay is a collection of children's storybooks featuring lessons on how consent and bodily autonomy can be practiced in the context of the home. Its goal is to empower Filipino families, with preschool-aged children, to establish healthy personal boundaries.
*Kwentong Dalisay is a senior thesis project, not a for-profit brand.
Services Rendered
Stakeholder Research
Copywriting
Branding
Storybook Illustration
Prototype Production
The Design Challenge
Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a persistent problem in the Philippines. The problem requires a reevaluation of problematic Filipino cultural norms that allow CSA to persist. The challenge was to frame consent and bodily autonomy in a way that can be understood by preschool-aged children, in a medium easily accessible to Filipino families—storybooks.
The Solution
After conducting stakeholder research with 10 Filipino families, a collection of storybooks proved to be the design intervention most appropriate to address the thesis problem.
Kwentong Dalisay translated from Filipino to English means "pure or unadulterated stories", which is exactly how the intervention was branded. The sampaguita is Filipino imagery for purity, supporting the intervention name.
Kwentong Dalisay was branded with 3 crucial aspects in mind—approachability, warmth, and calm. These brand traits address the challenge of how to teach a delicate subject to young children. Light, muted colors were used to convey child-friendly playfulness while fun sans serifs ensure legibility for both children and their parents. A cartoon-like, watercolor illustration style was employed, reminiscent of drawings in classic Filipino children's storybooks.
