13th Asian Bird Fair:
Las Piñas
Thirteen years ago, the Asian Bird Fair started as a simple idea between a few birdwatchers. It has since grown into an international celebration of the beautiful world of our avian treasures. The Asian Bird Fair first spread its wings in the Philippines in Davao City and has since been soaring across different Asian countries. For 2024, the Asian Bird Fair heads back home to the Philippines, the country where it all began, as it celebrates its 13th year.
Logo Development
As an organization with an annual event, the Asian Bird Fair (ABF) has a unique approach to each of its logos. For each year, the host country designs the logo for the ABF, making each ABF a distinct and unique event by design.
As a result, a high focus was warranted for the 2024 ABF logo to make it a memorable event and one that would stand amongst the past ABFs.
When looking at the previous ABF logos, we can see that most of the ABFs use a “star bird” to carry the entire design. We also see lots of color palettes being utilized throughout each ABF, making each one one of a kind.
With ABF 2024 being held back in the Philippines, we had two choices: to follow the previous Philippine ABF or to innovate and start anew. With the previous years seeing a massive industry shift in art and design being a massive priority, we decided to start from scratch and head towards a modern look for ABF 2024.
Star Bird
Now that we know that the Philippines will be the next host for ABF 2024, we have to pick a star bird that will carry our event. Fortunately, the specific location of the 2024 ABF was decided early by the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, and that location is the City of Las Piñas.
Las Piñas is well-known to birders as a City with a well-regarded migratory bird hotspot, the Las Piñas–Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA). This newly established protected area is a Protected Area housing multiple migratory bird species such as the Chinese Egret, Pacific Golden-plover, and Kentish Plover among others. Using a migratory bird as the star bird will be difficult to endorse, especially since these species aren’t native to the Philippines, making the host country less special considering that 1/3rd of its species are endemic to the Philippines.
Fortunately, we know of one endemic species known to LPPCHEA that is more than capable of suiting ABF 2024.
The Philippine Duck is the only endemic Duck found in the Philippines. It is well-known to the locals as Papan or Bibe, and is incredibly recognizable with its cinnamon head and striking cleopatra eyes. The Philippine Duck fits our considerations on what we look for in a star bird, local recognition and an iconic design. Furthermore, its use as a star bird would help in its conservation especially since it is one of the species that is massively threatened by hunting and poaching, so its use as a star bird for ABF 2024 would help in raising awareness for its survival.
Final Logo
The final 2024 ABF logo features the star bird, the Philippine Duck, drawn in a minimalist vector style. A variation of the logo is also made against a blue-cream gradient overlaid with the text “13th ASIAN BIRD FAIR Las Piñas 2024” for social media purposes such as the Facebook icon and the Instagram icon.
Its design is made with social media in mind, with a square aspect ratio and the colors allowing the Philippine Duck icon to stand out in the feed. A separate 4x1 horizontal aspect ratio is made as well for document header use.
Poster
The main promotional poster for ABF 2024 will feature the Philippine Duck in LPPCHEA with other illustrated birds found in the area.
The poster was made in a standard 18x24 inches size. This 3x4 aspect ratio also allows the poster to be cropped into a 4x5 aspect ratio for social media posting in Instagram and Facebook.
Cover Poster
Another poster for ABF 2024 will be done in a landscape format where it is in a traditional Facebook cover aspect ratio. This poster features most of the landscape of LPPCHEA with the well-known birds of LPPCHEA on the left side and the star bird Philippine Duck on the right. This landscape iteration of the ABF Poster can be modified into different sizes depending on the banner/tarpaulin supplier.
Roll-up Tarpaulins
As a means to showcase the other Philippine birds from the main poster, roll-up tarpaulins were developed to showcase each species in their wetland environment. These tarpaulins are fully illustrated to vividly showcase each Philippine bird species in unique wetland settings, ranging from rocky shores to dark sandbars. A consistent design motif to keep all of these tarps consistent with each other is the use of the same Blue-Cream gradient background for the sky, which was derived from the Asian Bird Fair’s branding.
These tarps were made in collaboration with the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines and were showcased not just in the 2024 Asian Bird Fair, but also in the 2024 Taipei International Bird Fair.
Stickers
Following the tarpaulins, Circle Stickers for the Asian Bird Fair were made in collaboration with the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines. These stickers showcase all the birds featured in the ABF’s tarpaulins, including their common and scientific names. The final version of the stickers included the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines logo so that they can be reused for future events.
Graphic Tee
The Asian Bird Fair Graphic Tee is a simple design featuring the Philippine Duck logo on a white shirt. This design was produced by the Asian bird Fair committee and was distributed to its delegates during the opening dinner of the Asian Bird Fair on November 20, 2024.
Souvenir Program Cover
The Souvenir Program Cover was one of the last projects I was commissioned for the Asian Bird Fair. The final cover came as a response to another Souvenir Program Cover design made by another layout artist that wasn’t approved by the Asian Bird Fair committee. This cover design takes a simple minimalistic approach focusing on the logo mark of the Philippine Duck, as well as the colors of the ABF.
Promotional Posts
As a means to validate the range of this design, a sample set of posters was made utilizing the design assets that were discussed in the previous pages, such as the font and the color choices, and it has been integrated uniformly to create a consistent identity for the 2024 ABF.
For the final set of forum posts, additional illustrations of Philippine birds and other birds from around the world were made to compliment the Forums of each of the speakers.
Unused Materials
A month before the leadup to the 2024 Asian Bird Fair, I was commissioned to design a photo wall, a registration booth, and an archway for the Asian Bird Fair. Unfortunately, these designs were never pushed through due to difficulties with the committee and the physical event organizers.
