From April 2013 academic year to August 2014, I served as the Editor for the Philippine United Student Organization, otherwise known as PUSO. I was expected to create all the media required to run what was, at the time, one of the largest student organizations on campus. As the name implies, it is a Filipino cultural group, but the membership consisted of people from all different backgerounds and ethnicities. Rather than an exclusive group, we were focused as an inclusive one.
My job was to promote, advertise, and commemorate. I spent a lot of time thinking of flyer designs and images to use on social media promoting our events. The club was run very casually up until when I joined in so I took it upon myself to give the club a consistent visual identity that represented what the club stood for, be a strong identifier on campus, and at least last for a few years.
Of course, I didn’t only focus on graphic design and video editing; I also had to work with a diverse team to coordinate complex events, stay connected to the club’s general body, and help out wherever I was needed. I even spent a summer teaching the editors who would fill my role after I left. The year I spent with PUSO taught me about working in a diverse organization and solving problems with no discrete actions. The general direction of PUSO’s visual identity still follows the precedent I set and the logo is still in use
