A graphic design company seeking to rub the regional identity in your face, Wear Kapampangan is taking over the images you see online and on your shirt.

(L-R: Gerald, Allan, Julie and Nikki)

Here’s what they had to say.

1. Why and how was Wear Kapampangan formed?

It became obvious to me that natural-born Kapampangans, especially the youth, are no longer using the Kapampangan language as their primary language. The most common reasons I personally heard are:

“Hindi ako sanay.” (Coming from a Kapampangan household, I’m not sure why.

“Nasanay kasi akong mag-Tagalog (Again, I’m not sure why.)

“Mas pormal kasi makipag-usap gamit ang Tagalog.“ (This is the most ridiculous excuse I’ve heard so far.)

So I figured, why not make the Kapampangan language visible to showcase its uniqueness and beauty? Even prior to Wear Kapampangan, I’ve been designing my own t-shirts and it looked to be the most convenient medium to communicate these ideas, at least in terms of cost and marketability.

2. Who are the people behind your team and what do each of them do?

Myself (Allan) - Lead Creative

Julie - QA and Logistics

Nikki and Gerald - Sales

3. Do you have full-time jobs apart from working at Wear Kapampangan? If yes, what?

Nikki and Gerald have their 8-5 jobs while Julie (my wife) and I eat, live and breathe Wear Kapampangan :)

4. Where do you get inspiration for your shirt designs?

The ideas and content of the designs came from a chockfull of memories I had as a kid, I wasn’t raised in a Kapampangan household since my Mom is Ilongga. So, I had the opportunity to actively learn the language by listening to the people around me, I was then introduced to Kapampangan humor in the process. My inspiration for the artwork is a mixture of what I see from modern graphic artists. I don’t consider myself as an artist, though; I would say I just converse my ideas using graphic design.

5. Where can people buy your clothes?

Wear Kap shirts are exclusively sold online, just log on to https://www.facebook.com/wearkapampangan . We also design for and supply shirts to different Colleges and Universities here and in Tarlac.

6. Any special projects we should look out for?

We are currently working on collaboration with Eksena Lokal; our aim is to promote local talents in the art and music scene.