Paoay Lake Protected Landscape
Paoay Lake is one of Ilocos Norte's most important natural landmarks. Visitors from across the country come to the lake for its mesmerizing beauty, beautiful sunsets, and abundant wildlife.
Beyond local tourism, Paoay Lake is one of Luzon's most important birding sites, especially since its designation as a national park in 1969.
I was fortunate enough to visit Paoay Lake in early 2025 as part of the first-ever Region 1 Birding Caravan. Who would've thought that many months later, when Republic Act 12230 formalized the formation of Paoay Lake Protected Landscape, we would be approached to create the logo for the newly established landscape? Well, here we are. I felt quite attached to this project since, as someone of Ilocano descent, it felt like I was finally reconnecting with the region despite being quite distant from it, having grown up in Metro Manila and now being based in Subic Bay. My lineage is traced to the Ilocanos of Burgos, Pangasinan, the only dominant area of Pangasinan where Ilocano is spoken, and, according to the local myth, the Ilocanos of Burgos descended from travellers originating in Paoay Lake. So, designing this logo felt like a full-circle moment for me as an Ilocano, and I was determined, very early on, to combine several aspects of Paoay and Ilocano heritage, from its myths and textiles, into its logo.
Our proposal to Paoay Lake was to create a new logo for the newly designated Paoay Lake Protected Landscape, giving the landscape a new brand identity that protects local wildlife while embracing its natural heritage. This aligns with the Paoay Lake Protected Landscape's goals not only to attract more visitors to the area, but also to be an active voice in the Philippine wildlife protection and conservation communities through its presence.
The Logo
Our logo approach goes against the norm compared to other Philippine national parks and protected landscapes that have designated logos. We felt it best to approach it as a minimalist design, where we keep it simple and easy for visitors to understand and recall.
The proposed new logo features the star bird of Paoay Lake Protected Landscape, the Philippine Duck, drawn in a minimalist vector illustration, bringing out the most prominent features of the Philippine Duck in positive-negative space, such as its overall shape, dark bill, and cleopatra eye-stripe.
This approach follows modern graphic design conventions, with an Ilocano twist: a rectangular layered-line motif found in Paoay abel and ules textiles, paired with a hand silhouette. This creates a visual illusion of water ripples, alluding to the lake's identity and the people of Paoay. The logo also features fishes adorned with jewels below the Philippine Duck, representing Paoay Lake’s mythical origins.
