Sining Malaya: Designing a Platform to Support Local Artists in the Philippines

With the modern era of technology, where websites are increasing as a source of knowledge as well as an e-commerce tool, the researchers thought of a method to promote and assist local artists with their art passion. The researchers designed and constructed Sining Malaya, a platform for communication and networking among local artists in the Philippines, as well as to strengthen their artist identity and showcase their artworks to the public. This is for local artists to obtain more paid transactions online and paid commissions in exchange for their skills and aptitude. This will also serve as an opportunity to tell the public in the Philippines that an artist's work is not simply a pastime but also a viable means of earning a livelihood. The data gathered during the focus group discussion (FGD), which included seven (7) student artists, was narrowed down, and evaluated using thematic analysis to examine recurrent themes from the respondents' comments. This acted as a guide for the researchers in creating and developing Sining Malaya as a case study in terms of what user interface and features would make the website design easier and more useful for local artists to utilize.