Different varieties of local community products have sprung up, one of which is a food souvenir. The souvenirs certainly require a proper packaging design. Thus, the government has provided several facilities to cater to the needs. However, there is still a problem concerning the limited number of facilitators to keep up with the fast-growing number of MSME businesspeople, which hampers education for them. This further results in the packaging design of existing MSME products, despite having been functional, nonconceptual, still looks "me-too" and does not reflect the local characteristics. In the era of digital product marketing, a packaging design that functions as a promotional tool and a cultural ambassador must be the one that is creative and promotes locality simultaneously. To materialize the goal, it is necessary to accelerate further education for MSME businesspeople on how to design their product packaging designs appropriately using independent learning methods and based on digital applications. In this particular research, two research methods, namely observation, and FGD, are utilized. In addition, traditional transformation methods, namely ATUMICS and the design process theory to design the features of digital applications, are applied. This digital simulation application will hopefully be useful to accelerate the education of packaging design for MSME businesspeople, so that in the future, the packaging design of West Java food products can be more conceptualized, customized and creative with a strong local identity

The problem in this research derived from the fact that many Lasem batik entrepreneurs nowadays had limited knowledge of the novel characteristics of Lasem batik and hardly aware of its geographical indication. The research objective was to identify how the cultural hybridity of Chinese-Javanese culture and Lasem geographical environment were reflected by both the Tionghoa Peranakan-descent and Javanese-descent artists through the visual signs in the batik design. The purposive samples used were 21 Lasem batik motifs made by Tionghoa Peranakan-descent and Javanese-descent entrepreneurs which already IPR-certified. The method used was a compositional interpretation by interpreting each batik motif composition according to its content (subject matter), color, spatial organization, and expressive content (the combined effect of subject matter and visual form). The finding reveals that Lasem visual style hybridity is generally visible in: (1) the use of Chinese subject matter combined with Javanese motifs, (2) the use of Chinese subject matter combined with local Javanese isen-isen (texture), and (3) the rich use of red (from Chinese batik visual style) combined with brown (from Javanese batik visual style). This finding can be used as a reference guide for latter Lasem batik entrepreneurs to maintain the particular characteristics of Lasem batik while developing other batik motifs innovation.

Batik motifs are a medium for perpetuating collective memory based on the creator’s point of view of social, cultural, and political conditions of the time. There are differences in meaning and ideology in batik motifs made during colonial and post-colonial era. Using the theory of collective memory and postcolonial mimicry, we want to reveal the differences in meaning and ideology between batik made during the colonial era and after independence. The method in this study is descriptive analysis, using a purposive sample of batik motifs of Dutch East Indies soldiers made by Indo-European, Indo-Arab, Chinese Peranakan, and Bumiputera entrepreneurs. The results show that the Javanese and Lombok War Batiks made during the colonial era are a medium to documentthe collective memory of the colonial community with the ideology that the Dutch East Indies soldiers were brave and great protagonists. Batik Kompeni, contrastingly, is a documentation of the collective memory of the colonized people with the ideology that the Dutch East Indies soldiers were the cruel antagonists. The findings reveal that batik is a medium of collective memory; its creation is closely related to the ideology of the batik creator.

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Since Covid-19 impacted YSLH, one of the foundations engaged in the environment, income derived from training services and donations from well-wishers was greatly reduced. Luckily, with the Laloka Essential Oil (EO), income has potential to increase. The great advantage of Laloka EO is that it is affordable, seeing as this product uses raw Indonesian materials; another one of the advantages is the specialty of custom mixing essential oils with the skills of one of the YSLH’s volunteers who has previous pharmaceutical expertise. The needs of Laloka EO consist of online promotional media, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the Participatory Action Research (PAR) method, a team of lecturers and students from the Visual Communication Design of Maranatha University has helped Laloka EO volunteers, such as making some concept designs for Laloka EO’s Instagram content. This assistance is carried out online for three months. As a result of this assistance, Laloka EO is now accompanied with a design promoting concept in the social media, Instagram; but in terms of Instagram management, further efforts are needed. Currently, the problem is Laloka EO’s inability in accommodating permanent volunteers to manage its Instagram page on a routine schedule, resulting in irregular issued content designs.