Forest Foundation Philippines celebrated its 20th anniversary in September 2025 and I’m deeply grateful to have been part of this milestone. I was commissioned to design the anniversary branding and commemorative items.

To mark two decades of forest conservation and community partnership, the 20th anniversary logo incorporates elements that reflect the forest landscapes and communities the Foundation works to protect. As for the commemorative items, I illustrated icons representing the Foundation’s focal landscapes to help visually define the work they do.

With fellow advocacy resource speakers at IKEx – L-R: Schenley Anne Belmonte (FFP / officiator), myself, Yasmin Mapua-Tang (Probe Media Foundation), and Almhi Calma (Edukasyon.ph)

Also very honored to serve as one of the resource speakers at the Foundation’s 3-day Inter-Landscape Knowledge Exchange (IKEx) event which brought together partners from their focal landscapes and special project sites to share lessons learned and best practices in sustainable forest management.

Team photo, taken at the FFP 20th Anniversary Celebration

*Thanks so much to Forest Foundation Philippines’ amazing and hard-working Communications team for this great opportunity to be part of their milestone event. <3

• Schenley Anne Belmonte
• Mita Chabeli Pangan
• Diane Estephanie Bagui

* Social media project documentation:
1. 20th Anniversary Logo announcement and demo
2. Photos from the IKEx event and anniversary celebration
3. Advocacy Journey reel, presented during IKEx
4. Carousel post about my FFP / Conservation Journey

*IKEx speakers photo courtesy of Forest Foundation Philippines

* I post most frequently on Instagram, so for a sneak peek at the latest projects (that might take a while to land here), feel free to follow along there! 😉

Known for their handmade Barong Tagalog, EN Barong Filipino (ENBF) had been planning to launch a Modern Filipiniana collection featuring Philippine native trees as these are championed by their Chairwoman and Founder, Tita Fely, a passionate advocate for heritage conservation.

ENBF’s longtime collaborators Trina and Ruben Flores of Rubbertree Design Studio reached out to me, and it was an instant yes. I was of course thrilled to contribute illustrations for this meaningful project, and as a fan of Trina & Ruben’s Bags by Rubbertree line, I was excited to work with them and see my illustrations translated onto traditional Filipino clothing.

The collection features six unique terno silhouettes, each adorned with a different native tree flower: Katmon, Banaba, Ilang-ilang, Malabulak, Salinggogon, and Tayabak (Jade Vine). Trina and Ruben handled surface design, while Mr. Santingan of ENBF skillfully transformed my vector illustrations into beautiful embroidery, resulting in these stunning creations.

The ternos are available through the Philippine Forest Blooms portal on ENBF’s website and at Kultura outlets in SM Department Stores nationwide.

* I post most frequently on Instagram, so for a sneak peek at the latest projects (that might take a while to land here), feel free to follow along there! 😉

Local homeware brand Casa Juan MNL commissioned me to create the Filipino Food trinket dish collection, featuring recipes by Chef Reggie Aspiras. Building on our past collaborations (such as the “Bulaklak” and “Ibon” plate collections), Ms. Michelle Fontelera once again entrusted me with complete creative freedom to illustrate the elements in my signature style.

This collection showcases traditional Filipino dishes, including Pinakbet, Sinigang, Adobo, and Lechon. Pancit Bihon was also initially designed, but unfortunately it didn’t make the final cut.

*The Pancit Bihon design (above) did not make it to the final collection.

* I post most frequently on Instagram, so for a sneak peek at the latest projects (that might take a while to land here), feel free to follow along there! 😉

Local homeware brand Casa Juan MNL commissioned me to illustrate and design the “Ibon” collection. As with our previous project (see “Bulaklak” collection), Casa Juan’s Ms. Michelle Fontelera gave me total freedom to come up with a list of Philippine endemic birds to showcase. Because of how well their colors work well together in a set, I ended up choosing the Cinnamon Ibon (Hypocryptadius cinnamomeus), Red-eared Parrotfinch (Erythrura coloria), Blue-headed Fantail (Rhipidura cyaniceps), Palawan Flowerpecker (Prionochilus plateni).

For a natural and accurate depiction, I consulted bird expert Ms. Trinket Constantino of ADMU’s Department of Biology and member of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines regarding Philippine native trees that the featured birds normally perch on. She identified some and provided me with a short list which I then chose from and made artistic interpretations of alongside their “partner” bird species. (Please check out her and Ms. Abby Favis’ wonderful campus biodiversity documentation project, The Ateneo Wild!)

The collection is available in sets consisting of salad plates featuring the four bird-and-tree pairings, and a dinner plate decked with elements of the native trees.

* I post most frequently on Instagram, so for a sneak peek at the latest projects (that might take a while to land here), feel free to follow along there! 😉

My earlier collaborations with Forest Foundation Philippines were able to produce awareness campaigns and advocacy items that champion the importance of Philippine native trees in forest conservation (see #DrawNativeTreesPh). To reinforce the impact of the previous projects, and to hopefully deepen people’s connection with our forests, the next step was to make learning materials that highlight a Sustainable Landscape Approach in conservation.

“The Sustainable Landscape Approach allows a landscape to be seen as a series of interdependent natural and human systems, and is particularly useful when there are multiple stakeholders within a landscape with varying resource requirements and interdependencies.” (Source: Forest Foundation Philippines, Sustainable Landscape Approach Brief)

Public awareness – especially for people living in the landscapes – about this symbiotic connection can be helpful for identifying ways forward in addressing issues of forest protection, conservation, and ultimately, climate change.

The challenge then was how to visually communicate this idea. With expert guidance from the Foundation’s landscape coordinators, foresters, and project officers to ensure accuracy, I made illustrated maps of the focal Forest Foundation Philippines landscapes: Sierra Madre, Samar and Leyte, Bukidnon / Misamis Oriental, and Palawan. Each map showcases the landscapes’ respective protected areas, indigenous communities, industries and produce, ecotourism sites, and select native flora & fauna through little icons to express how these components all play roles in forest (and even cultural) conservation and protection, and how they also depend on the forests and one another to survive and thrive.

*Thanks as always to the hard-working Forest Foundation team for this meaningful project. <3

Bagui, Diane Estephanie – Landscape Coordinator for National Projects
Belmonte, Schenley Anne – Project Officer
Buduan, Eric – Landscape Coordinator for Sierra Madre and Mindanao
Canivel, Jose Andres – Executive Director
Gabriel, Ana Veronica – Landscape Coordinator for Palawan
Gualberto, Xyla Mercedita – Associate for Mindanao
Pamplona, Marjorie – Landscape Coordinator for Samar and Leyte

Sir Eric Buduan of Forest Foundation Philippines at the Sierra Madre Development Workshop.

As of this writing, we’ve produced posters that are already being used in the Foundation’s development workshops. The Foundation has also allowed me to produce a collection of advocacy merchandise based on the project (enamel pins, notebooks, postcards, tote bags) for selling in my webshop. More items are currently in production and I’ll be updating the blog once they are launched.

* Download a copy of the ForestLandscapesPh Publication for more info on our project.

*On-site activity photos are courtesy of Forest Foundation Philippines

To learn more about the heart and journey behind this project, head over to my Advocacy Through Art page. There, I will continuoisly share how these collaborations are part of a bigger mission to celebrate biodiversity, empower communities, and use creativity for conservation.

* I post most frequently on Instagram, so for a sneak peek at the latest projects (that might take a while to land here), feel free to follow along there! 😉

The illustration process was carefully guided by EDC BINHI’s foresters which made it possible for me to render the species as accurately as possible. I chose to use a line drawing technique (as opposed to my usual painterly style) in order to highlght and define each species’ unique features. These drawings were then used on t-shirts, bags, and other merchandise (soon to be available in my webshop), and some other items for the organization’s exclusive use.

To learn more about the heart and journey behind this project, head over to my Advocacy Through Art page. There, I will continuoisly share how these collaborations are part of a bigger mission to celebrate biodiversity, empower communities, and use creativity for conservation.

* I post most frequently on Instagram, so for a sneak peek at the latest projects (that might take a while to land here), feel free to follow along there! 😉

Local homeware brand Casa Juan MNL commissioned me to illustrate and design their “Bulaklak” collection of tableware. Ms. Michelle Fontelera, proprietor of Casa Juan, kindly gave me complete freedom to suggest flowers to feature, and eventually we went with the Tayabak or Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys), Sanggumay (Dendrobium anosmum), Renanthera monachica, and Dendrobium victoriae-reginae – all of which are epiphytes that are endemic to the Philippines.
The collection is available in sets consisting of dinner plates, salad plates, and soup bowls.

* I post most frequently on Instagram, so for a sneak peek at the latest projects (that might take a while to land here), feel free to follow along there! 😉

I was tapped by Synnovate Pharma, the natural products company of Unilab, Inc. to design the packaging for their 2020 Sekaya Prescribing Nature Gift Packs. A purchase of a gift pack enables the planting of Philippine native trees – Benguet Pine, a mangrove, and a dipterocarp – in partnership with the Cordillera Conservation Trust. For the packaging, I illustrated close-ups of elements of the Benguet Pine (Pinus kesiya), Dagang (Anisoptera aurea), and Gapas-Gapas (Camptostemon philippinense) in pen and ink plus watercolors, and layed them out all over the boxes’ surface. Line drawings of the same elements were used as a background image for the belt which has a placeholder for a Christmas card.

Update (July 2021) – Sekaya was able to donate 5,190 endemic seedlings for the reforestation in Cordillera from the sales of the gift packs! Big thanks to everyone who supported the project. 🙂

• You can order the gift packs directly from Sekaya on Instagram.

To learn more about the heart and journey behind this project, head over to my Advocacy Through Art page. There, I will continuoisly share how these collaborations are part of a bigger mission to celebrate biodiversity, empower communities, and use creativity for conservation.

* I post most frequently on Instagram, so for a sneak peek at the latest projects (that might take a while to land here), feel free to follow along there! 😉

Plus63 Design Group tapped me to create a t-shirt design for Uniqlo Philippines’ UTMeArtPh x Fiesta Collection, along with fellow graphic designer-illustrators Frances Alvarez and Karl Adrian Aguro / Uncurated Studio. The Philippine festival assigned to me was Baguio’s flower festival, “Panagbenga.” I chose to incorporate native flowers that grow in Luzon, such as Ilang-ilang, Banaba, and Narra, and kept exotic species like sunflowers (which are comonly used in the festival) as adornments on the dancing couple.

As someone who wears Uniqlo clothing on the regular, working on this design was a complete thrill. Many thanks to Dan Matutina and Dang Sering of Plus63 for the trust.

* I post most frequently on Instagram, so for a sneak peek at the latest projects (that might take a while to land here), feel free to follow along there! 😉

The Department of Trade and Industry tasked arts & crafts store Common Room to create bright and youthful Filipino souvenirs  for their souvenir store Go Lokal. The theme was “The Philippines through your eyes” and I was among the 16 artists tapped for the project. 

My design is an homage to a beloved Filipino folk song called “Bahay Kubo” (“Nipa Hut”) which refers to a rural house built of palm leaves & bamboo poles. The song is known for lyrics that playfully enumerate a variety of plants & produce surrounding a family’s tiny hut. I believe this to be reflective of how the Filipino, with what little resources we may have as a developing nation, can stay afloat while making the most of whatever is available to us.

Design-wise I thought it would be a visual treat to show a colorful, bountiful veggie feast surrounding the humble quarters that a typical rural Filipino family calls home. I also thought that application of the artwork on everyday stationery such as postcards and notebooks would allow the consumer to celebrate Filpino culture any and every time.

*Available at Go Lokal Stores at Kiss and Fly (NAIA3), DTI Buendia Showroom, and Glorietta 2.

* I post most frequently on Instagram, so for a sneak peek at the latest projects (that might take a while to land here), feel free to follow along there! 😉