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.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Special thanks to the following academicians and specialists for the guidance and recommendations of species to feature.: Carmela Española, Mariano Roy Duya, Abigail Garrino, Jayson Mansibang, and Gerson Kim Penetrante of University of the Philippines Institute of Biology; Trinket Constantino of Ateneo de Manila University Department of Biology; Diane Estephanie Bagui and Schenley Anne Belmonte 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! 😉

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! 😉

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.

* 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.

* 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! 😉

A collaborative project with writer Chinggay Labrador of Practical Magic, the Tanim Filipino Botanical Oracle Deck features 40 cards printed with watercolor illustrations of Philippine native shrubs, vines, trees, and fruits, along with Tagalog and English guide words that invite the user to carve out a mindfulness practice as they get clear and concise action points with every pull — at the same time immersing themselves in Filipino flora.

The decks, offered with matching rolls of washi tape in a special launch set were announced in September 2020, and got completely sold out three days later.

More information on the cards are on the Practical Magic website.

Many thanks to Chinggay Labrador for the trust, and Pierra and Toto Labrador of LabTeamPh for the product shots on this page.

* 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! 😉