BalikbayUnbox

Website + Documentary

"BalikbayUnbox" is a portmanteau of the Filipino word 'balikbayan' (a Filipino visiting or returning to the Philippines after a period of living in another country) and 'unbox'.

This project features a documentary unpacking the Filipino Diaspora—why, when, and how it happened—and two real stories of individuals deeply affected by it.

  • Project DetailsIndividual capstone project for bachelor's degree
    2014 - 2015
  • ToolboxCSS3, HTML5, JavaScript, Sublime Text, Fancybox, HTML5 Boilerplate, mCustomScrollbar, Owl Carousel, Pushy

    Canon EOS 550D & 6D, Adobe After Effects, Photoshop & Premiere Pro, Pro Tools
VISIT WEBSITE

What, Why & How

Before I go right into the details, I want to be able to at least share some context around the inception of this project.

Back in 2010, I was still studying in my former school, the University of the Philippines Diliman. In full transparency, I was in a very rough patch at that time and I felt truly lost and I really wanted to transfer to an Art/Design school as I knew that was my passion—my life's work.

During that time, whenever I could, I would randomly attend classes (the big ones held in auditoriums) that I wasn't technically enrolled in just to expose myself to different things, and it was then that I witnessed a lecture done by a well-loved Economics professor, Prof. Solita Monsod, to her Economics class in 2010.

My key takeaways from this lecture:

  1. Honor (read: integrity) and then excellence
  2. "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. And with the grace of God, I will do it."
  3. The Philippines is full of bright, young leaders that, if ascribe to this mantra and do what we do with honor and excellence, can help our country succeed.
  4. If we're going to help the country, we've got to be in the country.
At the time, it was incredibly frustrating to me because I would be discouraged so much by my parents from pursuing an Art/Design program because I had already come from the very prestigious Business Administration program in UP Diliman. Hearing this lecture helped me muster the courage to really pursue my decision because while I may not turn out to be an entrepreneur or marketeer post-university like my parents wanted me to be, I was confident that the path I would pursue has the same potential in allowing me to do something meaningful.

To this day, 10 years later (as of this writing), I would have absolutely no regrets—it is now more than ever where I see how powerful Art and Design are in communicating ideas and effecting change. As a Filipino, Design is my "something" that I can wield in doing my part to help my country.

All that said, I made sure that my takeaways from this lecture and how this touches on young leaders in the Philippines tend to (understandably) choose to leave the country in search for greener pastures, so to speak, is something I tackle as part of my capstone project.

Design Inspiration

Photo © BayanMall

For Filipinos, especially those who have overseas Filipino worker (OFW) relatives, opening a balikbayan box is an experience in itself—you know you're going to find lots of treats and gifts inside, but you don't always know what or how much there is until you actually start opening and unpacking the contents of the box!

In this vein, I thought it was only appropriate that this became the overarching inspiration for most of the artistic and design decisions for this project.

Website Structure

So even when it came to the visual and interaction design (when being viewed on a desktop), I wanted to simulate the same experience. Thus, before being able to see the highlight—the documentary (section 3)—the visitor first needs to open the box.

The structure above was implemented as a one-page website with 6 sections, as pictured. With lines and lines of fun CSS styling and some simple scripting, I was able to eventually bring the site to life!

Separately, mobile responsiveness and cross-browser compatibility have also been optimized.

Storytelling & Video Production

One of the key premises of my approach to the documentary itself was to ensure views from various sides of the picture are captured. The objective, academic view of it was of course needed, but more importantly I wanted to capture the reality and the psyche of what the Filipino Diaspora has effected to various personas:

  • One who has already decided to to leave the country
  • One who has already left the country
... and ultimately, help the target audience (one who may still be deciding on which path they'll take soon) be more informed once they make a decision.

There's no right and wrong answer here, as people will always have valid reasons for working outside the country. To me though, what matters is that that sense of nationalism at least doesn't go away and one way or another, we all do our part at the end of the day in helping out our country and fellow countrymen.

Visit the website here or watch the documentary below (English subtitles are available!)

Media Reception

A few weeks after I finished my capstone presentation, BalikbayUnbox was fortunate enough to have been featured by Rappler, one of the leading online news website in the Philippines, as part of their 2015 Labor Day tributes on social media.

Unfortunately, shortly after the release of the article on Rappler, the family of one of the featured personas on the video requested for it to be taken down to protect their privacy. I understood and did as they requested, and can only wish that for whoever was able to reach the website/video so far, it has helped enlighten this matter for them and that they are inspired to give back to the Philippines—wherever in the world they may be. :)