That Thing Called Destiny

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That Thing Called Tadhana

A poster for the film that began a new chapter in the Philippine romance genre

Director: Antoinette Jadaone
Client: Cinema One Originals
Poster dimensions: 27 × 39 in
Year: 2014

About the film

One of the highest grossing Filipino independent films of all time, the film is the story of two strangers who meet at the airport baggage counter on their return flight to Manila. Upon their arrival, the two continue on to a journey through heartache, despair, and hope.

Design notes

There were limited stills to choose from, and I selected with this image which focuses on kilig, the thrill of the first spark. Behavioral observations show that when a person is interested in another, he or she subconsciously mirrors the body language of the other. Other aspects of the film are relegated to suggestion via text and typography—the journey, the simple and unpretentious production value, the youthful vernacular language. The poster went viral and was key to promoting the film; social media users picked up on the distinctive pose, reproducible layout and memorable text hierarchy to create their own versions of the poster.

“The film That Thing Called Tadhana truly is one successful film. Apart from grossing over PHP 134 million in domestic box office gross revenue since its Feb 4 nationwide release, it has also raked in some awards for the cast and crew. Best of all, the online response has been so loud; it’s produced memes with everyone posting their version of the poster, and people have been tweeting and posting lines from the flick.”

—Coconuts Manila

Installation views from Secret Lives of Books: Karl Castro, Book Designer, solo exhibition at the Ayala Museum, 2016.

The film's DVD packaging.

Left: The screenplay is the source text that inspired the design. Right: Examples of the many memes and parodies unleashed by the poster design—including a public service announcement on passport application by the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.