the heart of future design // design process poster

Let’s start from the very beginning.

This could easily be one of my projects with the most sketches and drafts, so bare with me as I ramble on about how it has developed from the beginning to the end.

First Sketch/Draft

Left: The Heart of Future Design (Singapore/Heritage)

Inspired by the aim of putting Singapore on the map, one of my ideas was to create an abstract road map motif.

Centre: A Visionary Metamorphosis (Community/Interlace)

As SDW aims to become the hub that connects designers, I was inspired to create a motif connecting motif to showcase that.

Right: The New Design Revolution (Leadership/Innovation)

With the main aim of SDW being a venue to showcase innovation, I figure that the concept of “thinking out of the box” might work.

Initially, the response I got from the class was generally quite good, with many pushing me to go for the first idea (map). Hence, I decided to continue working on that theme. Nonetheless, I wanted to try out the second idea (interlacing).

Here are some other sketches I worked on during my design process.

Second Draft

As mentioned previously, I started expanding on the first 2 ideas.

A Visionary Metamorphosis

Using a “3D” gradient pipes to create an interlacing composition.

I was excited by the outcome of this composition, to be honest. However, I received some critique over this design. Firstly, the class felt that the concept was not strong enough, the meaning behind the pipes were not clear and the white frame didn’t appear to have any sort of meaning (purely aesthetics).  Nonetheless, people found the placement of the slogan interesting, but the class highlighted that it was hard to read. In conclusion, my concept needs to be stronger.

The Heart of Future Design

Building on to the map idea, I created a more abstract image of the map of the surrounding area of National Design Centre. I incorporated the heart at the centre of the map. However, I was really not satisfied with how this turned out. The colours did not look right, and it felt too messy. So, I didn’t really showcase this design because I was too embarrassed.

Third Draft

To further strengthen my concept, I decided to go with the slogan “The Heart of Future Design”.

I fused my favourite elements from each composition, combining the pipes and heart.

I was starting to feel proud of my design (finally). To be honest, I was really in a complete dazed after the previous consult.

However, there were still much to improve on. The general consensus from the class was that it was too red, the “SDW” is not obvious enough, the heart in the centre needs to be more prominent, play more with the placement of the slogan.

With that, I arrive at my final artwork, you can see my process and final artwork here: final | brainmap + moodboard | research | interesting poster.

 

FIFTY YEARS OF SINGAPORE DESIGN Exhibition

The exhibition entails Singapore’s fifty year development in the design scene from the early 1960s up to now, presenting “iconic, popular and pivotal designs” that shaped the design scene in Singapore.

It features designs from 4 different design practices:

Observations

Being a young nation, naturally the design scene is also very young. The development and economy of Singapore for over fifty years had a huge impact on the design industry. For example, during the early years of independent Singapore (1965 – 1975), the design scene was focused on building the foundations for infrastructure, national identity, and craft & technical skills. As Singapore’s economy booms (1975 – 1985), we see the shift of focus towards industrial design as well as tourism. Soon came the advancement of technology (1985 – 1995),and yet again we see a shift towards a more modern, technological designs. I could go on, but I think you probably got the point. The design scene is heavily reliant and adapts to the growth and progression of Singapore. Hence we must always keep up with the country’s advancement.

Future goals / key trust for design in Singapore

Keyword: Innovation-driven economy & a loveable city

Five broad, strategic thrust:

  1. Infuse design into our national skill set
  2. Expand the role of design in businesses and government
  3. Strengthen the competitiveness of design firms
  4. Bring design into the community
  5. Develop the Singapore Design brand

I think it is evident that Singapore is trying to embrace design more. The design industry is still rather new to me. However, from what I heard from my peers and the community, design is still look down upon. Let’s face it, there are still form of prejudice against designers, especially when you meet your relatives during a family gathering and you tell them that you are a designer. Odds are, they’ll give you the “Did you have nothing else better to do?” look and start comparing you with your cousins who are lawyers, doctors or teachers.

Nonetheless, with the Design 2025 Masterplan to spread design in businesses, governments, communities, and schools, hopefully people start losing the prejudice against design as design starts to be integrated into their everyday lives.

Often times, people find that Singapore have no opportunities for artists or designers to flourish and many decide to cast aside their passion for a more stable future. With the new initiative, people can find the motivation to reignite or pursue their passion for the Arts. Thus having more people in the Design industry to find and create innovative solutions.

 

the interesting poster.

As the event name suggest, the poster is promoting an event called the “Altitude Jazz Festival”. In the poster, we see the component of “Altitude” depicted in a vector of mountains and “Jazz” is shown through what we can assume is a trumpet at the bottom of the poster.

Looking at the poster, I feel calm and at the same time excited. I think the calmness is attributed to the smooth lines and curves in the poster. The excitement I think was from the vibrant colours.

The seamlessly integration of the two different components (Altitude and Jazz) together stood out for me. The poster has a good balance of positive and negative spaces, hence it doesn’t feel cluttered or messy. The “clouds/smoke” helps to guide the flow of how the poster should be read from top to bottom.The colours used in the composition is very vibrant and youthful. The usage of primary colours, I felt helped to contribute to the youthful imagery.

The visuals and colours really help in capturing the attention, however, I did wish that the text could have been integrated into the poster better.