Throughout her academic life, Mandy Wu has been trained in Sciences. While pursuing a bachelor degree in Chemistry, she decided she needed a creative outlet. “Going into jewelry design was a natural choice, because I see jewelry as instrumental in telling  stories and evoking emotions,” Mandy explains. “Plus, I have always been intrigued by the amount of detail and personality a single piece of jewelry can add to an outfit.”

For her 09/10 collection, Mandy sought to capture the dark romantic essence of one’s transition from girlhood to womanhood. Mandy: “During this transition, the girl sheds her innocence. She discoveres deep emotions and embraces her sexuality. Hence, I wanted to create something sensual, yet elegant. I used quite a bit of symbolism when designing this collection. For instance, crystals and pearls were used to convey innocence and purity while skulls were made the centerpieces to imply an end. Pink roses were used to represent first love as well as the innocence that disappeares with its end.”

Through success stories behind the brands Asylum has been responsible for such as Frolick, and the Chocolate Research Facility, join Chris Lee, Creative Director of Asylum, as he shares his insights on how top creative companies approach brand creation. Participants will pick up invaluable tips on how to build instant iconic successes with creativity, and learn how design fits into the big picture. 21 Nov, 2-4pm, at the MICA Building (Esplanade Room). Admission is Free. To register, mail the workshop title, your name, NRIC, contact number and a link to your Noise profile page to workshop@noisesingapore.com.

A brand is more than just a logo – a good brand possesses its own identity, personality, aspirations and many more attributes that go beyond the logo. Branding expert Geert van Kuijk from Chemistry speaks about the power of emotions in branding, giving tips on how to build a theme around emotions and connecting people to your brand. He will also share real life examples demonstrating the eight pillars of emotive branding, as well as a case study reviewing an organisation that has successfully re-branded itself to better connect with its target group. 7 Nov, 2-4 pm, at the MICA Building (Esplanade Room). Admission is free. To register, mail the workshop title, your name, NRIC, contact number and a link to your Noise profile page to workshop@noisesingapore.com.

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Jeremy Lin is a fresh graduate from the Temasek Design School, with a diploma in Apparel Design & Merchandising, majoring in Visual Merchandising. The Artist’s Workhop, pictured above, is his final year project, for which he had to conceptualise an entire store. From the store design, merchandise displays, collaterals and packaging to all the props featured in the exhibition booth.

Jeremy about his project: “A key trait that remains fluid throughout the project is impermanence. It remains consistent through every aspect, from the store design to the merchandise displays. I am akin to creating displays where it doesn’t have to remain predetermined. Using simple materials to create something guerrilla in essence. It could be one thing today, and another tomorrow.”

Drawing great inspiration from the works of master architect Mies Van Der Rohe as well as the Bauhaus movement, The Artist’s Workshop was designed with rationality and functionality in mind, yet still providing innovation and relevance. Thus, going back to the roots and basis of design.

“I hope my work creates a connection with the consumer,” Jeremy continues. “Like with developing a relationship, there are always imperfections and disagreements. At the end of the day, it’s what my design means to someone else and not to me. After all, a designer makes someone else’s life better. I want to create a language with my work that speaks of my ideas and my personality; to provide an honest answer to the human condition. At the end of the day, I am constantly learning, it is always about work in progress; I am always changing, always evolving. Never forgetting my roots, but looking towards the future.”

Come catch Someday, Samsara, a piercing yet humourous look at life and death this weekend at Chezcake Bistro in the heart of Joo Chiat. Written by upcoming Singaporean playwright, Bryan Tan and performed by Anjana Srinivasan, Someday, Samsara is a new play developed in the Theatreworks‘ Writers Lab. About the play: Sandy has been sent to hell but what greets her are the Ten Courts of HELL.  As she travels deeper into hell, she comes face-to-face with the mythological Niu-tou (Bull) and Ma-mian (Stead) guardians of hell, her loves, her hates and her past.  This monologue is a piercing yet humourous look at life, death and about going to court!  31 October and 1 November at 3pm. Venue: 328 Joo Chiat Road, ChezCake Bistro. Admission: Free. Please call 6737-7213 or email tworks@singnet.com.sg to register your attendance.

Get your portrait drawn in 10 to 15 mins at the OIC Portrait Day. 7 Nov, 2pm-7pm at MAAD.

As a partner of the Singapore Design Festival 2009, House will be hosting a high street exhibit with Jordan Ng, a local graffiti spray artist who is more comfortable out on the streets than at home. Using a technique he learnt as a kid from a fellow spray artist in Australia, Jordan has been doing “space paintings” for over a decade, manipulating spray paints with creased paper and knives as his only tools. His paintings meld a vision of the natural and the futuristic in his landscapes, offering interpretations both feminine and the masculine.

Jordan Ng about his work: “Spraypainting is reckoned as a rouge artform, synonymous with the character I possess, that of the non-conformist. Although as the artist, I am constantly intrigued by my own work – the speed at which something is created from nothing, being able to see and control the beginning and the end. Space is boundless and the places and images portrayed in my paintings are visions limited only by the human imagination. As the world around me evolves, so do my paintings. Although one might seem similar to another, it is different yet again. This is the result of invisible forces which alter the textures which appear.”

Nature / Future opens on November 5 and runs through 30 November.

From brown paper, toilet paper and tracing paper to old magazines and newspapers, the pictured outfit, is a nod to the sheer ubiquity of paper in urban life, and an indictment of its wanton waste. But a little imagination and some assistance, go a long way in transforming rubbish into wearable art,  or what the Test Shoot Gallery (TSG) folks like to call, Paper Couture.

TSG founder, Ashburn Eng, and his design assistant, Shanna Matthew, spent two weeks conceptualizing and experimenting with the designs and materials, and another 364 hours to complete the outfits. “Each of the outfits were painstakingly put together through multiple fittings, piece by piece of recycled paper, commanding the attention to detail worthy of fashion’s best,” Ashburn explains. “We got the idea some six months ago. I noticed that there were too many unused materials piling up around the studio from spring cleaning. From the pile of discarded items, it struck me that I could work on something interesting from the cast offs. The fall of the paper as it unrolls, the structural shape of an egg tray, the crisp sound of the newspaper as it is being crushed together; these invoke visions of what the outfits will look like, as excitement flows my mind, energizing the flow of the process.”

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