Christopher Lim’s watch immediately caught my eye at the SMALL THOUGHTS BIG IDEAS exhibition last November.
Through his design, called ‘Only 1’, Christopher has created the most personal watch. By allowing the wearer to lock in his preference of twelve dates for twelve special occasions on its external dial, no two watches will be the same.
Freelance Graphic Designer Niko Lin enjoys experimenting with different design styles. She believes that engaging design is not about creating brand new ideas, but to present something in a different perspective, allowing people to notice things they often take for granted.
The featured project, titled My/Your First Impression, is a large format publication, documenting the accuracy of our snap judgements about strangers.
Niko about her project: “Being a relatively impatient person, I rely on my snap judgements a lot. However, as a kid, I was told over and over again –haste makes waste, look before you leap, stop and think. Consequently, I often wonder how accurate my judgements really are. I decided to measure the accuracy of my first impressions on strangers with a little experiment.
On Christmas Eve, I spent a day in Bristol, giving out Christmas cards to grumpy-looking people, whom I thought would not accept my card. Most people I interviewed responded that they do judge others, and the majority saw this as unacceptable. I then decided to conduct another test, aiming at measuring the accuracy of everyone’s first impressions. Around 50 people took a survey of six simple questions, and the results of this survey were then correlated with evaluations by my friends and their close friends.”
Another designer that caught my attention at the SMALL THOUGHTS BIG IDEAS exhibition last November, is Lee Yun Qin.
Yun Qin’s unassuming and considerate demeanour is translated into her two designs that she hopes bring joy in little ways to its user. ‘Tea Stick’ takes the pain out of tea bag tags that often slip into the hot tea, whilst ‘Sugarbloom’ ensures you don’t overdose on sugar as you don’t want to disturb the sugary floral arrangement.
Celia Law was one of the 15 designers who participated in the SMALL THOUGHTS BIG IDEAS exhibition last November.
Celia’s heart lies with the local Singaporean, and designing with them in mind, she desires to bring the four seasons closer to them through the wonderfully scented ‘Weed’ calendar and ‘Park Your Day’, which is a witty calendar based on the indispensable Singapore parking coupon. Her creations also serve to remind the user to treasure time, as each day can be carelessly tossed away like the weed sticks and coupon tabs.
Click Image for more designs.
Local accessories shaman, Rayson Tan of L’ile aux Ashby, sent along a couple of images from his ‘Ode To The Future Tribe’ collection. Rayson’s new line of large-scale, outré jewelry pieces, drew a lot of attention at last month’s PARCO Fashion Incubator show.
Fasten one of these hand-crafted masterpieces around your neck, and you’re ready for anything, be it clubbing downtown or a tribal warrior gathering.
Product designer Fung Kwok Pan is one of the pioneering batches set to graduate from the School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University in 2010.
Kwok Pan’s work explores forms in various degrees, relating to user interactions. As such, his design processes range from building and experimenting with actual materials to careful observation of human behavior. It is by treading on these fields with failures in between that his designs come into useful and meaningful existence.
About his UFO design: “Should we stand on a table? Should we jump on a seat? Taking inspiration from the undefined, UFO challenges the typology of furniture by inviting us to use it as we please – as a seat, a table, a pedestal or a stage, with the assurance of strength and structural integrity. The irony of modern products is a readiness to erase marks left by the making process, as though anything short of perfect smoothness is flawed. By using the oxyacetylene torch to burn the edges, the piece is given a patina of survival as its finishing, accentuating the use of energy in its fabrication.”
Every year, Lee Changzhi designs a Holiday card for his friends and family around the world. This year is his first attempt at cutting paper, using scraps from a year’s worth of graphic design and art projects. A hill-like landscape is cut into the sides of the card, as Santa pulls his sleigh through the winter wonderland.
There’s nothing that says Happy Holidays like a little handmade love. Gladys Phan used scraps from socks to create Santa Claus, and … Santa Junior (?). “I have been keeping scraps of socks from the previous art-pieces,” she adds. “I tried to match them all to create Santa. Santa is always alone with the reindeer, so I thought, having a Santa Junior with him could be a joyous night during this Christmas!”
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What's happening in Singapore
Carbon4 presents Carbonated Vol. 2.1, a collaborative event to celebrate local urban art. Local artists and establishments will come together this Friday, 30th July, at Orchard Central to showcase an exhibition of art installations and to launch a range of Carbonated collaboration products. These products have come to fruition as local artists, The Killer Gerbil, Antz, Sheryo & Zero get in cahoots with the event organizer Carbon4. Also, witness the action by the latter three who will get busy with Live Painting showcases alongside their Interactive Art Installations. 30 July, 7:30pm till late at Orchard Central, 277 Orchard Road.
- #If you know the music of Inch Chua, you will come to love how she playfully contrasts quirky electronic beats and alluringly acoustic songs with heartfelt lyrics. Join her in this Late Nite outing as she plays her first full length concert, featuring tunes from her debut EP The Bedroom and brand new full-length album Wallflower. This is a show not to be missed as she brings a whole troupe of backing musicians known as The Metric System to add to the festivities. 30 July, 2130hr at The Esplanade Recital Studio. Ticket charge: S$25 (excluding taxes) at all SISTIC outlets.
- #Celebrating its 7th edition this year, Singapore Short Cuts continues to be one of the most popular and widely anticipated showcases of local short films in Singapore.This year’s program features a diverse selection of some of the most innovative and outstanding recent Singapore short films as well as a retrospective of Singapore filmmaker K. Rajagopal, a three-time recipient of the Special Jury Award for the Singapore Short Film Category at the Singapore International Film Festival. All screenings will be followed by discussions with the filmmakers. 31 July, 1, 7 & 8 August, 2pm at Gallery Theatre. Free admission with tickets. Click here for more information.
The Whiteness Of A Whale by Zhao Renhui and Satoshi Kataoka is a project with The Institute of Critical Zoologists. Residents of the Southern Japanese seaside village Omishima are often called “The Whale People”, or kujira no hitobito, people who live among whales. They got their name because of their obsessive and bizarre worship of whales and all things whale-related. In 1937, something happened that seized the entire village's imagination: a monk reported a sighting of a white whale along the village coast. Thus the search for the white whale began. The villagers raised funds to build a massive underwater tower in the middle of the ocean, which took more than ten years to complete. They had to cross a five-mile bridge on foot to reach the tower, all in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the white whale if returned. In 1960, a boat with an iconic white whale’s tail was built to carry out more search expeditions for the white whale. The boat had an underwater viewing chamber which, on a clear day, allowed the villagers to see up to 5 miles through the ocean depths. Today, few residents remember this way of life, although the watch tower and the boat are still around. A few still continue the search for the white whale. 27 July– 1 August at Jendela (Visual Art Space), Esplanade Level 2.
- #Through a series of artworks featuring bunny-eared and red-nosed human characters, Foon Foono presents and explores the humanity of his subject matters by accentuating their fragility and vulnerability. The sharp contrast between the dark background of his artworks and the colourful characters depicted is gripping and intense, and is a reminder of how human beings tend to dramatize or glorify their own feelings and seek refuge in their own intimate realms. 23-28 July at The Substation Gallery. Opening: 23 July, 7pm. Admission: Free.
- #Get your portrait drawn in 20 mins at the OIC Portrait Day. 7 Aug, 2pm-7pm at MAAD.
- #This annual series of presentations on design showcases objects, products, interiors, landscapes and architecture. It aims to promote awareness of the excellence of local design; provide a platform for designers to interact with students, educators, practitioners and users; and share new design perspectives and solutions devised to meet the emerging and evolving needs of changing lifestyles. Here and There, This and That by Tan Kay Ngee. 26 Jul, 7:30-9pm at Filmgarde Iluma. Click here for tickets.
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