Category: Branding

Iskandar Jalil: Kembara Tanah Liat

2017

The exhibition Iskandar Jalil: Kembara Tanah Liat (Clay Travels) held at National Gallery Singapore seeks to map Iskandar Jalil’s artistic practice comprehensively as a dialogue between the modern and traditional. Also, it aims to reinforce ceramics as an important but overlooked thread of history of modern art of the region through its adaptation of materials, literature; as well as a reinvention of pictorial idioms and forms.

In collaboration with Superfat Designs.

Gong 2017 Creative Circle Awards – Silver for Non Commercial Exhibitions
IDA Design Awards 2019 – Honorable Mention

 

 

Title Wall

The title wall was hand plastered and painted to create a tactile introduction to the show, a nod to the nature of ceramics presented in this exhibition. The color chosen was also called an ‘Iskandar Blue’, in reference to a few hues of blue the artist favoured in his artworks.

 

 

Spatial

The exhibition design seeks to evoke the idea of an Archipelago, with the landscape re-imagined from the terraced hills of islands to overhanging curtains of fabric representing low clouds over the hills. Spatially, the scheme takes on curvilinear shapes with different treatments, heights and materials, leaving the exhibition open as visitors meander through it, discovering the art pieces with a view of what happens in their foreground, middle ground and background in their peripheral vision; a reflection of the viewing of a traditional landscape art piece. This allows a contemplation of Iskandar’s works through the ages and how his thinking has changed and developed over the course of his career.

 

Wayfinding

The exhibition is made up of 2 galleries, separated by 40 metres long corridor. As such, we designed a wayfinding system formed by the recurrent motive of archipelagos, presenting an immersive experience as visitors navigates through the space.

 

Invites

The concept of the archipelago was extended to the print invites, featuring a 3D blind emboss effect.

 

 

Poster

 

Activity Brochure

Hello Group

2017

Hello Group is a top casting and talent management agency in Singapore. One of the first words their casting managers often say when they approach people during the casting process is ‘Hello!‘. As such, we designed a word mark for their logo which appears intentionally large and loud, suggesting the individuality and passion that goes into casting process.

Visit their website here.

 

The name cards we designed for the casting managers, often the first point of contact between the casting managers and the talents, is painted in bright neon orange and blue, playing up the fun and affable nature of this profession.

 

We also designed red packets for them, which serves a practical function for them in the cultural context of Singapore, as it is customary to pay their talents through red packet at the end of a shoot.

 

Faces Talent Management

2017

Unconventional, creative and energetic – these are three words that sum up Faces Talent Management. We wanted to create a brand mark for the talent agency that focuses on bringing a human touch back to a perceivably aloof industry. Inspired by the concept of 'Face Value', we made use of the silhouette of a face to craft a custom typography that immediately reads as a face A series of face icons were also created as a secondary graphical element to represent the different categories of talents the agency represents, kids, adults, seniors, etc.

 

 

Website

The website is built upon bright and vibrant coloured illustrations, capturing the dynamic energy present in the agency which helps differentiate itself from its competitors.

 

Know Your Nose

2016

The sense of smell has greater influence on our lives than we imagine. In these enriching series of workshops and exhibition titled Know Your Nose held at National Design Centre Singapore, we worked closely with fragrance expert Sandy Blandin from NoseWhoKnows, to help children discover and identify smells, as well as create a series of scent activities that can help them understand who they are and how they might better engage their senses.

This year’s exhibition was designed with a ‘scent garden’ theme in mind; a fun and lively atmosphere where visitors are allowed to play and wander through the apple scented garden, tap into their imagination, open up their senses, whilst experiencing the works from the pre-schoolers and educators created during the workshops.

DNA Paris Design Awards 2020 — Honourable mention for Colourful Project category

 

Video Highlights

In collaboration with Beyond Pictures Cinematography

 

Workshop & Exhibition

A Figment of Film

2016

While the disciplines of cinema and the visual arts have produced their respective innovations in image-making and modes of representation, they share intricate relationships of exchange, as contemporary artists and film-makers alike, deal with the complexities of image and narrative making. A Figment of Film presents five artists whose works deal with the very subject matter of film.  Each presentation engages with a broad dimension of cinema, ranging from the investigation of the still and moving image, to the reframing of filmic imagery.

 

In the exhibition, artists deal with the translation of cinematic images into painting, and vice versa, presenting new ways of looking at composition, perspective, spatial dynamics as well as time. Other works explore film history and the blurred boundaries between historical fact and Hollywood mythmaking. Through these works, the show raises questions that allow us to consider these languages of art-making, as well as new contexts of creation, innovation and reception in artistic production.

 

Sea State

2016

SEA STATE is an exhibition by artist Charles Lim Yi Yong, commissioned for the Singapore Pavilion for the 56th Venice Biennale and presented at the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore. For over a decade, Lim’s ongoing project SEA STATE examines the biophysical, political and psychic contours of Singapore through the visible and invisible lenses of the sea. SEA STATE is an in-depth inquiry that scrutinises both man-made systems, opening new perspectives on our everyday surroundings, from unseen landscapes and disappearing islands to the imaginary boundaries of a future landmass.

We took inspiration from this to design the exhibition branding, which is applied across all environmental graphics and print collaterals.

 

Reframing Modernism

2016

Reframing Modernism is National Gallery Singapore’s first international collaboration with Centre Pompidou, Paris. This exhibition reframes the existing paradigm of how modernist painting is understood. Drawing on over 200 iconic works by modern artists from Southeast Asia and Europe, it invites us to reconsider how artists working in different global contexts approached modern art and modernism in the 20th century.

As many of the artworks feature common approaches to modernism, common ways of working and common conceptual orientations, we made use of the symbol a cluster of frames to represent the emphasis on shared qualities, mimicking how visitors will move between bodies of work across nebula like structures, thus be encouraged to make their own connections between different bodies of work. The serif logotype is deconstructed amongst the frames which bring forth a sense of broad minded dialogue and interpretation between the viewers and the artworks.

In collaboration with Superfat Designs

 

 

Spatial & Wayfinding Design

Spatially, the exhibition is designed in such a way that the eye is drawn along large horizontal walls and within nebula clusters, which creates a natural rhythm and allows viewers to be able to physically draw a direct correlation of artists from South East Asia with their European counter parts with the help of textual explanations on the walls. Portions of the artworks throughout the exhibition can be seen through gaps between walls which strengthens the notion of the interrelated case studies. The artworks are always laid out adjacent to each other to allow for with more work to be captured in the viewers peripheral vision. This leads the viewers to the next artwork and how they should be viewed.

 

As the exhibition spans across three galleries, we also created a series of way finding devices that all ties in neatly with the branding elements we’ve created such as the frames and deconstructed text to conjure a consistent look and feel throughout, allowing for the viewers to be directed seamlessly throughout the galleries and the various activity stations.

 

 

Experience Station

 

Education Station

 

Exhibition Collaterals

Nose Who Knows

2016

Nose Who Knows is a fragrance studio dedicated to olfaction with over 15 years experience in fragrance creation and education. Exclusive partner of Cinquieme Sens, a famous Fragrance Institution from Paris, they aim to refine one’s understanding of the world around them through the sense of smell. The brand identity we designed seeks to convey this very sense of expertise, as well as the prestige associated with the fragrance industry.

We made use of the ‘goutte’ of perfume to craft a custom typography for the brand mark to capture the sense of elegance and essence of olfaction. The line work motif of flower petals floating in the air was crafted as a secondary graphical element to convey the movement and energy of the dispersion of scents; combined with vibrant colours to depict how scents conjure one’s imagination and memories.

Visit the Nose Who Knows website

 

A Fact Has No Appearance

2016

A Fact Has No Appearance held at National Gallery Singapore investigates the impact of new ideas on Southeast Asian art in the 1970s by focusing on three key artists: Johnny Manahan (The Philippines), Redza Piyadasa (Malaysia), and Tan Teng-Kee (Malaysia/Singapore), providing an insight into their approaches during a dynamic moment in the region’s history where they broke new ground, challenging the boundaries of painting, sculpture, photography, video, and performance.

In collaboration with Superfat Designs.

 

As the name suggests, the title can be interpreted as both a statement or a question, drawing parallels with the notion of challenge depicted by the artworks during its time. The modern san serif logotype is arranged in a free form manner to illustrate the interwoven experience of the show, whereas the words ‘Fact’ & ‘Appearance’ were deliberately deconstructed to to reflect how art making at that time provided a contrarian view to the norms.

 

The entrance area serves an important function to set this tone for the exhibition. The walkway is flanked by Piyadasa’s provoking sculpture A Configuration Can Never Have a Literal Existence on one side and the exhibition title wall on the other. Directly facing the entrance is a video projection of Tan Teng Kee’s The Picnic, an eye catching introduction into the exhibition space. The spatial design is created in such a way that the eye is drawn along the diagonal voluminous walls which creates a natural rhythm; portions of the artworks from the different artists can be seen throughout the exhibition which strengthens the notion of interwoven case studies. In conjunction with the launch, a special publication was also designed featuring essays, conversations, and archival images related to this series.

 

Earthwork 1979

2016

Earth Work 1979 is a re-staging of Tang Da Wu’s seminal show Earth Work, presented in 1980 at the National Museum Art Gallery (NMAG). It revisits a key moment in local exhibition history, and explores the turn towards conceptual art in Singapore.

The earliest recorded example of land art in Singapore, this series was created in 1979 when Tang discovered a field north of Ang Mo Kio that had just been cleared for redevelopment. He spent months observing the textures and colours of the earth, the impact of the sun and rain, and the marks that were left behind. These natural elements became key factors in creating artworks that reflected the impact of Singapore’s rapid development on the environment.

Held in the concourse gallery of National Gallery Singapore, Earth Work 1979 is the first time that these important works have been on public display since 1980. It also includes archival photos that have never been shown before.

In collaboration with Superfat Designs.

 

 

We were tasked to handle the branding, spatial design, as well as the build of the exhibition. As the name suggests, earth works are works created through the moving or processing parts of the earth’s surface involving quantities of soil or unformed rock. The earth is almost scared, a heavy infinite mass. In the design of the space, we wanted to respect the absolute nature of earth by creating structure yet gentleness at the same time. The zoning design uses the long hanging curtains artworks to create tension and frames the other works within the space. The natural colour palette reflects the organic nature of the artworks, yet at the same time not overpowering them. In conjunction with the launch, a special publication was also designed featuring essays, conversations, and archival images related to this series.