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A catalog of my work.

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Hands Gallery

The Singapore Memories Project is a national movement to capture, document, and archive moments and memories related to Singapore. These recollections may come from individuals, groups, organisations, associations, companies, etc..

One such group would be the generation of Singaporeans working during the time of Singapore's independence, circa 1965. Their memories of their lives, both professional and private, were recently documented by the Singapore Memories Project and shared with the rest of the nation at the exhibit titled, "Hands – gift of a generation."

30 Singaporeans from said generation were featured at the gallery. Each profile shared a piece of the Singapore they lived and remembered. And thereby each profile offered a personal window into Singapore's past.

To encourage visitors to spend some time with each memory, we designed and built profile pictures that could aggregate the amount of time each visitor spends with each profile. The more time visitors spend on a profile, the brighter said memory would grow.

At any one time, we would see profile pictures glowing at varying brightness. The message was simple, if we don't afford enough attention to a memory, it'll wane. We had good faith that most visitors would not want to see a particular memory wane. And indeed, many did not. So over the course of the exhibition, we helped every memory receive a fair share of attention.

Mentions + Credits

Design and concept created in collaboration with FARM, SMP, and the Exhibitions team at NLB. Gallery space design by FARM. Software programming and hardware installation by David Teo. Interface designed in collaboration with FARM.

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Hands Gallery demo

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Memory Pool

The Memory Pool, was conceived as the unofficial guestbook to the Hands exhibition. Wherein visitors, young and old, are encourage to sign or leave a message behind.

We thought we liken the message to a carving on a tree or a graffiti tag to tell others that they've been here. Offering visitors a very limited space to express themselves was by design. That way, they're driven to distil their identity or emotions into an icon.

Because the installation allows visitors to share their secrets with the public, while remaining anonymous, it would prove cathartic for some. This in turn, elicits some truly honest messages from our visitors. And in time, these messages would mature into a memory, defined by the place, the time, and a sense of honesty.

The installation's input is a touchscreen no bigger than a post-it note. After scribbling their messages, visitors simply cover their messages to save it. And in a heartbeat, their messages or memories will surface in a memory pool (the installation's output).

At the memory pool, the memories will swim. Visitors may "catch" any memory that strikes their interest, and bring said memory closer to them with their hands.

Mentions + Credits

Design and concept created in collaboration with FARM, SMP, and the Exhibitions team at NLB. Gallery space design by FARM. Software programming and hardware installation by Chong Chieh Tseng. Interface designed in collaboration with FARM. Music and sound design by me.

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Memory Pool demo

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ION Orchard Christmas Tree

ION Orchard is the mall component of a mix-development sitting at the heart of Singapore's main shopping thoroughfare, Orchard Road. The project is jointly developed by CapitaLand, Singapore and Sun Hung Kai, Hong Kong.

In 2009, 10AM was tasked to launch a marketing campaign for the mall's opening. As a pet project to the campaign, we offered to design the first Christmas tree for ION Orchard. The theme we had conceived for the mall's first Christmas was "constellation." 

The reason being that the mall's promise was, "where it all comes together." Like a constellation of stars. The "all" was a reference to the mall's varied tenant mix and that it offered a multi-sensory shopping experience. And by multi-sensory, they meant all senses, including your sense of smell. ION Orchard actually patented a signature scent.

In keeping with the Christmas theme of "constellations," we proposed a Christmas tree in which visitors could walk inside. Once in, visitors were blanketed with a canopy of stars, which offered plenty of photo opportunities.

The Christmas tree was the most blogged about Christmas installation in Singapore, for its time. It was also featured on the popular design site, notcot.org.

Here, and here, and here, and here, and here, you will find our complements.

Mentions + Credits

The launch campaign for ION Orchard and the Christmas tree were developed by the creatives at 10AM.

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ION Christmas Tree demo

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The Capitol

In 2011, we were invited by Wing Tai Asia, along with Heatherwick Studios, to participate in a bid for a prized land parcel that sits at the centre of Singapore's civic-cultural district and financial centre.

Taking centre-stage of the bid was the Capitol Theatre, a art-deco inspired heritage building that had seen better days as the largest single-screening movie theatre. But its best days are certainly not behind it.

Our task then was to re-interpret the Capitol Theatre as a contemporary Arts and Entertainment (A&E) venue. For the answer, we looked to New York and Paris. Like the Capitol Theatre, Radio City Music Hall and the Olympia were once single-screening, large capacity movie theatres in the 1930s and 40s. Then, just as video killed the radio star, the multiplexes marked the decline of the single-screening movie theatre.

Today, with the advent of the internet and streaming video providers such as Netflix, I wonder if multiplexes will continue to play a star role in people's viewing habits. Therefore, we had our doubts to re-interpret the Capitol Theatre as a multiplex.

Instead, our research showed that both Radio City Music Hall and the Olympia have made successful comebacks, without carving their innards into smaller screening venues. Both have been re-interpreted as live music halls.

And here's a little interesting fact that may prove the continual success of the live music hall, going into the future. The music recording industry has taken a beating with the advent of the internet. Napster marked the beginning of the decline and with streaming services such as Spotify, we can be certain the music recording industry's best days are behind it.

Many had thought email would render the postal service irrelevant but actually, the internet has bolstered the growth of courier services such as Fedex and United Parcel. Similarly, the internet has not crippled the music industry. Just the recording aspect of it.

Musicians today are returning to the days before the advent of the gramophone. They are taking to the roads again. And their income rests in ticket sales and not record sales. In fact, live music promoters such as Live Nation have taken the roles of traditional record companies. Live music promoters are offering advances to the biggest music acts today and in exchange, the acts would have to commit to a calendar of live shows.

So rather indirectly, the internet would usher a comeback for the Capitol Theatre as a live music hall. Being a huge music fan, like the majority of the population, I had hoped, perhaps selfishly, that the Capitol Theatre would be re-interpreted as a live music hall.

Right now, there isn't an indoor, large-capacity live music venue at the heart of Singapore. And one with character to boot. And it appears we wouldn't have one in the near future.

Here's the thing, technology doesn't always render our past practices useless. There're cases, such as this, where technology could in fact revive past practices and mores.

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Speak Mandarin Campaign

In 2010, we were assigned to develop the next Speak Mandarin campaign in Singapore. From the onset, we knew a Madison Avenue style advertising campaign wouldn't actually get Singaporeans to speak more Mandarin. No matter how clever our headlines were or how striking our visuals were.

But a game, where in the act of playing it, may actually get some Singaporeans to speak more Mandarin. And quite possibly develop a greater appreciation of the Chinese language and culture. The game-play, admittedly, wasn't entirely original. It was essentially based on the trivia format.

The rules of the game though, was where we focused much of our attention. That and the nature of the questions we posted were designed to meet our communication objectives. We wanted to develop a game that was, well, fair game for all. That there were no inherent bias towards native speakers of Mandarin. That we do not discourage lapse Mandarin speakers. And that all Singaporeans can participate, regardless of your first language (i.e. Malay, Tamil, English, or Chinese).

And though the game was hosted online, we saw to it that even those without any ready access to the Internet could participate. This was largely accomplished with the help of the National Library Board, for generously organising an offline presence for the game.

(All the posters were designed in-house by the incredibly talented art department at 10AM).

Mentions + Credits

Though I had been actively involved in the game design, the truth is, a campaign such as this is perhaps 1% conceptualisation and 99% execution. The success of the campaign, not just in relation to all previous Speak Mandarin campaigns but to all previous public service campaigns in Singapore was unprecedented. And it would not have been possible without the collective commitment and efforts of the teams at 10AM and the National Library Board, helmed by Ms. Lim Sau Hoong of 10AM.

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Speak Mandarin demo

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City Made from the Sky

The theme for the 2010 World Exposition, held in Shanghai, is “Better City, Better Life.” In essence, the theme explores the importance of sustainable development within the context of today’s ballooning urban centers around the world. With this mind, Singapore’s unique sustainable story lends itself pertinently to the subject.

If we were to regard Singapore today, we may liken it to a crystal ball. It offers a glimpse into the future for many developing urban centers today. A positive future scenario to be sure. Such an argument may be made given the numerous parallels between Singapore, circa 1965, and the developing urban centers of today.

Like many of its contemporary doubles, circa 1965 Singapore was caught between a rapidly rising population and limited land space. And without the luxury of a hinterland (to expand into) and the comfort of abundant natural resources, sustainable development was not merely a way of life for Singapore but a means to survive.

Today, Singapore’s brand of sustainable development has evolved from a means to survive to a constant balancing act between development and environment. And though our pursuit of sustainable growth has yet to tire, our journey thus far would prove to be a viable future case scenario for many developing urban centers today.

The short film, “City Made from the Sky” traces Singapore’s journey to a “Better City, Better Life.” And said journey is narrated by the very architect who drafted the blueprint for Singapore’s unique brand of sustainable development, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

Mentions + Credits

The interview was conducted by Walter Lim of 10AM. The documentary was shot through the gifted eye of Wayne Peng, who spent close to a year on the film. And I'm of the opinion that the project would not have been green-lit without Ms. Lim Sau Hoong of 10AM.

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City Made From The Sky (by 10AMchannel)

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Metro-nome

In 2010, I had the privilege of working as the creative director of content and programming for the Singapore Pavilion at the Shanghai World Exposition. The experience would teach me a great deal on crowd control, robust builds, immediate gratification from an installation, and that an expo visitor does not share the same expectation as a museum visitor, to say the least.

Metro-nome invites visitors to make music together. Each visitor hops onto one of four bounce pads. Each pad triggers a single music loop. When all four pads are bounced in unison, a centerpiece is gradually filled with images of Singaporeʼs architecture, design, and cultural objects. The installation underscores the theme of the Singapore Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 – Urban Symphony. The collaborative nature of the installation speaks of how Singaporeans work and play in harmony.

Mentions + Credits

Audio engineer, Tan Suan Wee of Arup, who stayed up till the wee small hours of the morning with us, picking up sounds we all couldn't hear. Build by Kingsmen. Sound and music design by Evan Roberts, whose professionalism and knowledge were immeasurable. Programming by David Teo.

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Metro-nome demo

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Boxful of Cards

Our friends at FARM has a line (arm? division?) called Apostrophe S. Its reason for being is to facilitate the creation and distribution of products designed in Singapore. Back in 2010, along with the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), Apostrophe S invited a group of Singapore creatives (of various disciplines) to design a collection of souvenirs for the Singapore Art Museum. The project was titled, "Made for SAM."

The souvenirs fall under product categories that were typically found in museum gift shops the world over. Mug, tote bag, pin or badge, stationery, and postcard. The product of some of the creatives though, were anything but typical. My friends Yuki Mitsuyasu, Grace Tan, and Kai Yeo were fellow contributors.

We were tasked to produce a set of postcards. And we came up with a box. With no postcards inside. But with an internet connection and a webcam, the box potentially holds thousands of postcards.

Open the box and all you see is an online-address. At said address, users simply lift the empty box to their webcams and the postcards would pop up. Well, not quite. Yet. What users actually see is one of four emotions or greetings – love, congratulations, good luck, and sorry.

Users then select the emotion or greeting by changing the orientation of the box. Once they settle on the emotion they want, they need only tilt the box forward and the box will pull an image from the internet related to their chosen emotion. The images are entirely random. And there's no guarantee that the same image you pull today will be back again tomorrow.

The experience of browsing or finding the card (i.e. image here) that best conveys your emotion or greeting was more prevalent in the golden age of Hallmark. We thought we translate that experience digitally. And yes, the irony isn't lost on us.

Mentions + Credits

Programming by David Teo. Unfortunately, I have lost the contact to the artist whose marble-painting line the inside of the box.

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Boxful of Cards demo

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Warmth

During the year-end festivities of 2011, our friends at FARM curated a light festival titled, A Little Light Magic. Their brief to us was "to use the medium of architectural lighting to dream and imagine narratives via the canvasses of these buildings."

These buildings being the oldest public buildings gracing Singapore's Civic-Cultural district, the Bras Brasah-Bugis precinct. Our team was assigned the Singapore Art Museum's, contemporary wing, SAM at 8Q.

Our installation, titled "Warmth" was designed to warm up to the presence of passersby. The installation's reaction to any human presence is exhibited by way of light and sound.

The light's glow is dependent on the number of passersby and their corresponding distance from the museum. The closer and the greater the number of passersby, the warmer the museum gets.

Meanwhile, the presence of people is also acknowledged by sound. The distance and position of each passerby from the museum will determine a unique musical note. Therefore, the number of passersby and their distance in relation to the museum and one another will determine the string of notes being played (i.e. the song being played) at any one time.

It's analogous to a musical box cylinder, with the tiny bumps or studs. As you rotate the cylinder, the bumps or studs pluck a note. A string of notes then make a song. Only now, the bumps or studs are passersby and their position changes in real time. So Warmth doesn't play the same song twice.

Mentions + Credits

Design and concept of Warmth was created in collaboration with the creatives at 10AM. Software programming and hardware installation by David Teo. Music and sound design by me.

[jayphua]

Warmth demo