I just might post a letter to celebrate.
When I was little, I imagined Paya Lebar to be a place where many postmen on bikes would travel from SingPost Centre in all directions, delivering letters to everyone in Singapore. As one of the oldest malls in Singapore, it was only a matter of time before SingPost Centre upgraded its offerings to remain competitive as a retail space.
After a 2 good years of waiting, we have an upgraded mall to visit and a new brand identity to critique.
SingP()st
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| SingPost Centre's Logo |
The SingPost Centre logo is a simple wordmark with a custom 'O'. Props to them for not going with cliche physical mail designs (the mail stamps, red-blue pattern) as they are trying to position themselves as a futuristic mall for the tech savvy generation. Future generations would not even get the mail reference! However, I believe they could have done better than just passing off words with an edited letter as a logo.
The 2 points of focus - the 'O' and 'Centre' make me wonder why the logo was designed in such a way. Isn't 'SingPost' supposed to be more important than 'Centre'? I will elaborate more on the logo after discussing the brand applications.
Colour-coded Delights
While the logo might not turn heads, the brand applications should. The 'O' is more than just a way to differentiate the logo from just words; it is the core part of the brand identity. This image greeted me at the homepage of SingPost site.
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| Note that the words are in a different font than the one used for the logo |
This is where the brand identity goes from zero to hero. The circle (going to call it a circle from now) serves as a backdrop or canvas for objects to be highlighted, creating a clean, aesthetically pleasing result.
The mall aims to be a hub for shopping, dining and playing, which are represented by 3 colours - blue, pink and orange respectively. This coding system allows shoppers to better interpret mall banners and retain information for a longer time.
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| Posts on Instagram (Source) |
Using the mall as the background can make the visuals appear cluttered as there are multiple layers on each visual. The circle stands out more when the background is a solid colour.
The circles actually remind me of transport systems, as many train operators like SMRT and the London Tube have circular logos. If no context for the advertisements were given, I would think that these came from SMRT's Xchange centres.
Whether SingPost had any intention for customers to make this connection, it is not entirely inaccurate to say that SingPost is in the transport business - just not human transportation!
Before Email, there was mail
One of SingPost Centre's major tenants is the General Post Office (GPO). It offers a history lesson of Singapore's mail system, from previous designs of mailboxes to how local mail sorting processes have evolved over a period of 150 years. Your grandparents may even have a personal story to share if you bring them along to explore the GPO.
SingPost celebrated the opening of this GPO the way it knows best, by releasing a commemorative set of stamps. The 4 stamps, designed by Wong Wui Kong, compares the GPO from its previous location at the Fullerton with its current home in SingPost Centre.
A Smart Nation Should have Smart Malls
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| The Fairprice@SingPost app |
To further differentiate SingPost Centre from other malls, unique technologies are used by many of the mall's tenants. Its NTUC FairPrice outlet boasts a scan-and-go system, augmented reality experimental corner and even an app which allows you to purchase items from your phone. NTUC intends to scale this app so this virtual shopping assistant can eventually be used for each FairPrice outlet.
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| A promotional picture which came along with the artist's impression of the mall, released in 2016 |
Meanwhile, I'm just waiting for an official SingPost Centre app which follows the style of the promotional image released back in 2016. The brand applications would be so on point.
SingPost is just getting started in this 21st century
Some might argue that Singapore Post is becoming increasingly irrelevant because of emails. However, the company is actively diversifying its portfolio, using technology such as unique online stores to ensure that multiple income streams can complement its core business.
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