SDW's 5th edition is shaping Singapore to according to the Design 2025 master plan
Celebrate! Singapore Design Week (SDW) finally has a dedicated micro-site, just 1 of the many improvements made by DesignSingapore Council (Dsg) this year, as it aims to live up to its goal of being 'one of Asia's premier design festivals'.
This year's SDW is more focused than ever on business and innovation design - the pillar of design which the government is heavily investing in, and a direction it hopes the creative industry can gravitate towards to as outlined in the Design 2025 master plan. This can be seen from the main SDW conference, Brainstorm Design, which sees Dsg partnering with Fortune, Time, Wallpaper* and the Singapore Economic Development Board. Other activities include workshops for design thinking and business design seminars for healthcare.
Of course, there are also events for the regular designer who is more interested in aesthetics than the bling.
Branding SDW
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| Key events of SDW |
Overall Festival Identity
Having done the black-white visual identity for last year's SDW, Xodbox is back with a more organic, handmade look.
"The visual concept is built on the idea that Singapore’s design sector is a multi-disciplinary one. This palette of creativity is expressed through the different brush strokes designs that represent the rich diversity of our design sector. The free-flowing brush strokes represent the genesis of the design ideas, which develop into multiple expressions, from dots, to defined lines that represent architecture and a palette of colours that represent diversity. This visual is designed to be interesting enough to warrant further study, as well as the multi-dimensional aspect of the design sector."
-Xodbox
We might be a (relatively) young nation, but that has not
stopped creatives from building iconic works of design, from psychical
structures to online interfaces. We tend to give ourselves too little credit
for the design work we do, and this identity reminds us that we are a vibrant
community making changes which are significant in society. There is no better
time to celebrate the achievements of this community than during the SDW.
This identity stands out in marketing collaterals such as
tote bags. However, the design compromises on contrast between the red colour
of the SDW logo and the purple/pink strokes of the identity, making it hard for
people to see the actual SDW logo. Perhaps the logo could have been smaller to
make the bag more versatile and placed against contrasting colours (white,
yellow) for visual clarity.
Interestingly, the individual events which make up SDW do
not use variants of the overall identity, thus making its reach rather limited.
Still, other event identities of SDW 2018 share the same design philosophy by
expressing the raw, chaotic, sometimes imperfect style of our creative scene.
Singapore Urban Design Festival (SUDF)
Perhaps one of the best places to discuss urban design is in
Singapore, where public spaces here are carefully crafted to suit the needs of
the community. The festival goers can look forward to exploring Tanjong Pagar,
going to street parties and attending an urban design summit.
It's content-heavy site is full of gifs and
playful illustrations, perfect for a festival which focuses on a design
archetype with nation-wide impact.
I'm just happy for the current logo - the interim one was
quite amateurish, with music's current it-font Edo SZ faking a graffiti-like
look.
'Your Design Festival Ban', anyone? That cross should have
covered the whole logo.
District Design Dialogue (DDD)
DDD's identity experiments with typography, a new trend
which you'll either hate or love. I believe it's a graphic representation of
diversity in local design, which is also expressed through the doodles which
make up the gif. There's quite a lot to process in this logo, but it fits
nicely against the identity's aesthetic.
The colourful, playful design is an invitation for the
general public to join in the festivities. Some might have misconception that
design is only for those who are in the practice, but everyone benefits from
good design - one just needs to be aware of it for one to appreciate it.
Singaplural
This year's Singaplural might have been a smaller scale
project compared to last year's, but the organisers created a solid identity
for this year's theme: A State In Play.
For the first time, the Singaplural logo is in dark blue, a
refreshing change after 2 years of the same colour palette.
"SingaPlural 2018 is a celebration of the stage of work even before design begins. This is when you allow naivety to the core, and simply play, explore and experiment, unfettered by an end in mind. Are the by-products of Play accidents, failures and wastes? Or are they prototypes of ideas yet to discover their full potential and applications? In Play, there are no failed experiments, only experiments with unexpected outcomes."
-Singaplural
Some exhibits boldly feature the initial iterations of their final works, which include items such as broken ceramics labelled as "FAILED". It's a noble action to take in a society which generally looks down on failed attempts, and Singaplural wants to change this way of thinking through this year's theme focus.
Even the identity of Singapural 2018 is centered around
various iterations of a supposed work-in-progress 'S'. Some are definitely
better than others, isn't the process of finding the perfect fit the best part
of the whole design journey?
Payback?
Having been to the previous Innovation by Design
conferences in SDW 2016 and 2017, I wondered how these free conferences
were financed as lots of money was pumped in to make the events successful,
from premium buffet meals to exquisite conference venues such as Fort Caning
Hotel.
I was shocked at this year's conference fee and entry
requirements - not only did you need to send in an application to apply as a
participant, your conference ticket would set you back US$2,500.
While I agree that organising free conferences with great
welfare would not be sustainable in the long run, isn't $2.5k a little too
pricey, especially for designers? This is by no means a complaint; I'm
just shocked at the sudden change of the conference from an inclusive
event to a rather secret and elitist one. Are they now focusing on the
'business' in 'business design' only and neglecting the 'design' aspect?
It would be better to sell tickets at more
affordable prices, or introduce different tiers to make the design
conference (marketed as a signature event of sdw) more
inclusive, to create a welcoming environment for the curious design
rookie. Or they could at the very least tell us what they are going to do with
the $2.5k.
Go for these!
Don't feel disheartened that you cannot attend the
invite-only conference this year - these free or almost free events are equally
inspiring and thought-provoking.
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I would like to point out that what's free for us is not free for the organisers - someone needs to foot the bill for logistical and administrative work, so the least we can do is to give them our full support and thank them after attending an event for their hard work. A small appreciative note goes a long way :)
Looking forward
While this year's SDW made several radical changes to its
usual lineup of events, it provides us with a glimpse of what local design in
the future would look like. That, or what the government aims to achieve with
its Design 2025 master plan.
With the many colourful identities of this year, it is important to note that design should aim to unite the people, not divide. That is how designs are best appreciated - for the benefit of everyone.
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