DesignSingapore Council

Missed the sold-out Design Futures Forum 2024 during #SingaporeDesignWeek? Catch the highlights here! What will be the role of design and designers in the face of rapidly advancing technologies, a planet that is at the point of “global boiling”, and a future in which the global life expectancy is increasing? Organised by the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg), the expanded two-day forum investigated the critical role of design and designers in the areas of emerging technology, sustainability, and care through the theme “Designing Our Collective Future”. Featuring thought leaders and practitioners from Singapore and around the world, the forum explored how people – from an individual scale to a larger, societal one – and design intersect to make a positive impact and create a better future for all beings. Stay tuned to SDW.SG as we progressively roll out videos for each of the 3 segments for Day 1. #SDWSG24 #SingaporeDesignWeek #PeopleofDesign #DesignSingaporeCouncil Cathy Hackl Lindsey McInerney Alex Govoreanu Jeremy Ang C. H. Philipp Kandal Debra Langley Boonserm Premthada Mitchell Joachim Yu-Ning Hwang Zac Toh Aric Chen Claudia Poh Hon Tym Wong Jeanne Tan Muchaneta ten Napel Esther Sternberg M.D. Karthik J Tamsin Greulich-Smith Ziqq Rafit Farah Shiraz Megan Bednarczyk Ice Zhao Bing Tobias Ahlin Benjamin Bowes Samantha Lee Mark Foo Ying Seow, PhD Wendy Chua Srilalitha Gopalakrishnan (Dr) Leong Tatt Man Chris L. Ivonne Bojoh Kana Lauren Chan Karlijn Sibbel Eason Yang Maria del Pilar D. Proud Patanavanich Ting-Ting Zhang 张婷婷 Li Lian Liew

Woodworker Ahmad Alhabshee has always loved making things.    When he decided to leave his job making stage sets and embark on a new self-directed career making furniture, he faced a difficult road ahead. He had plenty of passion for the craft but he lacked the design training that could help him give shape to his dream.   The self-forged path he trod took grit and tenacity, but today, Ahmad has a successful and growing business – Urban Salvation (named in reference to his interest in reclaimed materials) – and a new design diploma. He learned from experts and his own insight, and these days he pays it forward by training his team for their own future success.   Ahmad’s advice for anyone starting out like he did? Build up your experience by working for others, then test yourself with small projects, and listen to your mentors. – Organised by the DesignSingapore Council, People of Design celebrates the everyday visionaries who are delivering extraordinary impact through design. These innovators defy the stereotype that design is only for designers or that it is merely about aesthetics – it is a tool for positive change that is accessible to everyone.    #DesignSingaporeCouncil #PeopleOfDesign

Digital natives know that technology is a great way to capture the interest of their peers! Luke Tian Le Ke, Amelia Gaw Oon Leng, Ng Ying Xuan, Karyne Phua, and Gang Rui Jie were on a mission to encourage fellow students at Ai Tong School to make healthier food choices at the canteen. Using design thinking, they created the GummyCare concept using a gaming approach to nutrition. This digital food ordering system categorises foods with points based on nutritional value, and rewards students with coupons. Steamed rather than fried means more points, and ultimately a higher-value coupon to use at the bookshop or canteen. It’s a clear case of empathising with your audience, and it earned the GummyCare team an award in the National Design Project 2023! Read more about how the students developed their idea for stealth health by heading to bit.ly/pod-aitong. – Organised by the DesignSingapore Council, People of Design celebrates the everyday visionaries who are delivering extraordinary impact through design. These innovators defy the stereotype that design is only for designers or that it is merely about aesthetics – it is a tool for positive change that is accessible to everyone. #DesignSingaporeCouncil #PeopleOfDesign

Do you consider yourself creative? After a successful design thinking project, these five primary school students now do. The pupils from Ai Tong School – Luke Tian Le Ke, Amelia Gaw Oon Leng, Ng Ying Xuan, Karyne Phua, and Gang Rui Jie – designed a digital food ordering concept for their school canteen, titled GummyCare. The system rewards healthy choices for lunches and snacks. The design process empowered the students with skills and qualities such as collaboration, empathy, and resilience – hallmarks of creative capacity. Their creative confidence grew further with an award in the inaugural National Design Project 2023, and opportunities to present GummyCare beyond the school environment. Many of us don’t recognise our capacity for creative thinking. This can dampen our inclination to approach problems proactively and creatively, to shape better outcomes in our lives. The experience of team GummyCare holds valuable lessons for us all. Read more about how they unlocked their creative confidence with design thinking by heading to bit.ly/pod-aitong. – Organised by the DesignSingapore Council, People of Design celebrates the everyday visionaries who are delivering extraordinary impact through design. These innovators defy the stereotype that design is only for designers or that it is merely about aesthetics – it is a tool for positive change that is accessible to everyone. Know someone who’s making a difference through design? Nominate them at https://lnkd.in/g_FVhH-P for a chance to be featured. #DesignSingaporeCouncil #PeopleOfDesign

The DesignSingapore Council’s (Dsg’s) first-ever design showcase at Boutique Fairs is being unveiled today! Don’t miss the display of original local design by three of Singapore’s most exciting emerging designers in room 3A. The low-waste pavilion is made primarily with recyclable cardboard tubes. It was designed by OuterEdit to represent the creative flow of the designers. The tubes will be repurposed after the fair by students from the design schools of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Temasek Polytechnic. - What will you find at the pavilion? 🪞Playful nostalgia in STUDIO KALLANG’s (@studiokallang) mirrors framed with high-contrast carved teak, stainless steel, and beaded silk; and two-toned stools of timber discs. 🛋️Beautiful alternative materials in GIN&G’s (@studioging) light sculptures made with sheet glass waste, as well as a table lamp and chair incorporating biomaterials. 🪑Art-inclined designs by Wei Xiang (@helloweixiang) including a lamp that you can customise with your own fabric, a chair with a tarpaulin seat, and a side table that seems to defy gravity. Get your tickets online and make your way to the F1 Pit Building! Boutique Fairs’ The Gifting Edition 2024 will run from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 November. Opening hours are 10am to 8pm on Friday and Saturday, and 10am to 6pm on Sunday. See you at the fair!

Everyone loves the end of a school term – unless it’s the end of the School of Tomorrow’s Term 2! Soon, it will be “pencils down” so plan your visit to this award-winning exhibition by Kinetic Singapore before it closes on Thursday 28 November at 8pm. Don’t miss your last weekend to marvel at bioplastics and alternative proteins, try painting with natural pigments, and discover many more innovations that tackle environmental issues head on. Visitors to the School of Tomorrow will love how a serious topic is made accessible with fun and interactive displays that spark the imagination about how to live more sustainably. Be sure to visit the School of Tomorrow before class is dismissed! – The DesignSingapore Council is a proud co-sponsor of the School of Tomorrow, Term 2, alongside Temasek Shophouse and venue partner New Bahru. #DesignSingaporeCouncil #schooloftomorrowsg

Design can help us solve everyday problems – including relieving itchiness! Industrial design graduate Bei Ning Koh was exasperated by chronic eczema. Creams were not the answer to her discomfort, being slow to take effect and conspicuous to use in public. Nor was scratching, which can create wounds.   She decided to design a new solution during her final year of studies in the National University of Singapore’s Division of Industrial Design. Her design breakthrough came when she focused on something seemingly obvious: using the gesture of scratching but modifying the action for safety. Rollo is a small, studded roller ball that gently applies pressure to the skin as an itch-relief measure. It is discreet enough to fit in the palm of the hand and intuitive to use with a natural scratch-like gesture – without the scratches.   With international recognition for her design, as well as high demand for the manufactured product, Bei Ning is grateful for some sage advice from her thesis supervisor, Senior Lecturer Donn Koh – Co-founder of STUCK DESIGN. “He told me not to be afraid of having bad ideas or stupid ideas, because hidden amongst bad ideas are gems that most people who are only looking for good ideas will not find,” recalls Bei Ning. Rollo is evidence of that!   –    Organised by the DesignSingapore Council, People of Design celebrates the everyday visionaries who are delivering extraordinary impact through design. These innovators defy the stereotype that design is only for designers or that it is merely about aesthetics – it is a tool for positive change that is accessible to everyone. Know someone who’s making a difference through design? Nominate them at https://lnkd.in/g_FVhH-P for a chance to be featured.   #DesignSingaporeCouncil #PeopleOfDesign

Experience a special showcase of Singapore design, happening this month at the F1 Pit Building!        DesignSingapore Council (Dsg) has partnered with popular independent shopping event Boutique Fairs Singapore to present the work of three boundary-pushing young design studios in a dedicated showcase.        Fresh from their appearance at the EMERGE @ FIND exhibition during Singapore Design Week 2024, STUDIO KALLANG, GIN&G, and Tan Wei Xiang will each display three sets of works, all available for purchase.       Faezah Shaharuddin, founder of STUDIO KALLANG, draws inspiration from her experience of living in Singapore and the USA. The brand spotlights her unique talent for translating elements of place and culture (cakes and sweets included) into playfully nostalgic forms.        Genevieve Ang and Georgina Foo, co-founders of GIN&G, are quickly becoming known for their explorations with alternative materials in spatial design. They create beautiful material applications with reduced environmental impact – an impetus that extends to their fascinating object designs.       Tan Wei Xiang is perpetually pushing creative boundaries. He has a vision of transcending our expectations of furniture design. To achieve it, he references unexpected aspects of Singapore (fences and tarpaulins among them) and creates objects that straddle the worlds of art and design.       If you missed them during SDW, now’s your chance to see and shop for original Singapore design!       Boutique Fairs’ The Gifting Edition 2024 will run from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 November. The Fair will open from 10am to 8pm on Friday and Saturday, and 10am to 6pm on Sunday. Tickets (S$6) are available online. Find out more at the Dsg website. See you there!

Can design thinking foster closer social bonds among neighbours? Yes, it can! In the case of a group of Queenstown residents, a collective aspiration for a more loveable neighourhood – via stronger community bonds – was enough to transform an empty patch of grass into the hottest place to be! The Queenstown Kakis gather monthly for a range of activities that community members themselves suggest and deliver. This leads to deeper understanding between people, the growth of connections, and thus, the capacity to co-create more opportunities for each other. Relationship building through mutual understanding can bring people to previously unimagined new outcomes. It’s much like the process of design thinking – the spark that led to the Queenstown Kakis initiative via a design thinking bootcamp led by the School of X. In Queenstown, it’s created a ground-up network of support and exchange. Read more about how design thinking fostered community bonds by heading to https://bit.ly/pod-qtk. – Organised by the DesignSingapore Council, People of Design celebrates the everyday visionaries who are delivering extraordinary impact through design. These innovators defy the stereotype that design is only for designers or that it is merely about aesthetics – it is a tool for positive change that is accessible to everyone. #DesignSingaporeCouncil #PeopleOfDesign

Do you long for a greater sense of social cohesion with your neighbours? If so, you might want to take a leaf out of the Queenstown Kakis’ book.     This community of Queenstown residents stitched its social bonds from the ground up, gathering regularly in the neighbourhood for shared activities, with each member contributing in their own way.      Some cook, others run art workshops. Whatever the activity, they bring a spirit of care for each other and the spaces they share.     It all began when co-founder Melissa Kwee joined a design thinking bootcamp run by the DesignSingapore Council’s School of X (@schoolofx). The aim was to create more loveable neighbourhoods. Through interviews with residents, Melissa’s team came up with the idea of building a “community without walls” – the genesis of Queenstown Kakis.     Now, the group’s connectedness flourishes on a potent blend of mutual support and self-actualisation. Read more about how this community blossomed by heading to https://bit.ly/pod-qtk.    Get in touch with the Queenstown Kakis via their Telegram channel at https://lnkd.in/gx7zZtmp. – Organised by the DesignSingapore Council, People of Design celebrates the everyday visionaries who are delivering extraordinary impact through design. These innovators defy the stereotype that design is only for designers or that it is merely about aesthetics – it is a tool for positive change that is accessible to everyone.          Know someone who’s making a difference through design? Nominate them at https://lnkd.in/g_FVhH-P for a chance to be featured.   #DesignSingaporeCouncil #PeopleOfDesign