The copy-driven approach of the design references that of travel tour agencies and plays on such catchy and trite brand of conviviality and hospitality. The zines relied on the typographic styles found on the 70s – 80s shop-signs in Lorong Mambong that have stood the test of time. The colours were picked from the changing coat of paint on the facade of Holland Road Shopping Centre through it’s different eras.

—Staff Pick, Fonts In Use Here

“Singapore studio Currency design one of the most stylish exhibition zines we’ve seen”
—Lucy Burton, It’s Nice That Read here

Singapore Art Book Fair (SGABF) is an independent annual multi-day festival specialising in contemporary art books & zines. The 2018 edition of Singapore Art Book Fair saw the move to a fully independent operation for the first time. Currency was engaged from the outset in the ideation process, implementing a considered identity and strategic approach to achieving the project’s aims to recalibrate its focus and encouraging a growth and maturity in the audience’s cultural palette.

A City of Books is an exhibition at Bras Basah Complex for Buy SingLit, an industry-led movement to celebrate stories from Singapore. The book accompanying it is a compendium of indexes that also pays homage to the building’s reputation as a city of books. Embedded within these lists are the stories of three bookshops in the Complex, and three artists’ encounters with them. Indexes of images map the experience of each artist in the different stores.

OH! Emerald Hill is the eighth edition of art walks organised and curated by OH! Open House. Participants discovered the story of Emerald Hill through secret tours, art, and performances in homes and private spaces. The creative identity which featured various stylised frames and dioramas took cues from the colonial history of Emerald Hill and its double-edged past as a former nutmeg plantation which held colonial aspirations of success and riches but ultimately ended in tragedy and failure.

Dreamseeds Arts Fest celebrates the creative pursuits and explorations of Club Rainbow (Singapore)’s brightest beneficiaries. This year’s theme of “Finding Futurenova” explores the powers of imagination and follows a group of intrepid explorers as they embark on a space journey and eventually reach Futurenova, the planet of dreams. The design extends from the narrative of the four protagonists and the landscapes of their journey featuring prominently across the festival collaterals. Fluorescent colours and pixellation were also employed to project vibrant dreamscapes that are futuristic, imaginative and engaging. The rendering of the animated characters and an accompanying video game following the storyline were also designed for additional interactivity.

opening day is a four-part series of artistic interventions housed in the common space on the top floor of Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre featuring the responses of artists Chua Chye Teck, Lai Yu Tong, Susie Wong and Sookoon Ang. Following the format of the project, various colored pages featuring images of the artworks can also be collected and inserted into the booklet with each new iteration of the project.

The Oceanic is an exhibition focusing on large-scale human interventions in oceanic ecospheres with contributions by 12 artists, filmmakers, composers, and researchers who engage with both the long cultural histories of Pacific Ocean archipelagos and their current conditions. In keeping with NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore’s various collaterals, the exhibition identity uses the Centre’s house fonts to maintain a consistent look.

Rediscovering Forgotten Thai Masters of Photography is presented by the NUS Museum and gathers images taken in Thailand during the 1950s to 1970s by seven photographers Buddhadasa Bhiku, Liang Ewe, S.H. Lim, Saengjun Limlohakul, Pornsak Sakdaenprai, ’Rong Wong-Savun and M.L. Toy Xoomsai. 

Altars for Four Silly Planets is an exhibition by Marcus Yee at soft/WALL/studs. Drawing on the sense of lost sentiment evoked in the title and in this exhibition’s use of various forms of discarded, donated and unwanted trash or rubbish, the identity for Altars plays on the estrangement of the familiar, featuring a contrasting color scheme that reverses the seeming innocence of the childhood icons in the exhibition title. The exhibition catalog features writings from Shawn Chua, Luca Lum, Samantha Yap and Johann Yamin.

Each Blade of Grass, Each Shrub, Each Tree presented an exhibition and series of programming that considered representations of nature and Singapore’s landscape, in light of the MacRitchie Reservoir Cross Island Line discussions. Taking a cue from the programme’s ecological focus, we experimented with overprinting Each Blade’s collaterals on old printed material from past events that had been accumulated in excess but left unused.

The Concerned Citizens Showcase is the culmination of a mentorship programme for young creatives aged 18-30. Hosted at The Substation, the programme encouraged these participants to look into the ways that urban space is used and produced, as well as how inhabitants of the city can take initiative in conceptualising and/or effecting interventions in our city. Under the guidance of artist-mentor, Tan Guo-Liang, 12 participants undertook a six-month process of knowledge-building and research before proposing their own project in relation to issues pertaining to urban form and social life. The compact display font echoes the bold and exclamatory nature of a public service announcement that is associated as well with the sense of civic evoked by the title of “Concerned Citizens”. The idea of presenting the posters as separate pieces that are joint together at the title also echoes the collaborative nature of the event which hinges on various forms of exchanges.

Home to the iconic dragon playground and the Games Village of the 1973 Southeast Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games, Toa Payoh is where leisure, sports, and imagination resides. The Play Town: Discovering Our Heritage Through Play exhibition is a visual journey that brings alive the stories of the country’s oldest housing estate, offering a gateway into this heartland neighborhood that has shaped not just how Singaporeans’ live but have fun. The exhibition identity is articulated through playful recall of geometric shapes and colors inspired by the look of the 7th SEAP Games’ as well as the playgrounds made by Khor Ean Ghee. Hosted in a public atrium in Toa Payoh, the exhibition is also designed to stimulate and encourage visual interest and curiosity from passersby.

Drawing from State of Motion’s thematic premise that zooms in on the perceptions of Singapore through cinema’s gaze, the design uses obscuration and light projections that cuts across the pavilion space and print collaterals that plays with the gesture of ‘looking’. The projection lines also intersect across some instances to form a visualisation of an eye. Echoing the exhibition pavilion by artist Randy Chan, the fencing was referenced to grid the deliverables.

The accompanying visual for East Side Open Studios’ second edition. East Side Open Studios features various artist studios and project spaces in the East that opens their door to the public with special exhibitions, talks, and events for one afternoon.

The ADM Grad Show 2016 draws reference from the narrative of an interstellar voyage that was undertaken by the Voyager space probe when it was sent to explore the furthest reaches of our solar system. Recognising the affinities between this voyage and the journey of the graduating cohorts who will soon be forging their own paths outside of school, the branding and design application conveys a sense of travel into the unknown. It features various elements that hark back to the voyager’s narrative – with the key visual of the golden disc that takes after the Golden Voyager Record’s form, the secondary visuals of terrain rendering that allude to new landscapes and trajectories as well as the colour palette of gold/silver against the backdrop of black that is commonly associated with science-fiction and space operas. The ADM Grad Show encompassed of various facets such as a website and publication to feature the cohort’s portfolio and the event details, a virtual tour to document the exhibition long after its runtime, an interactive photo booth that captured real-time engagement and interaction, a publicity video, a photoshoot session of the graduating cohort as well as spatial and wayfinding elements.

A book of writings and images by artists, curators and writers about lens-based images in Singapore. As an object, it takes after the form of a photo, with the size corresponding to the 4R photograph print size, and the front and back covers acting as spaces for photographs by Nguan. No text is discernable on the covers and instead the blurb and contributors list is runs across the spine and sides. Left–Right ends with a photo glossary, the result of running the book’s featured images into Google and Pinterest’s reverse image search and pooling together unexpected affinities based on the matches from algorithm detected similarities.

Dreamseeds Arts Fest is a celebration of the creative explorations undertaken by Club Rainbow Singapore’s beneficiaries. The inaugural edition of the festival uses the seedling as a symbol of empowerment and a mascot of growth. The design also allows an element of interaction with the beneficiaries, through the creation of abstract plant and cloud shapes that beneficiaries are encouraged to add their own touch to.

An upcycling project in collaboration with Independent Market and various printers to produce different forms of retail packaging by reusing off-cuts and waste prints from printers.

An update and refresh of the identity for ACCENT that was founded in 1988 and has become a leading supplier of wind brand musical instruments and accessories in Singapore. The direction hopes to relay a sense of modernity and history given the store’s 30th year anniversary and its established reputation. The updated logo draws loose inspiration from the makeup of instruments that often feature its own unique system of interconnecting tubes.

Motherhood is an on-going project by Patricia Lee and Quek Sue-Shan that gives a voice to the diverse yet shared experiences of motherhood. Envisioned as an on-going project, this first edition was inspired by fashion entrepreneur Nin Choong-Wilkins, former lawyer and competitive speed-skater Sui Chin Han-McKeand, veteran educator Carmee Lim and established artist Kumari Nahappan. The masthead uses a modern and robust serif title font that is not overtly feminine or embellished but maintains a strong and enduring presence.

About Michael Sullivan is a publication for the 60th anniversary lecture by T.K. Sabapathy on Michael Sullivan.Original lecture “About Michael Lecture, NUS Museum’s 60th Anniversary Lecture” delivered on 30th April 2015, University Cultural Centre, NUS Centre for the Arts. The modern typography reflects both the period and the museum’s development while the grain pattern across the book recalls the nature of the text as memory and recollection.

Like the event name, the identity for the inaugural edition of State of Motion is inspired by the moiré effect: a visual perception of motion that occurs when viewing a set of lines superimposed on another set of lines. This sense of movement also reflects the event’s (re)imagination of films and their locations through art while also capturing the condition of Singapore as one in constant motion.

As part of the NUS Museum Anniversary Lecture Series, Kwa Chong Guan will deliver a lecture on William Willetts, his contributions to scholarship, museum practice and the broader regard for cultures in Southeast Asia in Singapore, through which perspectives into the roles of the museum and the curator lodged within a university institution may be drawn, and prospected across periods and contexts. The design approach focuses on Willett’s influence and lasting legacy, suggested through the shadow behind Willett’s photograph.

「視線 , 之間 」Sightlines is a response to the Umbrella Movement in 2014, treating the mass protests as a departure point to reflect on how creative practices can inform each other, and how they can productively harness the energy from a moment of political rupture. With the introduction and inclusion of a 360-degree camera, it became the integral tool that opened the artists to a new way of seeing, a new vision.” 

The design follows the undulating distortions from the images from the 360-degree camera, giving the text a sense of movement. The book cover relies on the slight translucency of the ledger paper to reveal the “sight-lines” that constellate the otherwise, minimalist cover page.

SEA STATE is a series of nine projects initiated in 2005 by artist and former Olympian sailor Charles Lim, with the premise of inverting perceptions of sea and land in the island city-state of Singapore. The work by Charles Lim is exhibited at the Singapore Pavilion, as part of the 56th International Art Exhibition — La Biennale Di Venezia.

A Public Conversation on the occasion of the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, The Geopolitical and the Biophysical: a structured conversation on Art and Southeast Asia in context is conceived as an extension to Charles Lim’s SEA STATE project presented at the Singapore Pavilion, and is in response to Okwui Enwezor’s curatorial theme for the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia: All the World’s Futures. The brochure’s design is conceived as an extension to Charles Lim’s SEA STATE project and presented at the Singapore Pavilion. The fan shape is an abstraction of the hull of a kolek boat, as well as a practical solution for attendees to use it as a hand-held fan.

The typography of the zine cover plays with the contrast between the weighty black typeface with the sinuous light “CESSPOOL” type in pink over it. The overall design coagulates, drips and flows, in many ways. The formats are coupled with soft touch coating with perma-liquid scodix effect for zines, posters and postcards, harking back to the work of artist, Jennifer Mehigan.

Peninsular Sessions is an ongoing series of artist presentations at Peninsular in collaboration with The Art Incubator. The booklets are designed to serve as documentation of the sessions involving different pairs of artists, writers and/or curators.

Similar to the program, the booklets are designed with no title. The layout is functional and occasionally contextualised to capture what is discussed and framed through the period of the exhibition. The booklet serves to extend the open reading of new relations.

An ongoing engagement in maintaining the institutional branding through its printed communications. The approach takes on a fixed grid that is focused on legibility and can be adapted to accommodate different types of content. The layout does not espouse any strict hierarchy between titles, text and footnotes that also reflects the prevalence of text in the museum’s curatorial approaches. The layout also allows for permutations and columning, with ease to adding footnotes and images. For more information about Design Maintenance, click here.

Design Piracy Institute (DPI) is an applied thesis project developed at the School of Visual Arts’ MFA in Design Criticism (D-Crit)—now known as the MA Design Research, Writing & Criticism, by Justin Zhuang on piracy and industrial design. DPI’s design identity is inspired by traditional forms and perceptions of piracy. It uses the imperfect and awkward English form of the MS Gothic/Mincho family, a versatile and interchangeable Japanese typeface, as a nod to the amateur, the wrong, and the illegal — a homage to how this freely available Microsoft Office typeface is often used on the design of pirated products as well. The idea is further explored with the intentional untampered kerning (default tracking) of the wordmark, challenging the traditional notions of ‘good’ design.

This type-based system is accompanied by a graphical element in the form of a yellow ‘X’, which recalls watermark symbols and also the cross found on the stereotypical skull and bones ☠  logo of the pirate flag. Unlike watermarks that protect, however, this symbol dissolves when documents marked with DPI’s identity is photocopied.

EXODUS album cover is a post-futurist interpretation of 80s mandarin vinyl album covers such as Teresa Teng and Faye Wong. The album is a sonic imagining or a “夢” (dream) of a dystopian post-apocalyptic tableau. The cover features a tableau of a woman lying in a pool of her own blood, awashed in neon colors, reminiscent of the popularised Hong Kong neon cityscape in visual culture.

Visuals for the first iteration of Horizon99 party held at soft/WALL/studs. Horizon99 is a broadcast series using the party as form, the club as situation, music as binder. These inherently hold the potential for collective being, coalescing towards horizons beyond capitalist realism.

Island–01 is the first EP by Yllis. The album is a re-imagination of the artist’s visage, a look and sound transpired from a personal search for identity between his own heritage as a chinese Singaporean amidst the more globalized experimental music scene he has grown to be a part of.

Inspired by the lights and colours of KTV and getai traditions, the design uses bursts of colour and lines, expressing the conflict between participating litigants. Karaoke Court is a work of performance art by artist Jack Tan as part of his solo exhibition, How to do things with rules, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) Singapore, from 13 August to 29 September 2015.

Karaoke Court is a work of art and performance inspired by the Arctic Eskimo and Inuit tradition of ‘song duels’. Taking place within festive occasions, litigants present grievances to the entire community for judgment in the form of humorous and satirical songs. Due to the necessities of survival in the Arctic, the aim of the Eskimo or Inuit litigation is to restore relationships and to dissipate the build up of community tension, as much as it is to determine the winner.

An ongoing engagement in maintaining the institutional branding through its printed communications. Brochure designs are constantly improved in collaboration with the communications team, adapting systems that evolve with the needs of the institution. For more information about Design Maintenance, click here.

The posters and postcards are used to publicise curator-led tours and workshops for teachers & educators. The illustrations were made using lino-cut carvings of hands doing craft, representing workshops, and anthropomorphic figures, representing tours, that join up when put side by side.

“Oddly enough, people thought we had that look but actually it was to save money!” – Chris from Brainhook, on The Substation’s early designs. (Source: The Design Society Journal)

A Home for the Arts recalls older visuals of the Substation from the 90’s through collaborations with the Substation team to arrive at xerox printed brochures for their programmes with gaffer tape, any sans serif available and their xerox machine.

Mythologies is a work of art by Jack Tan that explores various day-to-day Singaporean obsessions or concerns through a series of mythological characters based on the idea of the Japanese Yōkai (妖怪), or supernatural monsters. Exploring myth-making as a spatial, visual, performative and pedagogical activity, Jack Tan presents eight new mythological creatures through a choreographed children’s lantern parade, and public installations of flags and lanterns at Singapore Art Week 2016.

The brand presents the House of Fred which is a unique space curating the best of lifestyle and street cultures in ways and manner that reflects the Fred Perry brand. It was Malaysia’s first-ever Laurel Wreath Collection pop-up which carries the premium line from Fred Perry, and coveted collaborations projects with designers like Raf Simons and Nigel Cabourn.