Tag: Graphic Design

Saved by Graphic Design, One Failing Student Discovers His Calling

Shannon Lim hated studying until he discovered design

A zine created by Lim and Danielle Ng to critique consumerism in Singapore.

If not for design, Shannon Lim may still be bumming around in life. He never did his homework in school and spent his time skateboarding instead, until he set his mind on becoming a photographer. But in order to get into one of Singapore’s top design schools where photography is also taught, Lim realized he needed good grades.

“It was an epiphany,” he recalls. “I really was a very bad student. I would sleep in class the whole day. For my chemistry paper, I wrote ‘bunsen burner’ for all the questions.” Even though it was a struggle to pass his exams, Lim did well enough to study photography at Temasek Design School. That was when he made his second epiphany in life: that he wanted to be a graphic designer instead.

➜ Read the full story in AIGA’s Eye on Design

How Singapore Became the Unlikely Poster Child for Good Government Design

Save precious water. Floss your teeth. Buckle up for safety. Those are just some of the truisms familiar to generations of Singaporeans. Since gaining independence five decades ago, the Southeast Asian city-state has seen countless government campaigns aimed to mold citizens who could live up to the nation’s leap from Third World to First. Design has played a central role in these efforts, as evident in the 6,000+ posters preserved in the National Archives of Singapore.

Since its establishment in 1968, this state institution has archived posters as part of its collection of material culture—including government records, maps, photographs, oral history interviews, audiovisual, and sound recordings—that are significant to Singapore’s history. Most of its posters come from government campaigns, with a small number created for cultural events, movies, and corporations.

➜ Read the rest at AIGA’s Eye on Design 

Why Branding + Interior Studio The Strangely Good Judge a Place by Its Toilet + Other Design Lessons

The toilet is the last place you expect to see on a studio visit. But that’s one of the first things Michelle Lin points out after I stepped into the office of Singapore branding studio The Strangely Good.

Taking a bathroom break here is to board a train carriage inspired byThe Darjeeling Limited. Like the set in Wes Anderson’s film, The Strangely Good toilet is plastered with Art Nouveau wallpaper and floor tiles, as well as a window to another world—the perfect getaway for the graphic designer who confesses to dreaming up ideas while handling her other business. This interior also weirdly epitomizes the work and design philosophy of The Strangely Good.

➜ Read the rest at AIGA’s Eye on Design