Tired of design not being taken seriously in Singapore, Ziqq decided to seek out designers practicing in Singapore to get them to explain what ‘design’ is all about in front of his camera. His close to hour-long video, Design Says Hello, features a list of interviewees that include designers from the fields of graphic, product, interior, as well as design educators. Interestingly, despite the variety of interviewees, their view of design culture here turns out to be rather similar — a misunderstood profession, seen as just about aesthetics, thought of as peripheral… Design Says Hello brings out some very real issues in Singapore’s design culture today, but I’m not sure I had to sit down for an hour to just hear all that.
Design? from Design Says Hello on Vimeo.
Great video. I also like what you write in your blog and the discourse of various issues. Unfortunately, most designers that I know in singapore does not think beyond making things look good in singapore. The idea of design thinking or design philosophy does not come across to many as important.
Hi Bin, thanks for the kind words. Well, I think the initial attraction for most designers is how good it looks, and that remains a core value in design. Where I think I’m coming from is questioning what is “good”, in the hope that such an understanding can help design advance and so that designers can more consistently do “good” work.