Design
It was in 2017 where my passion for design first sparked - I had recently come back to Church and after a while, I started exploring my creative talents by joining the Creative Arts Ministry under Design and Photography. As the years went by, I've challenged myself with more ambitious designs and different types of content, having since then embarked on a journey and graduating with a Diploma in Communication Design specialising in Image Design at Temasek Polytechnic. Having a specialisation in Image Design means I've been taught to utilise different visual forms to illustrate the best narrative for your given task. As a result, I've picked up skills from 3D Modelling, Animation & Video Editing, Illustration Work, UX/UI and more. My years of experience in school and church have taught me how to truly emulate the phrase "a picture means a thousand words" as I've developed the skills to make that statement true. And now as I work on pursuing my studies, I even mentor newer members of the Ministry as Ministry Head, continuing to serve fervently as I stay thinking about how design could be used to inspire people.
STUDIO PROJECTS
Rediscovering Our Riches
Rediscovering Our Riches, or "ROR" for short, was an informative guide as well as an activity-type publication made for my first Studio Project in school. The goal was to rebrand the "richness" that Orchard display at its forefront and dive deeper into what that word really meant in relation to Orchard and ourselves. Through a guide of some of the money-savvy locations in Orchard, the book ultimately guides people through another journey - the one within themselves, as they rediscovered their perspectives tied to "Rich".
Arts On The Road
For my 3rd Studio Project, Arts On The Road was my solution to bringing Traditional Arts to people in a way that was simple and accessible. This fictional event focused on bringing out the flow and fun that came with Traditional Dances, and creating something visually that would feel so vibrant and light that you couldn't help but feel drawn to go participate!
Musika!
Musika was a mobile application solution to the problem of poor work-life balance, as a part of my 2nd Studio Project. Music was something that transcended verbal understanding, so I thought by creating a music-based diary, it would be a great way for people to rationalise their feelings and do so in a manner that resulted in something fun. The application basically was like any other diary entry app, except that diary entries took the form of "sonnets". Guided by 4 characters, the process of turning thoughts and feelings into a small song would be accessible to all backgrounds.
pause.
For my Final Year Project, I focused on designing for Family & Social Change. I sought to tackle the communication barriers we have with our family as we get older, and reintroduce what it means to build a healthy space not just for ourselves but with our family members too.
Often in my own family, we either want time away from each other or time with each other, and we don't clarify that which leads us to conflict unnecessarily. So with my app "pause." I aim to help eliminate that step in miscommunication and lead us and our families to spend time on ourselves and each other with a healthier lens.
ILLUSTRATION
Graphic Stylisation Portrait, WW84 Poster Restylisation
Alongside a module where we learnt about various graphic design eras in history, we were tasked to illustrate a 4-part portrait with 4 different styles that we were given. Mine were Pop Art (top left), Cubism (top right), Art Deco (bottom left), and Constructivism (bottom right). This work was done with Adobe Photoshop.
After exploring the 4 different styles in our portrait, we were tasked with 1 style and to restyle an existing poster in that style. I was given Cubism and chose the WW84 poster, which featured glass fragments and other various geometric elements that I thought would fit this style great.
Conceptual Imaging: A Second Chance
For this module, we were tasked to select a topic and imagine its situation in the future through illustrations. I chose the topic of Death in Technology as it felt rather unconventional and a good challenge for me to tackle. Through a series of 4 illustrations, they follow the life of Philip Tan, who begins his journey by planning for his post-partum services on a "Replot Kiosk". As he passes tragically, we can see how I imagined eco-burials would be like, as well as how families and friends may connect digitally with their lost ones.
AFA Poster Design: Orang Minyak
As part of a collaboration with the Asian Film Archives, we were tasked to create a poster for some of the old films they had brought to us. I was tasked to make a poster for the film "Orang Minyak", which was a horror-mystery film made in the 60s. The main element I drew from watching the film was the Orang Minyak's running about through the mansion, typically through the windows. I decided to pick that visual to carry my poster and emphasised on the oily, mysterious atmosphere of his aura.
Yours, Sincerely Merchandise
In an internship at The Commandment Co., I kickstarted a series called "Yours, Sincerely", where I illustrated shirts and keychains based on some songs by Local Christian Artists. Done mostly on Procreate, these illustrations really tested my ability to create unique looks for each song individually and together.
Silk Screen Illustrations
This illustration was made for a silk-screening assignment, where my biggest challenges lied in thinking of negative space. For the portrait of Shye on the left, this had me to think beyond replicating her likeness, and more of how I could utilise positive and negative space to best bring out her features. Similarly for the illustrations on the right, this was a particularly complex design for me to carve and print. Ultimately the main challenge here was making sure the animals looked cohesive.
Advertising "Doe"
For my advertising module, I illustrated 2 posters for a false eyelash company called "Doe Lashes". My focus was to emphasise that these lashes were all natural, both in the way they appeared and the way they were made. Thus, Poster 1 focuses on it being made with natural ingredients, whilst Poster 2 focuses on it looking natural.
Love Supermarket Samples
In an internship at The Commandment Co., part of my tasks was to ideate new designs for their ongoing Love Supermarket series. I illustrated the popular local products of "Super Ring" and "Kool Fever", both on Procreate.
The New Year Supper
In an internship at The Commandment Co., another part of my tasks was to ideate new Chinese New Year products. As the company is Christian-based, I thought to merge the idea of the Chinese Zodiac animals, and the iconic Last Supper painting which is a core moment in the religion's history. Thus, this was birthed.
DIGITAL DESIGN
(UX/UI & MOTION GRAPHICS)
Ghibli Guide
Tasked to create a travel-related website, I chose to create a website for Studio Ghibli fans, with places associated with Studio Ghibli. Studio Ghibli is a major source of inspiration for me and still continues to be. I wanted to honour their work with my website and as a fan, I thought it'd be cool to see something like this. I even learnt Basic Japanese so that the recorded elements and information on my "Learn Japanese" page would be accurate. It'd also be easier for me to adjust and edit the recordings to my liking.
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Guided Learning
In a self-directed Guided Learning module, I explored the possibilities of interactive marketing for my CCA's album release. Though some of them didn't come to fruition, they allowed me to experiment and see what could be done in the marketing & publicity scene.
"Paper Throne" Animation
Similarly, this was a particularly complex design for me to carve and print. Ultimately the main challenge here was making sure the animals looked cohesive.
"Spread The Light" Music Video
In celebration of National Day 2021, myself and Caitlyn animated a music video for an original song put together by members of our CCA and the public (of which I also wrote and performed on), called "Spread The Light". This animation has since been also used as a backdrop in live performance renditions of the song.
The Legend of Meraki
As a part of my church's camp in 2021, I animated and edited a video titled "The Legend Of Meraki", a storyline which played into the camp games and greeted the campers.
Besides this main collateral, I also redesigned various items for the camp, as we steered into a new era for the ministry.
Shop Better with ChangiPay
In a module where we work with real-time clients (3 weeks each brief), I aided my team in illustration and animation, particularly for the main animated video advertisement, which proved to be a showstopper with lecturers and guests. Done in Photoshop and After Effects, I partnered with my teammate (who did the sound design work and final edits) in completing it for the project in a week's work.
"DAY ONE" Application Redesign
DAY ONE is an existing diary application available on the App Store and Google Play Store. For this assignment, we were tasked to rebrand and reinterpret how we'd like for the UX/UI to look like and interact. I drew the core element, the bookmark, from it's logo design and used it in a lot of the visual elements. I also added a complimentary colour as the original application only featured grey and blue, which I felt could be pushed more.
"You Will Get Through This Night"
As part of a Kinetic Graphics module, I was tasked to create an advertising video for a product of my choice, using stock or recorded footage. Inspired by the actual promotional video for the book by Daniel Howell, I recreated my own interpretation of the monologue, using effects like glitches and colour to emphasise the product's narrative and message.
MV Unfiltered
In a promotional video for CCA Recruitment Drive, I planned and filmed an episode in a behind-the-scenes series alongside my Head Of Publicity, Caitlyn Chew. We both storyboarded and planned the shots, and I filmed them, whilst she edited them together.
MV: Unwind [Episode 1]
In an online series initiated by myself and Music Vox's former President (then Head Of Publicity), we recorded and edited covers of 2 songs in the 1st episode of "MV Unwind".
I recorded vocals, mixed the tracks, and edited the "Cool Girl" half of the covers. It was an extremely fun process for me, and allowed me to begin explorations in Premiere Pro I hadn't really dabbled in before.
Full Bloom Publicity Posts
As a part of the promotional material for our CCA's album release, I edited the 3 animated posts including a snippet video of the tracks.
Done in After Effects, these tested my abilities to entice and draw people in without giving too much away - a challenge but fun one at that.
Various Video Storyboards
In my time doing projects for my course and in doing publicity for my CCA, there are many video passion projects I developed. Though not all of them may have come to fruition, you can view how all of these projects above and more have grown from storyboard to final product.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Church Photography
As part of my youth ministry's Photography Team, I capture frequent moments in service and special events of the community as they worship, serve, speak, and play.
There are also occasions when we head out as a team, partaking in street photography to improve our skillsets.
CCA Photography
As part of the publicity team in the CCA Committee in the Academic Year 21/22, and VP in the Academic Year after, I assisted in multiple photoshoots for publicity material for our CCA.
These included shots for the "Full Bloom" publicity, as well as portfolio shots for Temasek Student Excellence Awards.
Product Photography
In my internship at The Commandment Co., there were various product photoshoots where I planned, photographed, and edited images.
They have since then been used as publicity posts, as well as product images on the website - where they are showcased in full view.
