DesignS, a unified brand platform to promote Singapore design, was launched yesterday at Lasalle College of the Arts. The members of this new network are:
- Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Singapore,
- Designers Association Singapore,
- Interior Design Confederation,
- Singapore Furniture Industries Council,
- Singapore Institute of Architects,
- Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects,
- Singapore Institute of Planners and
- Textile & Fashion Federation.
As a company with multi-disciplinary design capabilities, we were privileged to have had the opportunity to help develop the brand model and design the new brand identity. Singapore by the nature of its smallness and diversity cannot go the route of exporting a solo cultural idea of design. It is the ability to include diverse talents and cultures that make Singapore ready for the future and provide globally adaptable solutions. Design companies of all disciplines are already serving international markets but that has rarely been promoted. That will now change, with DesignS shaping the way people look at design from Singapore.
The Business Strategy for DesignS
Building on the years of operating from Singapore and in close consultation with the eight creative institutes, we identified the key operational strengths of Singapore design according to its 3-State approach.
State of Ability: Singapore’s credible role as an exchange centre allows design firms here to produce pragmatic and adaptive design solutions.
State of Influence: Singapore’s roots in both eastern and western cultures allow a balanced interpretation when it comes to design solutions.
State of Differentiation: Singapore’s unique location and composition of people allows it to help western companies penetrate the east and likewise companies from the east to benefit from its perspective to enter western environments.
Brand Purpose: In sum, the brand is about the ability to craft design solutions for the future because Singapore design firms are at the crossroads of the world.
The Brand Name
To reflect the unique plurality of perspectives and disciplines, the name DesignS was proposed. DesignS shows that Design from Singapore has a hundred different ways to provide adaptive solutions. DesignS means DesignSingapore and also reflect distinct tracks of solutions such as DesignSpace, DesignSense, DesignShape, DesignSolutions, etc. We proposed this name to celebrate the vibrant diversity of Singapore’s design community and its ambition.
The Brand Identity
The two D-shaped speech bubbles represents the east and west conversations that DesignS has to interpret and communicate to the word. The overall shape hints of the shape of the Singapore Island and the “S” is shaped like the Singapore River, representing the convergence of ideas. We wanted to develop an identity which reflects Singapore’s design community in a dynamic way and this recognisable identity does exactly that.
“We are excited to have been involved during the beginnings of DesignS, creating the brand that speaks of Singaporeʼs role as a design interpreter for different levels of design conversations and needs,” Lawrence Chong, Chief Executive at Consulus, said.
“It has been an extraordinary experience for us to be part of a new chapter for the design industry. May DesignS shape the world.”
DesignS Brand Concept (Click on menu for fullscreen or to download)
