Creativity in the Time of Coronavirus

STUCK DESIGN

Do you have a family member who refuses to stay home and you are tired of nagging them to? Local design firm Stuck, has designed a series of doorknob hangers reminding people not to leave their homes unnecessarily.

"The doorknob hangers are a printable, confrontation-free homemade nudge, and the designs are based on demographic insights," says designer Julia Lee.

For kids aged three to 11, the designs have an arcade game look to them, such as lasers shooting at viruses. There's also a version that comes in black and white for kids to colour in.

Those for youths come with illustrations of the elderly in masks, with the message that while young people are strong, their actions could affect their weaker elderly family members.

Meanwhile, adults get messages reminding them of the S$300 fine if they linger outdoors, and for the elderly, the team has designed a poster with the word 'danger' in Singapore's four national languages, inspired by posters found outside restricted areas.

Ms Lee says, "sometimes a nudge at the right moment, and at the right place, can create a rational pause to restrain our impulses to roam."

Go to stuck.sg/2020/04/19/home-based-persuasion.

KINETIC

Since the government put a temporary stop to dining out, more people are getting food and other items delivered to their doors. So too the team at branding and design agency, Kinetic, which is why they recently came up with the initiative #ThankYouDeliveryHeroes to thank these delivery heroes, who are risking their health while being on the job.

"While we're staying in and staying safe, our delivery heroes are out and about on our behalf, bringing us everything we need. And now with contactless delivery, sometimes we don't even get to say thank you,' says co-founder Pann Lim.

Over the course of a week, the firm designed a series of 26 posters, that anyone can download from the website, print out and put up on their doors, to let delivery men know that their work is appreciated.

Some of the posters come with cute messages, such as "You make my day bloom even though I stuck on Zoom". Others tell the delivery men to "Ride safe, so we can ride this out together", while some are messages of thanks.

Kinetic's account director Fely Ang says, "we've had many people putting up these posters, with some recreating the designs by hand, as they don't have a printer, while others have printed out black and white posters and turned it into a colouring activity for their kids . Even cafes and restaurants have also joined in, in putting up these posters."

Go to thankyoudeliveryheroes.com to download #ThankYouDeliveryHeroes posters.

DARREN SOH

Photographer Darren Soh is known for taking captivating pictures of Singapore's architecture, but now that he can no longer do that, he is posting one archival photo a day on Facebook.

He started on Apr 7, and initially planned to put up 28 shots of buildings, titling the project "28 Buildings to visit once this 28 day Circuit Breaker is over". But with the recent extension to June 1, Mr Soh will now put up more photos, featuring 56 buildings in all. He points out that all the photographs are from his archive, and he has not been venturing out for this project.

Some of the buildings that are in the project include Shaw Tower, a block of flats at Redhill Close, the Indian Heritage Centre and Marina Bay Sands.

In his posts, Mr Soh gives a general feel of his sentiments for that particular day, a history of the building he has selected and why people should visit it when the circuit breaker is over. Some of the reasons include visiting a building one last time before it is torn down.

"The project is a way for me to mark time - and as the pandemic develops, also a way to inform people through the use of images in my archives the role some of these buildings play in the current situation - like the repurposing of the first Redhill Close en bloc flats followed by blocks 63 to 66 Yung Kuang Road in Taman Jurong as emergency housing for our workers," he says.

His post on day 16, is that of the Rocket Lookout Tower at Upper Seletar Reservoir, which was built in 1969 to commemorate the opening of the reservoir. Mr Soh talks about how while exercising is allowed, people have suddenly become aspiring Olympians and begun crowding at parks and beaches, leading to all car parks in parks being closed. "This is something we could not have guessed would happen at all," he says.

Go to fb.com/darrensohphotographer to view the project.

DESIGN DIPLOMACY

Design festivals and conferences may have been put on hold but Yu Yah-Leng, co-founder of Foreign Policy Design Group says that shouldn't stop an exchange of ideas among the design community.

"We live in strange times now, and will have to adapt to a new norm going forward. But creativity and culture will not stop - let's continue exchanging ideas and sharing our best stories," she says.

With that in mind, her design firm started Design Diplomacy, a space for creative exchange, pollination of ideas, interviews and discourse for the creative community.

Ms Yu says that the platform, which happens on Instagram Live, was adapted from a previous initiative that they started some years ago, which didn't quite take off due to the need for physical exchange, but now fits perfectly in today's digital-first context for the same purpose.

At 6pm, from Mondays to Saturdays, viewers can go to Design Diplomacy's Instagram Live page to watch Asian designers talk about their work. The 40-minute long talks usually end with a Q&A session from viewers.

"We focus on creatives in Asia especially those whom we think are making an impact in their cities and also those who are already creating global design influence," says Ms Yu. "We'd like to help the international community to tune in to these up-and-coming designers who might not have been given the stage to share or shy away due to a language barrier."

Some past speakers include Singapore-based photographer Jovian Lim and graphic designer Driv Loo from Malaysia. Upcoming speakers include Korean graphic design firm Ordinary People and Kishino Shogo, founder of 6D, a Japanese visual communications studio.

"Hopefully Design Diplomacy would be a platform for them as well as for you to understand what the Asian design language is today and maybe in the future," says Ms Yu.

Go to instagram.com/designdiplomacy.