Singapore Design Festival 2007
ALWAYS A BETTER WAY
28 Nov to 8 Dec 2007
Singapore

Singapore Design Festival 2007

Initiated in 2005 by the DesignSingapore Council, the Singapore Design Festival is a biennial platform to promote design and the design industry in Singapore, create opportunities for networking and exchange of ideas, and enhance Singapore as a vibrant and creative international design city. At the same time, the festival provides a gateway to Asia’s design community, and Asia to the world.

This year’s Festival will run from 28 November to 8 December 2007 and is made up of multifaceted events and activities. Championing a broad range of design disciplines, the Singapore Design Festival is a key umbrella event for the industry. Contributions to the Festival programme are made by a diverse range of Singaporean and International partner organizations - they range from design businesses, trade associations, galleries, retailers, museums, government bodies, media organizations, to of course individual designers.

The Singapore Design Festival brings partners and audiences with the widest possible range of interests together to explore design issues, do business, exchange ideas, and have fun. Events staged as part of the Festival range from major international presentations to Singaporean showcases to trade events, alongside award ceremonies, talks, workshops, product launches, open houses and designer parties.

The Festival aims to transform the design culture in Singapore and from around the world into an interactive and “live” presentation of the design process.

All of this is made possible by the fact that Singapore is an increasingly emerging creative design hub with a dynamic pool of local and international design talents and design-led companies. As the city where diverse cultures converge and multi-national businesses gather to trade thoughts and commerce, the Singapore Design Festival is fast becoming recognised as a key event on the international design calendar.

Singapore Design Festival 2007 activities

Festival activities organised by DesignSingapore, which is under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, and its partners include conventions, networking events, exhibitions, product presentations and a special Feature Event, Utterubbish, commissioned by DesignSingapore.

Key activities

Event: President’s Design Award Ceremony and Exhibition
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall and The City Hall
Date: 27 November 2007

The President’s Design Award acknowledges that Singapore’s design industry has reached a key milestone by attaining significant achievements in fields such as architecture and urban design, exhibition design, fashion design, industrial and product design, interior design, landscape design and visual communications. It is awarded to individuals and designs that are pushing the boundaries of Singapore design, tangibly making a difference to the lives of Singaporeans and larger global communities.

Administered by the DesignSingapore Council and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the Award has two categories:

a. Designers of the Year: Awarded to individuals or design teams to recognise their design creativity and achievement based on body of works and contribution;

b. Designs of the Year: Awarded to specific design projects to recognise their national significance and creative value to Singapore.
Award Ceremony and Exhibition

The Award Ceremony cum gala reception will take place in the Concert Hall of the Esplanade – Theatres of the Bay on 27 Nov 2007, with President S R Nathan as Guest of Honour. The Award ceremony will be the opening event for Singapore Design Festival 2007.

A curated exhibition of the works of the Award Winners will also be held from 28 November to 8 December. The venue of the exhibition will be the Level 3 Foyer at City Hall.

Event: Utterubbish, a collection of useless ideas
Venue: The City Hall level 4
Date: 28 November – 16 December 2007

Utterubbish is a unique design experience that presents ideas, works and exhibits by designers and creators from all over the world, unified in their exploration of how design can create value for individuals, societies and the world, whether Social, Cultural, Emotional, Functional, Economic, Commercial or Intellectual.

Based on the premise that ‘less is more’, Utterubbish is a witty review of recycling, redemption and recourse through design. By transmuting the original meaning of “useless” to “use less”, it demonstrates that what seems less sane becomes more sense, less money can inspire more value, less machine means more human and more creativity may come from having less resources.

Comprising an exhibition, a conference, activities and a publication, Utterubbish offers the opportunity for design professionals, policymakers, corporations, design educators and students of design to engage with leading practitioners in the international arena to discover and determine the direction design will take in the future.

Utterubbish also offers a highly interactive experience for general audiences between 8 to 68 years, aimed at building a greater awareness and appreciation for good design by increasing their consciousness of the significance they play as consumers.

The featured event of Singapore Design Festival, Utterubbish opens on 28 November at the historical City Hall of Singapore and will run from 11 am to 7 pm until 16 December 2007. For event updates & ticketing, please refer to www.utterubbish.org.

Event: 20/20
Venue: National Library Board Plaza
Date: 28 November – 8 December 2007

20/20 is the spirit of our time, a collective consciousness that is exploding throughout our creative culture. It is an ongoing showcase of Singapore's designers across different media and disciplines that captures this emerging culture. The creators share the newest expressions of their influences, inspirations and vision of an ever-evolving creative landscape.

It is an ongoing documentation of Singaporean creativity. It features the best design works done locally or by Singaporeans around the world. More importantly, it demonstrates how Singapore creativity has touched the lives of many people around the world.

The theme for the new edition of 20/20 is based on the concept of "BASE". The exhibition explores what / where / how / why does the designer base himself/herself, his/her design process, concepts, medium and artworks on. Is it geographical? demographical? logical? local? psychological? whimsical? radical? The exhibition aims to share these discoveries and experiences with the audience through the works and thoughts of the designers.

Event: 10TOUCHPOINTS
Venue: National Library Board Plaza
Date: 28 November – 8 December 2007

We live in a less than perfect world. A world of constant change in needs, trends and opportunities.By bringing the public, designers and major service providers to collaborate in a process of redesigning everyday ‘touchpoints’ in the public realm, 10TOUCHPOINTS hopes to meet our changing needs and leverage on new opportunities.

Design makes up what is around us. It is not just what is hip or for the rich. Design is about the relationships people forge with things. Good design is something we value as it has effect on how we get to work, better communicate and the energy we save. Good design brings sustainability, accessibility, usability and beauty to the items and services we experience daily. The 8 winning designs will be exhibited for the public to partake and feedback on the proposed
redesigned solutions.

Event: Design Management Institute Singapore 2007 Conference
Venue: Grand Hyatt Singapore
Date: 28 – 29 November 2007

Building business value through design is a business imperative. Well-managed design has the power to build brands, create innovation, enable strategy, and ensure customer satisfaction. But moving design from a project-based function to a strategic function; from OEM to ODM; from lowest-cost to sustainable design; from an expense to an asset—is difficult. This conference will explore the latest expert thinking and know-how so don’t miss this learning opportunity!
Presenters include:

Surya Vanka, Design Integration, Microsoft
Lee Green, Vice President Global Brand, Design and Customer Experience, IBM
Jerome Kathman, President and CEO, LPK
Marc Gobé, Chairman & CEO, Desgrippes Gobé Group
Simon Waterfall, Digital President, D&AD
With this first Asian DMI professional conference, DMI is taking an important step in its mission
to increase its international programs and content.

Registration:
http://dmi.org/dmi/html/conference/SG2007/sg07_register.htm

Event: Red Dot Awards: Design Concept Award Show 2007
Venue: Red Dot Museum
Date: 30 November 2007

30 November promises interesting and inspiring encounters with international guests from the design, culture, and business sectors. Out of 879 entries from 46 countries, you will be introduced to the 124 concepts that impressed the jury with their innovation and fresh take on the future of product culture. Also on show will be the introduction of partnerships in red dot Futures - the new commercialisation initiative, linking design talents and industry. Join us on the evening of 30 November to meet, mingle and be a part of an event that gives you a hint of products and trends of the future.

Tickets for the night are at SGD150. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to purchase a ticket if you would like to attend the award ceremony.

Event: NDP ASSEMBLY® Design Competition Exhibition
Venue: VivoCity
Date: 1 – 31 December 2007

This year’s National Day Parade featured the first FunPack designed by a Singapore Designer. The ASSEMBLY® Bag uses a modular system of fabric panels joined by open-ended nylon zippers. The bag can be reassembled into any size and unique coloured bags can be created if you trade different coloured panels with your friends.

A total of 160,000 ASSEMBLY® bags were given out during the NDP celebrations, and a design competition was launched for the public to customize a white strip from the FunPack with their creative vision for Singapore.

During the Festival, 500 short listed entries will be combined to form a 50m-long bag! This will be displayed at VivoCity. There will also be 7 custom designed bags from the 7 Singapore designers who judged the competition. Photography by MING from the NDP celebrations will bring to recall the spectacular celebrations by the Marina Bay.

More information
For more information on the Singapore Design Festival, DesignSingapore Council and its partners, please visit the Singapore Design Festival website at www.singaporedesignfestival.com