Field Trips – Loke Ting Wei

Field Trip 1: A Craftsman Journey – From Dream to Reality

Made our own moisturiser!
Waiting for our turn to get some of the mixture
(contains the goodness of pure jojoba oil!)
Us mixing the essential oils into our mixture
Learnt about the different benefits of the oils!

Field trip 2: Red Dot Design Museum

Some of the cool designs for the kitchen! That pan with the detachable base would be so convenient! 
A filter device which one can obtain fresh drinking water from the sea! Relatable to our group’s project which is about living on a water city in 2050.
A panel that uses the principle of adiabatic cooling to adjust a room’s temperature without electricity or gas. This would be so good for people living in developing countries, esp with extremely hot weathers. This design product is really a social good.

Field trip 3: Gem Jamming @ Singapore Jewelry and Gem Fair 

Using the CAD Matrix 9.0 to create our own jewelry!
Preview of the actual jewelry after creating it

Field Trips – Ang Xin Yee

  1. Artist talk – Nguan
  2. Red Dot Design Museum 
  3. Watercolour painting demonstration

1. Artist talk – Nguan

I have been a fan of Nguan’s Instagram photo style since a few years ago. Attending this artist talk allowed me to have a deeper insight into his thinking process. Before attending the talk, I had thought that he used filters in post-processing digital photos. However, he revealed that all photos were not post-processed at all – besides the square crop – but only overexposed 3-5 stops on his film camera. This revelation made me even more impressed with his photography style.

2. Red Dot Design Museum

It was interesting to see various wearable designs as well as household appliances transformed with technological advancements

3. Watercolour painting demonstration

The practitioner explained how her current research of how the eye perceives colour will be materialised as a painting. She demonstrated using acrylic gouache as her medium. Although she is trained to look at colours and its values by eye, she still uses her phone, to desaturate a photo taken of the colours she’s comparing, to double check the values of each colour.

Field Trip (Painting Demonstration with local artist Goh Huiying) – Organised by Boo Shangyou

I organised a field trip to NTU’s School Of Art, Design and Media on the 31st of October where we observed award-winning watercolour artist Goh Huiying work on her new acrylic gouache painting for an upcoming art exhibition.

Field Trip Attendees:
1. Boo Shangyou (Organiser)
2. Low Jia Yi
3. Ang Xin Yee
4. Allison Kapps
5. Eugene Tan

The purpose of Huiying’s latest art piece was to experiment how colours with the same luminance values but different hues could still create contrast (and an optical illusion shimmering effect in some cases when colours on the opposite ends of the colour spectrum are used).

We got to observe the early stages of her painting process, as she explained to us the ideas and concepts behind her painting and proceeded to draw sketches of the actual painting.

Here is how her amazing painting turned out in the end:

If you’d like to check it out (along with many other amazing paintings), it will be on exhibition until 30th November here:

On a side note, here are another 3 interesting field trips that I attended:
– A Craftsman Journey – DIY Insect Repellant and Moisturiser
– Body Paint Camouflage Artist Emma Hack
– Gem Jamming Session on Traditional Jewellery Manufacturing Techniques


Field Trips – Charmaine Goh

Field Trip 1: DNA SEQUENCING

On September 14th, a few of us had a chance to visit Dr. Philip Johns from Yale-NUS at his workplace. He introduced the concept of DNA sequencing to us which I thought was something really fresh and cool as I had zero experience or knowledge of DNA sequencing prior to this. He showed h=us the various tools needed for him to do his work, which includes tools such as a pipettor, PCR machine, his portable MinION DNA sequencer. He also raised his concern about the potential risk of contamination every time he bring his work outdoors.

Dr Phillips John explaining the use of the pipette in his profession
MinION – portable DNA Sequencer

Field Trip 2 – A CRAFTSMAN JOURNEY: FROM DREAM TO REALITY 

For my second field trip, I attended the insect repellant and moisturiser making workshop conducted by Theodore, the founder of Theo10. It was probably my favourite field trip as the entire workshop was so hands-on! I previously documented the field trip as one of my practitioner. Please find the details of my documentation for the field trip below: http://www.wearablestudio.org/2018/10/08/exploring-practitioners-2-moisturizer-insect-repellent-charmaine-goh/?preview_id=2059&preview_nonce=11224308cc&preview=true 

Field Trip 3: RED DOT DESIGN MUSEUM

For my last field trip, I visited The Red Dot Design Museum’s permanent exhibition, “A Preview of the Future – Red Dot Award: Design Concept” with the rest of the classmates. The exhibition showcased many different award-winning design concepts which was definitely an eye-opener. Particular for me and my groupmate, Stephanie, this particular exhibition really gave us inspirations in the design of our prototype. 

GROUP PHOTO!
Wearable bag infused with the design of a vest. I’m amazed at how this design can useful and yet look aesthetically pleasing at the same time!
This particular design caught my attention sue to its quirky outlook. It also highlighted the increasing need for privacy in today’s world. 

Field Trips – Jo-Ann Ng

Just a brief summary of the field trips I attended:

  1. Nguan talk at SIPF:
    Organised this field trip with Kaitlyn;
    More info at the post here.
  2. DNA Sampling with Prof John Phillips:
    We visited prof’s lab and he briefed us about the various processes of DNA Sampling and showed us the machine and technology used at the lab. Most interestingly, he showed us his own portable studio that came in a big luggage looking box. (Pictures below)
  3. In-Process; a collection of the making of:
    This was an exhibition by graduating NAFA students and the content of the exhibition was really useful for inspiring and showing different ways to document – also general ideas that very interesting like different forms of architecture or product designs.
    (Pictures were not allowed) 

Ng Yixian Jo-Ann (A0142014B) 

Field Trips – Stephanie

Field trip 1: Red Dot Museum – Organiser

I organised a field trip to the Red Dot Museum (located near MBS) on September 25th. 

“The Red Dot Design Museum’s permanent exhibition, “A Preview of the Future – Red Dot Award: Design Concept” initiates guests into the mindset of good design. It showcases more than 345 award-winning design concepts.”

Hence I thought that it would be extremely relevant as we started laying the groundwork in conceptualising and designing our wearable studios. The trip was incredibly fruitful was it was inspiring to see how design can make everyday things into art and bring functionality into our lives. 

Safety helmet
Dress or a bag? 
This was so quirky – take naps on the go!
Interactive robot
Is it a lamp? Is it a book?
Spine of the lamp – Charmaine and I subsequently used this idea to support the structure of our prototype. 
Group picture! 

Field trip 2: Making moisturisers and insect repellents

Tools/materials needed:
– Small containers
– Glass rod
– Stainless steel pot
– Essential oils
– Moisturizer base

Theo started off the workshop by explaining to us where the ingredients for his products are sourced from, and some of the benefits of the different essential oils such as anti-oxidizing properties or those that can help you to sleep better!

Various essential oils on display

Theo started off the workshop by explaining to us where the ingredients for his products are sourced from, and some of the benefits of the different essential oils such as anti-oxidizing properties or those that can help you to sleep better!

The process first begins with customizing our moisturizer with a preferred scent using a combination of essential oils like ylang ylang, lavender, mint and rose. No more than 10 drops of essential oil should be used and they we were given a metal circular container to put them in.

Subsequently, Theo scooped a premade mix of jojoba, extra virgin coconut oil, aloe vera and glycerin which is the base for the moisturizer.

The moisturiser base is kept in the steel pot to ensure that it remains warm

Following that, we mixed the essential oils and the base with a glass rod while it was still warm to make sure that the essential oils would be fully blended together with the base before it solidifies.

Lastly, let we let the mixture cool and popped the lid on!  

Next up, Theo walked us through how his insect repellent is different and how it was concocted. It was his secret recipe + water + added essential oils to mask the smell. 

 

Workshop 3 – SG food rescue

SG Food Rescue saves veggies and fruits from being thrown away. These includes fruits and veggies that were not in the perfect conditions for sale, but still largely edible! We went to Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre on 4 October 2018 for our rescue mission.

After rescuing the vegetables, they are first distributed among Food Rescuers for their own consumption. Subsequently, the majority of the rescued fruits and vegetables are channelled to soup kitchens and charitable organisations that feed the needy.  

It was interesting to learn and understand that we might have been “Supermarket” washed by believing that only fruits and vegetables that are deemed to be perfect and free from flaws are edible. There is nothing wrong with a little flaw. 😉 

Field Trips – Rachel Teo

1. A CRAFTSMAN JOURNEY: FROM DREAM TO REALITY 

This was my favourite field trip out of the 4 that I attended. It was a hands-on workshop and we got to take away our DIY products home. 

The workshop was lead by Theodore, the founder of Theo10, to design and create our very own moisturizer and insect repellent, which are also the products that Theo10 is known for. He provided us with the necessary tools and taught us how to create our own concoctions. We experimented and went through many trial and errors to create our own unique scented products. Overall it was really fun, but we also learnt that the process is not easy. 

2. “A Preview of the Future – Red Dot Award: Design Concept”

The designs exhibited in this exhibition were simply out of this world! From furniture to technology, and also wearables, the exhibition showcases design concepts from designers/inventors all over the world – all of which whose concepts have been awarded an award. Many of the design concepts were very futuristic and innovative, which aims to solve a problem and or to make lives of users easier. I felt that it was very similar to what we are trying to achieve in our Design Fiction module. The exhibition was very inspiring for us in the creation of our own projects. 

This was my favourite display at the exhibition! It’s an interactive robot named Pudding! It reacts to your commands and questions as you speak to it. Pudding only converses in Mandarin though.

3. In-Process A collection of the making-of.

The main focus of this exhibition is on the design process of NAFA student’s creations, instead of the final product. The entire design process was heavily documented and laid out for visitors to see, but I do not deny that the final products themselves were all very creative and amazing. The exhibition allowed us to experience the designers’ thought process which inspired their creations which I thought that it was very cool! Also, it showed me that a lot of hard work goes into beautiful documentation for presentations. 

4. 1+1 DM Staff Show 2018

This exhibition showcases creations of Design and Media lecturers of NAFA. The two works that I enjoyed were two books that were on display:

I loved the idea of the creation of a storybook for blind children.
I simply enjoyed reading this piece! The message of the story was very meaningful.

3 Field Trips Summarized – Karin Lew

I went on 3 field trips throughout the semester and here is my summary of it! The first field trip was to the Red Dot Musuem, the second was Nguan’s Artist talk and the last was to a solo trip to a Makkoli Musuem. 

  1. Red Dot Musuem

This trip was enjoyable for me because the museum featured a lot of design innovations in everyday life and I was thoroughly intrigued!

Light installation that faded in and out in respond to Touch.
Really like this storage/coin box that features a seamless edge and muted pastel tones!
But my absolute favourite would be this fella robot here called Pudding. It looks adorable and is able to sentiently reply me in a conversation! Was shocked when i requested to take a photo and its face transformed into a camera screen!
I think we all enjoyed ourselves quite a bit. 

2. Nguan Artist talk

As part of the Singapore Photography Festival, Nguan, the photographer known for his trademark pastel, almost whimsical street photography of Singapore had his artist talk. Making use of festival pass from my Photojournalism mod, I went for the talk on a Saturday morning at National Design Centre.

I think what intrigued everyone was putting a face to Nguan. Unlike most creatives and artists who brand themselves through their work, Nguan remains to be very low-profile and humble. He later tells us that making himself recognisable especially in small Singapore, would make taking photos inconvenient for him and less naturalistic. 

Nguan mentions how his editing is intentionally pastel as he wanted to mimick a sort of childrens book but with darker undertones. His main influence is Steven Shaw. 
Some inspired Nguan-ified shots taken with Celine after the talk!

3. Makkoli Gallery

This was sort of grouped together with my practitioner exercise as well, I went to a makkoli gallery to find out more about the traditional Korean wine as well as try the workshop

The many different kinds pf packaging and flavors!
I thought this bottle design was pretty cool and intricate. 

We also got to try lots of makkoli in a different flavors > really an eye-opener

Overall, I’ve summarised the field trips and i had a great time in all 3 of them!

Workshop reflections— Shelton Chang

DIY moisturiser/insect repellent
Woke up way too early on a Saturday to attend the DIY workshop at the Visitor Centre at Somerset. The first part of the session we learnt what goes into a natural moisturiser. Essentially, it is an emollient-based (in this case we had shea butter) combined with a blend of essential oils. We had the chance to make our own and went on to customise our own scents. I picked my oils based on its skincare benefits rather than the scents so the end product wasn’t the best smelling. Some people prefer a good smelling cream but I personally don’t mind it.

The difficulty came when we started to make our own insect repellent. The shea butter base from earlier had a pretty neutral scent so we were merely just adding oils to it to make it smell better. But the base of the insect repellent was made from neem oil which wasn’t the most pleasant smelling. I really had difficulty trying to mask the “fishy” briny smell. Ended up adding way too much peppermint which kinda stung when it tried on my skin. Despite being 100% natural, not all ingredients are suitable for the skin as undiluted essential oils are particularly sensitising to the skin.

Overall, it was fun and we walked away with 2 of our own creations!

Red Dot Design Museum


We had the chance to tour the Red Dot Design Museum located near Marina Bay Sands. They had an exhibition on the recipients of the Red Dot Design Award, showcasing the works of many talented designers. The exhibition had different sections, ranging from wearable designs to speculative futuristic ideas. There were elaborate and extensive designs but I felt that the minimal designs stood out the most as some fo the items had minor modifications that you would never thought you’d need. For instance there was a hanger that looks like a normal clothes hanger that had a mini contraption that helps to grip spaghetti straps so that it doesn’t slip off, which is a legit problem. The simple solution is integrated seamlessly into the design, makes me appreciate more on such innovations. And that the designer had really understood the needs of consumers and their everyday problems. I think I had too much fun with PUBU, a voice activated robot that responds only in Chinese.

Artist Talk with Nguan


Oh Nguan, the mysterious photographer that everyone wanted to meet. Paid $13 for his talk but this fella should just stick to photography as he wasn’t the most engaging presenter. But he did share a compelling raison d’être, the reason behind his pastel editing and beautiful framing. He had came back after an extended stint in New York and realised that the streets of Singapore was not well loved by photographers and thus wanted to portray Singapore through a romantic lens. He shared some of his thought processes on creating an image and also some of his low-key voyeuristic street photography which got me thinking about ethics in street photography and who owns the right to the image. Is it the subject in the photo or is it the photographers. The proper way to go about is a talent release form to obtain consent. But the beauty in street photography is all about spontaneity and “in-the-moment”. Nguan shares that if the subject knows that he/she is being photographed, they will be more aware and start being “pose-y” which ruins the naturalistic aesthetic that he is going for.

The biggest takeaway would be putting a face to Nguan, which is surprising because we are in the generation where creators are putting their faces to their portfolio as a way to brand themselves. But Nguan lets his photos tell his story, or Singapore’s stories, which I felt really compelled to rethink about my approach when it comes to my work. Thanks to him, I rediscovered that quality work will always shine through amid the clutter and distractions.