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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.

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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

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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.

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Small Design Decision—Shelton Chang

Ender’s Game (2003)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=003QxSocTLE

The GUI that we see from the movie that range from the simple design of door latch actuators to the massively complex setting of battle simulations was designed by Ash Throp who was the Lead Motion Graphics Designer. It had a very minimal yet condensed feel to it which helped in the final battle scene. Even though they were assumably full of data, it kept the hull of the ship pretty neat and tidy, which would help Enders to assimilate what was going on while having the big picture of the final battle. The fluid motion of the zoom-ins and the ability to have a cross section view of the battleship fighting through the swarm of Buggers gamifies the battle, which adds to the moral dilemma which was expressed in the book originally by the author.

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Share your world—Shelton Chang

Storyworld
Linda is a makeup artist is facing a huge crisis.

It’s 2025 and the threat of global warming is more real than ever. Singapore has recently passed a law that requires all materials to be recycled and reused. No one is allowed to produce more than a kg of trash.

Revised Storyworld
It’s 1 August 2025, five years after EOD, or Earth Overshoot Day. The scientists had warned us in 2018 that Earth close to reaching an ecological debt, whereby there’s a deficit in natural resources caused by the
population’s overconsumption. And of course, nobody believed it. Even Trump himself said that global warming is a “bogus”, a ruse conjured by scientists to request for more funds for their research. Well, little did he know that all the findings reported were true: we were indeed living on the last few dregs of resources. Words says that as soon as the electricity at the White House went down, the president immediately came to an absurd decision that it’s time to go green albeit too late.

In Singapore, we are glad to have been consistently managing our resources so our EOD has been extended, with a price of course. A law that restricts our waste production to a single kilogram a year, to allow our landfills to have time to decompose into the land. We’ve switched over to electric powered-everything. How do we manage to do so you may ask. Spin classes. Those bike that people pay horrendous amounts for? They generate enough to power the entire nation.

Me? I’m Linda. Just an average makeup artist trying to make a living, while trying to not flout the rules. Law by law as the ‘Poreans calls it. NEA deemed my MAC cosmetic caboodle “too environmentally unfriendly”, reasons unknown. And now I have to make something out of thin air to carry all my equipment around. Maybe YouTube might have some DIY videos back in the days. Before EOD.

(Sigh)

Welcome to 2025.

Poster design

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World building— Shelton Chang

toryworld (Inspired loosely by Fallout): 200 years after the nuclear war between China and USA, the dust has settled, but the Earth glows in an eerie tinge of green, perhaps from the radiation. Most of the population were wiped from extinction the moment the bombs were dropped. Those who survive either mutated into Mutants, an orcish being, with superhuman strength that feeds on human flesh or Ghouls, that lost their minds and succumb to the radiation. But however, there are still people, or vault dwellers, that were privileged upper-class citizens who had the power and money to get themselves into nuclear-proof bunkers known as vaults, built by Vault-Tec, a giant tech conglomerate in the US. Vault-Tec was commissioned by the United States of America to conduct various tests in their vaults, with cruel agendas ranging from nurturing a breed of superhuman soldiers from a community of test subjects to understanding how radiation affects living subjects.

Genre: Dystopian, Sci-Fi

Story: The story follows a pre-War veteran who was cryogenically frozen after the bomb dropped for 200 years. His wife, and baby son had gotten themselves a slot at Vault 101 in the small town of Sanctuary. However halfway through the cryogenic sleep, they were woken up briefly, only to witness his son stolen from him and his wife shot by a mysterious mercenary through the glass of the cyro chamber he was sleeping in, before going back to slumber as the mysterious stranger walks away with his son. The next time he wakes up, he finds himself in the vault 200 years later. With everyone dead and his child’s status unknown, he sets foot out into the wastelands in search of his missing child and a score to settle.

Method: Through a first-person role playing VR simulation.

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Exploring practitioners 1 and 2—Ann Marie and Rose Marie Yang: Shelton Chang

Being in the fashion media industry, I’ve always been on sets of shoots with photographers, hair and makeup artists. But I’ve always been busy assisting shoots, from steaming clothes to dressing models that I’ve never really taken the time to observe what goes into capturing an image.

I’ve known the Yang sisters (@challecreatives on Instagram) previously from my gigs and they were so incredibly lovely and talented with their craft that they didn’t hesitate when I asked if I could tag along to observe what they do for a living. Ann Marie does the makeup for the models while Rose Marie photographs, which is probably the dream sister team that anyone would want to have.

The shoot began at 2 pm, at Gardens by the Bay, which I have never stepped foot on. It was an outdoor shoot and boy the weather was not the most kind to us. Ann started applying makeup for the model for the first hour at the outdoor area of Macs.

That’s when I realised that it had never occurred to me how do makeup artists do their jobs in a non-studio setting where there is a proper workstation/ dressing table for them to layout their kit. Even if there was a proper station, the tables will soon be overspilling with products and tools as they start pulling out items left and right.

Ann Marie mentioned that one biggest concern was hygiene during shoots. Due to the job nature that requires a lot of skin contact and hands etc, she needs to make sure that her storage, her tools, and her products must be sanitary to prevent cross-contamination with different models. She says that she prefers using samples sizes so that she could dispose of them after she is done with the shoot. 

After that, we finally help the model change into her clothes. We had a total of 5 outfits to shoot, but it started pouring out of the sudden and we had to make do and shoot indoors. Weather also played a big part as the lighting and sky changes with the weather and could be really frustrating for a photographer who is trying to churn out beautiful pictures.

The worksite as mentioned is extremely flexible for the sisters. Anywhere could be their studio unless they are in shooting in an indoor studio. 

Tools of the trade

Rose: Camera, lenses, reflectors, batteries, Manfrotto tripod, flash, memory cards and more.

Ann: Makeup storage, brushes, palettes, bottles, q-tips, wet wipes, tissues, makeup, tweezers and more.

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Documentation for Prototype VS Models – Shelton Chang

Creative practice: Makeup artistry

Tools used:

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Brushes (main tools to deposit pigments onto the face

Sponges: For blending and pressing

Disposable applicators: For hygiene,

Caboodle: For storage and travelling

Spatula: for scooping products and hygiene

Mixing palette: for mixing products 

Problems faced: During a busy shoot, an artist on job needs to be quick and fast— without compromising on hygiene, thus there is less room for mistakes and corrections. Usually, correction is done by using a makeup remover— often big and clunky and not as precise. Having an mistake correcting “eraser” that is close to you help save time as you don’t need to keep going back to your stash to find your remover.

A makeup apron

Another thing of issue would be the organisation of brushes. Usually they are splayed out on the desk in a brush roll, and are stuffed full of brushes. When things get hectic, it is difficult to find things in general. Hence, having a wearable mobile brush holder would give the artist more speed when she needs to switch up her packing brush to her blending brushes.

Idea 1: mistake correcting bracer


A wristguard that functions as a portable makeup remover + q-tip holder. The waterproof pouch attached holds enough liquid for an entire shoot and can be easily refilled.

Idea 2: A brush roll belt



Initially I wanted to make a brush belt and roll (see drawing) that enables you to wear it during a job and easily wraps up into a bundle for storage. But an artist can easily have over 20-50 brushes and it isn’t surprising to see them with multiple brush so. So why not a customisable belt instead?

The belt enables you to attach any brush roll on it so you could wear them on your waist. Basically a fanny pack for brushes. It could be adjusted so that the size of the belt fits your waist. While it may sound quite useless, I think the quick DIY could save artists money on buying multiple brush belts if they already have many brush rolls due to the customisability.

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Wearable Research — Shelton Chang

Cargo Pants

Vetements Cargo Pants worn by Badgalriri, Rihanna, the queen. 

Practice it works in
Used mainly in the military, sports, fishing. Any practice that requires you to keep and have access to handy objects quickly.

Its specific use
Part of the battle dress first worn by members of the British Armed Forces in 1938. The large pockets were designed for the British military to hold outfield essentials. US Paratroopers subsequently adopted the concept with even larger pockets to hold rations and extra ammunition.

Mobility
Pretty mobile considering that you have to wear pants. It’s just a bottom with many pockets.

Utility vs Fashionability
If Tim Gunn says cargo shorts are is not fashionable, it’s not. Never argue with the godfather of fashion. But cargo pants are making a come back in fashion so…

Carpenter jeans

Practice it works in
Carpentry and construction.

Its specific use
Made with tougher materials such as denim and canvas, the pants designed to withstand the wear and tear at the workplace. The loops and pockets enable easy access to the tools keeping their hands free. The hammer loop was designed on the left leg to hold the hammer but it often falls out or bangs around the leg. Wider and thicker belt loops allow for a wide work belt that holds other tools.

Mobility
Pants are pretty mobile. Unless you are carrying a ton of tools and gizmos that might hinder the way you walk.

Utility vs Fashionability
I would say both as you cannot deny the functionality of pockets. Workwear and 90s fashion are in this season so pieces with an updated and modern fit (see Calvin Klein) are so fetch.