Stories from Our Wardrobe
Stories from our Wardrobe is an action research project that uses stories and zine-making practices to build empathy and trust amongst students to enable collaboration and develop 21st century competencies.
Across a 14 week x 3 hr sessions, students were tasked to each create a zine about a single item from their wardrobe and come together to produce a collective publication. The project culminated into an one night only exhibition at Second Story @ Thryft, Peace Centre, where students shared and circulated their zines about their stories to a new audience.
Stories from our Wardrobe is an action research project that uses stories and zine-making practices to build empathy and trust amongst students to enable collaboration and develop 21st century competencies.
Across a 14 week x 3 hr sessions, students were tasked to each create a zine about a single item from their wardrobe and come together to produce a collective publication. The project culminated into an one night only exhibition at Second Story @ Thryft, Peace Centre, where students shared and circulated their zines about their stories to a new audience.
Research, Pedagogy
2023-2024
TO THE POWER OF
Adawia Bte Azman
Elmira Binte Mohammad Hizam
Fatimah Binte Abdul Razak
Nur Insyirah Binte Mohamad Aedey
Nurul Nabilah
Vu Thi Ha Phuong
Rahmat Bin Adnan, He Mengxue
Du Jingqi
Katherine Lim Balzomo Student Participants
Published in
Fashion Studies Journal: Southeast Asia Issue.
Read it here.
Presented at
19th International Conference on Design Principles and Practices: Thinking, Learning, Doing - Plural Ways of Design.
Abstract here.
Upcoming
27th IFFTI: Forming Future at London College of Fashion
2023-2024
TO THE POWER OF
Adawia Bte Azman
Elmira Binte Mohammad Hizam
Fatimah Binte Abdul Razak
Nur Insyirah Binte Mohamad Aedey
Nurul Nabilah
Vu Thi Ha Phuong
Rahmat Bin Adnan, He Mengxue
Du Jingqi
Katherine Lim Balzomo Student Participants
Published in
Fashion Studies Journal: Southeast Asia Issue.
Read it here.
Presented at
19th International Conference on Design Principles and Practices: Thinking, Learning, Doing - Plural Ways of Design.
Abstract here.
Upcoming
27th IFFTI: Forming Future at London College of Fashion
Don’t Mind If
As a creative that work fluidly in and out of Communication Design and Visual Arts, I found it incredibly difficult to find data about this industry. Unlike the arts industry, there was little support for this sector.
Out of curiosity and frustration, I co-founded the local research initiative, Don’t Mind If, and started a survey cheekily named “Don’t Mind If I Ask”, hoping to shed some light on the climate of Singapore’s Communication Design Industry and Community.
As a creative that work fluidly in and out of Communication Design and Visual Arts, I found it incredibly difficult to find data about this industry. Unlike the arts industry, there was little support for this sector.
Out of curiosity and frustration, I co-founded the local research initiative, Don’t Mind If, and started a survey cheekily named “Don’t Mind If I Ask”, hoping to shed some light on the climate of Singapore’s Communication Design Industry and Community.
Between 2019-2023, I volunteered to gather, analyse and synthesise 506 responses from Singapore’s communications design industry alongside my co-founder Ryan Tan.
A large part of the work is also sythesising the data into a format that was easy to refer to. This was done with the help of local design studio, OuterEdit.
Eventually, the data culminated into a 206-page publication containing illustrated data, insights and observations. It details the responses of students, fresh graduates, freelancers, and employees to business owners who work within the industry. Working closely with the community to accurately reflect its aspirations and anxieties, it also includes 15 opinion pieces by thought leaders and practitioners such as Justin Zhuang, Vanessa Ban, Adib Jalal, Danielle Ng and DesignSingapore Council.
500 copies were produced and have been distributed to buyers, collaborators, industry leaders and policy makers in & out of the graphic design industry.
Photographed by The Gentle Studio for OuterEdit.
A large part of the work is also sythesising the data into a format that was easy to refer to. This was done with the help of local design studio, OuterEdit.
Eventually, the data culminated into a 206-page publication containing illustrated data, insights and observations. It details the responses of students, fresh graduates, freelancers, and employees to business owners who work within the industry. Working closely with the community to accurately reflect its aspirations and anxieties, it also includes 15 opinion pieces by thought leaders and practitioners such as Justin Zhuang, Vanessa Ban, Adib Jalal, Danielle Ng and DesignSingapore Council.
500 copies were produced and have been distributed to buyers, collaborators, industry leaders and policy makers in & out of the graphic design industry.
Photographed by The Gentle Studio for OuterEdit.
“The survey’s personal and introspective approach can perhaps be seen as an act of “self-care”, a means for designers to look after one another in the community. The results are certainly not representative, but it does represent a lived reality and a common space for more discussions, debates and initiatives about the profession. As earlier initiatives by other designers have shown, the worth of a profession is not solely determined by who it serves. Those who choose graphic design as their calling are just as important in shaping its values and future too.”
Justin Zhuang
Design Writer
As part of Don’t Mind If commitment to engaging the community, I worked closely with DesignSingapore Council to organise Alter-Native, a panel discussion on the future of our ever-evolving communication design industry. Moderated by Sean Kelvin Khoo, the programme leader at Temasek Polytechnic, Diploma for Communication Design, the panel included speakers of different backgrounds, from UX designers, architecture branding, publication design and experiential design, as an alternative way to imagine a shared future.
It was also great to share our process with students at NAFA Degree in Design Practice and at Library@Orchard’s Your Design Space Event.
At the moment, I am also excited to be working on a series of articles alongside Stella from Tender Deeds to document and share the creative process and lives of those who labour within this industry.
Follow us on the journey here.
Follow us on the journey here.
Of Zines and Bharatanatyam
A5, 32 pages, Risograph printing, Saddle stitched, Softcover, 2024
How can zine-making and bharatanatyam practices inform and inspire each other? This publication documents a work-in-progress practice research by Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara and Pixie Tan. They explore the intersections of zine-making and bharatanatyam to generate and archive new modes of storytelling that transcend conventional boundaries.
A5, 32 pages, Risograph printing, Saddle stitched, Softcover, 2024
How can zine-making and bharatanatyam practices inform and inspire each other? This publication documents a work-in-progress practice research by Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara and Pixie Tan. They explore the intersections of zine-making and bharatanatyam to generate and archive new modes of storytelling that transcend conventional boundaries.
Research, Pedagogy
2024-ongoing
TO THE POWER OF
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara Collaborator
Presented at
CUMULUS Monterrey 2024
Available to purchase at
Good Press
2024-ongoing
TO THE POWER OF
Dr Nidya Shanthini Manokara Collaborator
Presented at
CUMULUS Monterrey 2024
Available to purchase at
Good Press
On the Newsstand
105 x 150mm, 28 pages, Risograph printing, Saddle stitched, Softcover, 2023
What makes a magazine cover stand out? And how does a quick sketch capture its essence? On the Newsstand is the first issue of the (as seen) series exploring the world through the eyes of design students. In this issue, discover the magazines that were "eye-catching" on the newsstands of Singapore in August 2023.
105 x 150mm, 28 pages, Risograph printing, Saddle stitched, Softcover, 2023
What makes a magazine cover stand out? And how does a quick sketch capture its essence? On the Newsstand is the first issue of the (as seen) series exploring the world through the eyes of design students. In this issue, discover the magazines that were "eye-catching" on the newsstands of Singapore in August 2023.
Zine, Pedagogy
2024-ongoing
TO THE POWER OF
Adawia Bte Azman
He Mengxue
Nur Insyirah Binte Mohamad Aedey
Katherine Lim Balzomo
Rahmat Bin Adnan
Shen Zihui
Vu Thi Ha Phuong
Zhou Siyan Student Participants
Available to purchase at
Good Press
2024-ongoing
TO THE POWER OF
Adawia Bte Azman
He Mengxue
Nur Insyirah Binte Mohamad Aedey
Katherine Lim Balzomo
Rahmat Bin Adnan
Shen Zihui
Vu Thi Ha Phuong
Zhou Siyan Student Participants
Available to purchase at
Good Press
Annual Review
As part of Singapore Art Week 2024, long term collaborators Chong and I revisited the projects we have pursued together and apart since 2018.
Exhibition
2024
2024
