Essays
Texts and articles related to visual culture and design in Singapore
-
A Design of Its Time (2010)by Justin Zhuang for The Design Society Journal No. 00
A survey of the publication design of Singapore’s leading newspaper, The Straits Times, from 1959 – 2009.
-
A Vision Realised (2013)by Justin Zhuang for The Design Society Journal No. 06
How the 20/20 design exhibition series presented Singapore design to the world.
-
Becoming Modern by Design (2021)by by Justin Zhuang for BiblioAsia (Jan–Mar 2021)
A lookback at Singapore’s first formal school for design, the now-defunct Baharuddin Vocational Institute.
-
Cartoons and Woodblock Prints about Chinese Education in Singapore, 1955–1961 (2007)by Lim Cheng Tju for 南大图像：历史河流中的省视 (Imageries of Nanyang University: Reflections on the River of History)
-
Defusing the “Big Bomb”: Modernisation and the Streamlining of Multilingual Singapore (2020)by Justin Zhuang for the Bangkok Art Book Fair Co-op
An essay on the streamlining of multilingual signage in Singapore through the use of modern design.
-
‘Dignifying Labour’: The History of Early Vocational Education in Indonesia and Singapore (2018)by Mitha Budhyarto and Vikas Kailankajue for Back to the Future [icdhs 10th+1 Conference] Proceedings Book
The earliest roots of vocational education (trade and craft institutions) in Indonesia and Singapore can be located in their colonial pasts as the Dutch East Indies and British Malaya respectively. In tracing the history of design education, an understanding of early vocational education and its legacies can be enriched by a comparative reading of the former Dutch and British territories.
-
East and West: Graphic Design in Singapore Todayby Justin Zhuang for Design Observer
An excerpt from INDEPENDENCE on Singapore’s contemporary design scene.
-
Enter the Dragon: Look Back to the Future of Singapore Design (2014)by Justin Zhuang for Design Observer
Examining the trend of using heritage as the new muse for Singapore design.
-
From International to National: A Singapore Design Journey (2020)by Justin Zhuang for Design Anthology, Asia Edition, Issue 26
Singapore’s journey to becoming a design-led nation is inextricably linked to its history of visual communication
-
Got Singapore Design (2012)by Justin Zhuang for The Design Society Journal No. 05
Is “Singapore design” a question of form, process of narratives? A survey of the emergence of a new generation of Singapore souvenirs.
-
Lest We Forget: The importance of history in Singapore and Malaysia Comics (2009)by Lim Cheng Tju / International Manga Researh Center
A historical background of editorial comics in Singapore.
-
Looking at the Design Society Journal: Attempts of Design Authorship in Singapore, 2009–2013 (2016)by Gideon Kong in Conference Proceedings of 10th Conference of the International Committee for Design History & Design Studies
A study of The Design Society Journal, published by Singapore graphic design organisation The Design Society.
-
Political Cartoons in Singapore: Misnomer or Redefinition Necessary? (2000)by Lim Cheng Tju for Journal of Popular Culture Vol 34, No. 1
-
Powering the Art of Design (2013)by Justin Zhuang for The Design Society Journal No. 07
Survey on the ephemera design for Singapore’s independent art centre, The Substation
-
Rise of Modernism in Singapore Photography, 1950s to 1980s: Aesthetic negotiation under an ethnic and national identity prism (2012)by Kong Yen Lin
This thesis traces the development of modern photography in Singapore alongside the crucial decades of socio-political and economic growth of the nation ever since attaining self-governance in 1959 till the 1980s.
-
Rotis Revolution in My Head (2004)by Karen Huang
An investigation of the choice of Rotis for Singapore’s street signage.
-
See this City's Voice (2009)by Justin Zhuang for Singapore Architect #251
An essay about the typefaces one sees in the city of Singapore.
-
Sign Language: Singapore’s Graphic Vernacular in Jalan Besar (2019)by Vikas Kailankaje
Retracing Singapore’s industrial past through the traditional shop signs that still line the footways of the Jalan Besar area. Originally published in By Design: SINGAPORE (2019).
-
Singapore Cartoons in the Anti-Comics Movement of the 1950s and 1960s (2018)by Lim Cheng Tju for Comic Studies Here and Now
-
Singapore Political Cartooning (1997)by Lim Cheng Tju for Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science Vol 25, No. 1
The lack of research on the history of political cartoons in Singapore and the kind of tradition it has evolved is what prompted this thesis to perform its rudimentary search through 36 years of The Straits Times (1959-1995) in a basic attempt to fill in some of the gaps.
-
Stamping History (2018)by Justin Zhuang for BiblioAsia Januar-March 2018
Looking back at how the establishment of the Stamp Advisory Committee in 1968 changed the face of Singapore stamps.
-
Tong Meng Hui, Visual Self-Representation of the Chinese and the Birth of Chinese Cartoons in Early Twentieth Century Singapore (2007)by Lim Cheng Tju for Tangent Vol. 6, No. 2
-
The Rise of Style: Singapore Architecture and Media (2006)by Tan Kok Meng for Quarterly Literary Review Singapore
"Abstraction Machine" needs to awaken to the concept of architecture as culture
-
The Zouk Flyer Chronicles (2014)by Dawn Lim for The Design Society Journal "Anew"
A survey of ephemera designed for discotheque Zouk.
-
Visualising Local Identities: Post-war Graphic Design in Singapore (2003)by Leong Koon Chan for 6th Asian Design International Conference, vol. 1
-
Visualizing Multi-Racialism in Singapore: Graphic Design as a Tool for Ideology and Policy in Nation Building (2011)by Leong Koon Chan in Design Issues Vol. 27, No. 1
Design Issues, vol. 27, pp. 63 - 69
-
Where to next? (2010)by Justin Zhuang for The Design Society Journal No. 01
The evolution of Singapore’s public transport information system from the 1970s till today.
-
Vote for Me! (2011)by Justin Zhuang for The Design Society Journal No. 03
A survey of the ephemera produced by Singapore’s political parties for the General elections.