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GBK: TIME & AGAIN 2023

GOH BENG KWAN: TIME & AGAIN is an exhibition presented by Straits Gallery with Mr. Goh Beng Kwan’s artworks from a private collection. The exhibition celebrates the 1989 Cultural Medallion awardee’s resilience and strength as a pioneering Southeast Asian modern artist, showcasing over 50 works from the 1960s to the present that demonstrate his aptitude for colours and composition, highlighting the versatility and consistency in his art practice that alludes to the spirit of the time in which they were created.

HK was commissioned to design the exhibition’s visual identity and its applications across various mediums.

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Set in the P22 Mackinac Pro typeface, the monochromatic identity is made up of two groups of uppercase letters in roman and italic type. A modified colon with a paint dot mark at the bottom was added to the roman letters, while a modified ampersand mark with a brush stroke mark was added as a binder to the italic letters arranged in a clockwork manner. The subtle embellishments on different typography styles reflect Mr. Goh's versatility as an artist working in multiple mediums without being visually overwhelming.

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For applications in digital media like electronic direct mail and social media, a visual system was developed to allow Mr. Goh’s oeuvre to take centre stage.

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Monochromatic visuals were created with English and Mandarin exhibition descriptions for The Straits Times and LianHeZaoBao newsprint adverts respectively.

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Postcards featuring selected Mr. Goh’s artworks were created as exhibition merchandise.

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A tri-fold pamphlet with six panels was designed to only reveal Mr. Goh's works and the exhibition colour graphics in CMYK, based on the four prominent timelines of Mr. Goh’s art career, when unfolded. Each timeline was paired with a unique colour and brush stroke mark on the pamphlet.

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The four timelines, "New Era 2020 -", "Poetic Landscapes 2010 - 2019", "STPI Residency 2006" and "Study 1960s" were used to categorise the exhibited artworks and were printed as vinyl stickers in CMYK to match the exhibition pamphlet. Transparent artwork labels were also created for each artwork.

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To initiate the exhibition's opening, Mr. Goh was invited to paint on the main exhibition graphic sans the original brush stroke mark.

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ULAM 2022

HK was commissioned to conceptualise the identity for ULAM. ULAM is a new startup that seeks to improve the biodiversity of native edible plants via Web3. The word ulam refers to a traditional Malay salad with Ayurvedic qualities, produced from fresh leaves, vegetables or fruits which can be eaten raw or after soaking in hot water. One of the most common ingredients used in ulam is the herbaceous plant Ulam Raja (Cosmos caudatus Kunth), also known as “The King’s Salad”.

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On the left is the fruited head of the Ulam Raja with seeds, while on the right is the flower of the plant which serves as the main inspiration for the pictorial mark.

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The primary pictorial mark is a pixelated floral motif of the Ulam Raja, combined with a customised pixelated typeface to form the combination mark. The logo’s colour palette was inspired by the plant’s natural colour and simplified into five main colour elements.

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Application of the logo was in full bloom on A6 paper-sized postcards given out during the Singapore Food Festival 2022.

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To attract potential interns, an animated graphic was created for ULAM's social media post. ULAM's visual language helped kickstart its mission and served as a visual guideline for one of its main initiatives, the SG SEED EXCHANGE.

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SG SEED EXCHANGE 2022

SINGAPORE (SG) SEED EXCHANGE is an initiative by ULAM that aims to bring edible plant seed enthusiasts together via a digital seed exchange platform and physical outreach programmes. The initiative’s identity was developed with an animated visual language in mind to appeal to a wider demographic. It sprouted a logo and supporting graphics, which were used on both digital and print mediums.

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The logomark consists of various silhouettes of seeds and outlines of seed pods arranged in the form of a letter X to symbolise the exchange of seeds, whereas the logotype is set in the Roboto typeface. The overall logo is set in the same colour as ULAM’s colour palette.

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One of the key visuals developed was an animated pink banner inspired by LED stock tickers. Instead of live streaming stock exchange data, it displays the latest information about the seed exchange and its upcoming events.

Another key visual depicts seeds entering and exiting a membrane-like grid, illustrating how seeds would be traded digitally on the platform.

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Homepage of SG SEED EXCHANGE viewed on desktop and mobile. The digital platform is designed to be a classified website that lists only seeds for exchange. Users, also known as "seeders", can create an account to list or request seeds from any geographical location. Successful seed exchanges will be at the discretion of connected seeders.