The Singapore International Photography Festival is a worldwide biennial gathering of minds commonly pursuing the advancement and appreciation of photography. The 2nd SIPF prides itself as a platform for Southeast Asian photographers to showcase their works alongside their international counterparts.

The campaign identity stems from the idea of "putting together a show". The key visual uses a stack of prints much like what a curator might have whilst making a selection. The stack of photographs teases viewers with what they might see when they attend the festival. This direction is then extended to the invite card and the program booklet. Forthe booklet, the program listings and details were laid out to resemble post-it notes and pieces of notes overlaid on the images. Photography and camera related festival tee-shirts were also designed to be sold during the festival.

Completed at Asylum creative direction: Chris Lee / designer: Yong /
campaign photography: Hai Han

A campaign comissioned by the National Heritage Board to attract more youths to venture and cultivate a museum-going habit. The NHB wanted to update its image amongst the youth and hoped to change the way musuems are always perceived to be stale and boring. A goody bag filled with a notebook, pencils, buttons and 6 posters were designed as giveaways during youth-targeted events that the NHB organized. The campaign identity was a graphic interpretation of the words See Different and the each poster was inspired by the characteristics of each of the musuems and interpreted with a quirky modern twist.

Completed at Asylum creative direction: Chris Lee / designer: Yong

A heels specialist, Heatwave has a strong regional presence of over 35 outlets built steadily through a course of almost 20 years. As part of the continuous effort to update their brand, annually, a series of images are shot, adapted and distributed to all their outlets. Each series seeks to create inspiring imagery that is distinct from all their competitors.

Concept, styling & art direction: Yong / website: PettyCache / www.heatwaveshoes.com

Coccogelo prides itself on its inventive high quality gelato. To express this key message, five characters were created and sent on expeditions through wild and treacherous landscapes in search of inspirations for new flavours. Please visit the quirky website to learn more about this brand and for the full experience please make a trip down to Coccogelo.

Concept, design & art direction: Yong / illustration: MessyMsxi / website: (PettyCache) /
photography: Felix (Surround) / www.coccogelo.com

A restaurant with a conscience, Food For Thought is a socially conscious restaurant that operates around 5 key missions that involves spreading awareness and also actual participation / contribution. A strong and simple visual identity was designed for the restaurant to best convey their messages with.

Concept, design & art direction: Yong / photography: Felix (Surround)

Singapore's premier sun-kissed playground, Tanjong Beach Club (TBC) is an amaglam of restaurant, bar and an easy escape from the busy city. The identity centres itself around a "Life tastes better with Sea Salt and Margaritas" attitude. The logo is an adaptation of a found image featuring a man diving with little inhibitions. Graphic patterns inspired by Nautical signal flags were designed to support the mid-century influenced architecture.

Completed at Asylum creative direction: Chris Lee / designer: Yong

A twist on the traditional American Diner, OverEasy serves up unique dishes and boasts a contemporary interpretation of a Diner interior. The identity is influenced by traditional Dineresque graphics and language. OverEasy is translated to be somewhat like a trucker stop, highlighting it's air-conditioned premises, clean toilets and lovely staff. The pin-ups illustrations feature heavily tattooed characters to steer away from an otherwise safe wholesome connotation.

Completed at Asylum creative direction: Chris Lee / designer: Yong

Dedicated to the upper cut, The Prime Society, is at heart a grill, ribs restaurant and bar. The identity plays off the idea of an obessive group of meat connoisseurs forming a society pursuing the elusive Upper Cut.

Hiding in a design that seems severe and almost uncompromising, a subtle humour is applied through menus acting as certificates of dedication, cutlery envelopes, coasters and letterheads printed with almost impossible commandments, little jokes placed into the descriptions of placemats that seemingly explain important cuts/parts of a cow, pig, fish and an artichoke, and even murals that seem to narrate an ancient heritage. The Prime Society under scrutiny then actually reveals its true casual nature; a restaurant dedicated to serve delicious foodl and drinks in a warm, light-hearted environment.

Completed at Asylum creative direction: Chris Lee / designer: Yong

Composed of mainly black, Misomber Nuan's collections are reflections of emptiness and voids; the promise of happenings, emotions and a dream to touch others through his own expressions. The logo is a custom drawn type featuring an A with a lowered cross bar that forms a triangle, an abstract / empty shape that reflects his design direction. His namecards were made exceptionally small with a simple debossed logo to potray the quiet impressions that his collections bring.

For his lookbook, the cover was reverse mounted creating an exposed spine and the whole book was individually spraypainted black from sides to covers to inside covers creating a raw and textured finish unique to each of the 300 copies.

Main site: www.misombernuan.com

Edited BLACK Comme des Garçons and Asylum collaborated for the first time and launched a collection of limited edition tote bags and pin badges.

Inspired by the naive nature within every child, the design direction of the tote bags revovles around 3 tenets – Black Bird Singing, Black Star Shining and Black Tree Growing. While they always fall asleep trusting that there will be the promise of tomorrow, such is the spirit that the designs hope to achieve with the graphics. Each graphic is meant to lift the spirits while retaining the non-confornmist attitude that is signature to BLACK Comme des Garçons.

Completed at Asylum creative direction: Chris Lee / designer: Yong

A new retail podium on the lower floors of an iconic 17-storey office tower, TripleOne Somerset is situated near the Orchard Rd shopping strip and near the affluent residential district of Devonshire and Grange Road. It aims to provide new stores and services which are more suited to a discerning and well-traveled audience. Positioned to bring new shades of retail experience that is unique and surprising, the message was translated into book form by french folding every spread, with vibrant colours hidden and die-cut headlines that reveal the bursts of colours. Contemporary black and white images with bold typography sum up the modern and forward looking spirit of this new space.

Completed at Asylum design direction: Cara / designer: Yong

Consider it a world’s first: Chocolate bars offered in 100 different flavours. Conceptualized by a serious chocolate lover, this new brand and concept boutique-cum-cafe draws focus to chocolates - both in taste and packaging. The brand is serious on one side and playful on the other; packaging features polka dots for fruits, pixels for dried fruits, animal skins for the exotic series, fabric patterns for coffee and tea etc. All other collaterals plays off the obsessive nature chocolate can induce.

Completed at Asylum creative direction: Chris Lee / designer: Yong

An experiment in a display type. Inspired by the use of a Zebra Name Pen. The characteristic causual stroke of this pen and its multiple usage is very appealing. The type mimics the smooth, friendly strokes, into a slightly cursive, yet neat handwriting. Download here.