Singapore Art Week 2022
Opening eyes to new ways of seeing
PT was invited to conceptualise the identity for the Singapore Art Week (SAW) 2022. Presented by the National Arts Council in collaboration with the Singapore Tourism Board, SAW 2022 marked its tenth anniversary as a mainstay season opener in the local arts calendar with the biggest edition yet—10 days, 8 precincts and over 130 events, featuring new artists, transnational collaborations and virtual installations.
SAW’s central theme, Art Takes Over, was aimed at mass public appeal with a compelling approach to migrate art away from the conventional white cube setting and take over the city. For over a week, events transcended gallery venues and found their place in shophouses, industrial buildings, cinemas, retail spaces and even hawker centres.
With accessibility in mind, our focus was to craft a design language that would resonate with the population at large. How might one bring the arts to the masses without compromising its essence and sensibilities?
Our key inspiration was rooted in the literal context of the event’s abbreviated word, ‘SAW’. By contemplating ‘SAW’ beside its present verb form, ‘SEE’, this simple linguistic shift offered opportunities to express the main purpose of the season. To SEE, is an invitation for the public to immerse in new depths of experiencing art. Rather than viewing art on its surface, everyday observers can expand their gaze past its façade and see deeper into its underlying viewpoints.
The outcome was a set of 8 illustrated eyes on a backdrop of a vibrant palette, designed to be adapted across multiple mediums and scales. The stylised eyes were playfully created with varying nuances of marker and brushstrokes, each dedicated to a precinct to symbolise renewed perspectives wherever the arts went in the city. Our chosen typeface complemented this direction, adding subtle, almost hidden quirks that are noticeable only when one looks closer.
By fluidly evolving from a simple abbreviated from ‘SAW’ to the conceptual ‘SEE’, this visual translation itself dovetailed the long-term vision of the Singapore Art Week—to provoke one to explore beyond what meets the eye and see art for its deliberate layers of perspectives and meaning.