BUKIT BROWN

Nic has recently taken some great shots at Bukit Brown or "Brown's Hill". The 90 year old cemetery, believed to be the largest Chinese cemetery outside of China was named after a British merchant, George Henry Brown, who lived in the area in the 19th century. It hosts about 100,000 graves, many belonging to Singapore's pioneering immigrants and war heroes.

Bukit Brown facts:

- officially opened in 1922
- burials stopped in 1973
- buried here are: 
  - members of the tongmenhuialliance that supported Sun Yat-sen
  - pioneers such as Tan Kim Ching, a member of the royal court of Siam and the eldest    
    son of Tan Tock Seng, who built a hospital that still carries his name
  - war heroes such as Tay Koh Yat who formed a 20,000-strong self-defence force during WWII

Bukit Brown is almost like a museum, and retains a distinctive slice of a multi-ethnic country. Nic recommends a visit! 

LOVE ORIGAMI

There has been a lot of "type talk" in the studio this week. A perfect opportunity to showcase some of Jay's own typographic creations...

Jay created FOLDING HAPPINESS, an origami typeface, that represents her trait and personality. Inspired by children's toys and colorful objects around her she literally folded colored paper until she got the shape of a letterform and then photographed them to create a full alphabet.

Jay also celebrated the FISHERMAN'S FRIEND 150th anniversary by creating a typeface, logo, posters and brochures. Inspired by ships and stripes she used origami to appeal to both young and old generations., but at the same time expressing the values and history of the Fisherman's Friend brand.

To see more of Jay's work visit her personal website at http://jaysunwoo.com/

SINGAPORE MEMORY PROJECT

This week, after publishing Audrey's Gardens By The Bay post, we were asked on behalf of the National Library Board (NLB), if we would like to pledge our blog, View From 84, to the Singapore Memory Project as part of efforts to collect memories that are already manifested in existing online channels. 

The Singapore Memory Project (SMP) is a national initiative started in 2011 to collect, preserve and provide access to stories, moments and memories related to Singapore, so as to tell the Singapore story. Spearheaded by the National Library Board, the Singapore Memory Project aims to build a national collection of content in diverse formats (including print, audio and video), to preserve them in digital form, and make them available for discovery and research. These recollections will come from Singaporeans, organisations (such as us!) and groups. They aim to collect 5 million personal memories as well as a substantial number of published material by 2015.

By pledging our blog, we are affirming that every memory matters. Whether our posts are an account of your daily life, or an expression of your thoughts, the SMP hopes to find a home for our memories so that it can help build towards an understanding of Singapore. All these will culminate in the collection of 5 million stories, just in time for Singapore's 50th birthday in 2015. 

We will shortly receive a badge that we will be able to display on our blog homepage in recognition of our contributions.
 
You may find out more about this initiative at http://www.iremember.sg/

SHARE THE CREATIVITY

Our second monthly "Share The Creativity" session hosted by Ken, Juney and Yean took place Friday! A great summery of one of our latest projects and even more inspiration to get us thinking creatively. All accompanied by delicious chicken rice and curry puffs! Yummy! The next session will take place on February 1st and will be hosted by Jay, Victor and Bee Bee. We look forward to seeing and hearing what they have to share.

GARDENS BY THE BAY

This weekend Audrey visited the new Gardens By The Bay. A park spanning 101 hectares (250 acres) of reclaimed land which fully opened to the public at the end of 2012. It is an integral part of the Singapore Government's strategy to transform Singapore from a "Garden City" to a "City in a Garden".

Here are some of Audrey's photos...flowers from the Flower Dome, a key feature and the waterfall from the Cloud Forest. A must see for any visitor to Singapore.

For more information visit http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/home.html

FOR ALL YOU TYPOGRAPHY LOVERS

Nic follws French graphic designer and typographer, Muriel Paris, who has recently revealed shared the work of students in the third year of Graphic Arts ESAG-Penninghen. These posters are "a presentation functional, aesthetic and educational character of a great typographic history." There are the classics such as Futura, the Didot, Helvetica or the Gill Sans. See more here : http://etapes.com/16-affiches-typos-des-etudiants-de-penninghen

PRET-A-PORTEA

Jay recently visited The Real Food grocer at Killiney Road and found these lovely tea bags in disguise! Sold by a German company called Donkey Products there are many more in the range. Check them out here http://shop.donkey-products.com/en/berliner-runde-5-teebeutel

http://www.realfoodgrocer.com/

WISH WE WERE THERE!

Have you ever thought about what your favourite city is? If the H&M studio could fly to any city in the world this new year this is where you will find them...

NEW YORK TIMES FAVOURITE BOOK DESIGNS

Richard recently stumbled upon this website with New York Times favourite book designs of 2012:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/12/19/books/20favorite-book-covers.html

Here are a few of our favourites...what's yours?

TOP LEFT : DROP CAPS SERIES (PENGUIN) designed by Paul Buckley & Jessica Hische

TOP RIGHT : "BUILDING STORIES" BY CHRIS WARE (PANTHEON) Designed by Chris Ware

BOTTOM LEFT : "THE YELLOW WORLD" BY ALBERT ESPINOSA (PENGUIN) Designed by Jon Gray

BOTTOM RIGHT : "THE FLAME ALPHABET" BY BEN MARCUS (KNOPF) Designed by Peter Mendelsund

EXCITING TIMES AHEAD

Lots of excitement in the studio today about the party invites everyone received this morning ... watch this space for more details!