Miscellany Vol. 1 by Ryan Len

TABLE OF CONTENTS 05 06 07 08 09 10 12 — 33 34 — 37 38 — 49 50 — 107 108 — 125 126 — 127

Why We Fear Collaboration? The Detrimental Effects of Not Embracing Collaboration The Importance of Embracing Collaboration Defining Collaboration Methods to Encourage a Collaborative Culture Bibliography Creative Workshop Blood, Sweat, Tears Hundred Percent Handmade Transpire: The Exhibition Opening Night Version 2.0

MISCELLANY

PRINTED IN Singapore DESIGN BY Ryan Len PROJECT Transpire: Fostering a Collaborative Culture

‘We have become accustomed to the idea of winning through fierce competition’. — Dan Sanker

WHY WE FEAR COLLABORATION? Idea sharing is not a common sight one can find in the realms of the design industry, especially in the design institutions. Designers are often too guarded over their ideas because of fear of their ideas being stolen and social dilemmas. In a long run, the lack of idea sharing will bring about a decline in new and innovative ideas, that will bring down the value of the design industry. According to a survey conducted with 30 student designers, 52% of the participants felt that the lack of idea sharing exists due to competition in schools. Some felt that the societal notion of ‘kiasu-ism’ (afraid to lose mentality) of Singaporeans and tensions created in schools by peers fighting for

grades to become the top student, to be in the dean’s list, have all contributed to why designers are unwilling to share. Social dilemmas are also one of the main factors why designers are guarding heavily over their own ideas. When personal interests overlap collective interest, it usually leads to further competition and conflict. Not only do they fear that their ideas will be stolen by their peers and used for their own good, but they also have the perceived notion that their ideas are the best and thus not willing to share them openly with their peers.

DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF NOT EMBRACING COLLABORATION

No.1 COMPETITION AND TENSIONS In schools, although student designers may work on the same project brief throughout the year, many of them are not very open to the idea of sharing all their processes and concepts for brainstorming and critique session because of the fear that the other party may steal their ideas. Competition will continue to prevail if designers do not transcend from an individualistic society to a collaborative society, causing more tensions that stop designers from sharing, bringing down the value of the design industry by not having new and innovative ideas, and hinders designers’ growth. No.2 LACK OF NEW AND INNOVATIVE IDEAS The culture of not embracing collaboration and cooperation is not healthy for the future of the design industry as Steven Johnson mentioned, ‘a good idea is a network. It is not a singular thing but a swarm. The best place to get good ideas is when diverse people get together in groups’. Idea sharing through collaboration is important because by interacting and exchanging of ideas, new ideas are born. If designers are too guarded over their ideas, there will be a lack of original ideas as designers are constantly fearful of their ideas being stolen.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EMBRACING COLLABORATION

No.1 CREATIVE POTENTIAL Collaboration is important to the future of our society. Bringing together diverse pool of knowledge and shared problems has been part of the process of our artistic and scientific advances. It was also encouraged by Bruce Mau, who wrote The Incomplete Manifesto for Growth, stating that we should encourage more collaborations and idea sharing because â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potentialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. No.2 OVERCOMING LIMITATIONS Even though in some situations one can act unilaterally, we perhaps have to collaborate because of either limitations or the cost of acting unilaterally is too high. Embracing the idea of collaboration in the field of design is important as it leads to more growth in designers as well as the design industry.

Collaboration at Transpire is defined as the joining of knowledge or the act of participation/ interaction/reaction to achieve better designs in the process/outcome of the work. Collaboration does not traditionally have to be between humans only, but also with non-human entities like living things and inert matter as well.

Sharon Poggenpohl states that collaboration is poorly defined as it applies differently in different context.

METHODS TO ENCOURAGE A COLLABORATIVE CULTURE No.1 Collaborative design allows designers to generate new and innovative ideas through collaboration. Using the Procter & Gamble’s New Model for Innovation as a case study, a new line of Pringles chips was launched in 2004 with pictures and words printed on each chip. Back in 2002, they thought it was a really great idea to print pop culture images on the Pringles chips, but were unsure how it can be done. Traditionally, they would have spent a lot of money to invest on making it work. But they took a new approach to innovation, creating a brief and circulated it throughout their global network to find ready-made solutions instead of investing. They discovered that someone have invented an ink-jet method for printing edible images and this innovation helped the Pringles business to achieve double-digit growth over the past two years. No.2 Collaborative consumption will change the way people consume. This approach not only helps student designers save money on tools that they may only need for a project by not buying but sharing them, but will also promote an environmental friendly environment. Rachel Botsman mentioned that, ‘collaborative consumption isn’t a flimsy idea, or a short-term trend, but a powerful cultural and economic force reinventing not just what we consume, but how we consume as well’. No.3 Collaborative sharing also encourages idea sharing and interaction through collaboration to generate new and innovative ideas. Ideas cannot manifest as a single entity, only when ideas are shared with a group of diverse people will new ideas be born. TED is one such platform that promotes idea sharing and believe that the power of ideas can change attitudes, lives, and the world.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Botsman, R. (n.d.) Rachel Botsman: The case for collaborative consumption <http://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_ botsman_the_case_for_collaborative_ consumption.html> --Huston, L. (2006) Connect and Develop: Inside Procter & Gambleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Model for Innovation. <http://hbr.org/2006/03/connect-anddevelop-inside-procter-gambles-newmodel-for-innovation/ar/1> --Johnson, S. (2010) Where good ideas come from: the natural history of innovation.

Mau, B. (1998) Incomplete Manifesto for Growth. <http://www.brucemaudesign. com/4817/112450/work/incompletemanifesto-for-growth> --Poggenpohl, S. H. (2004) Practicing Collaboration In Design Visible Language, vol. 38(2) pp. 139-157. --Poggenpohl, S. H. (2009) Design integrations research and collaboration. Chicago: Intellect, the University of Chicago Press.

New York: Riverhead Books.

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Sanker, D. (2011) Collaborate the Art of We.

JUNKFOODNEWS. (2012) Procter & Gamble Introduces Pringles Prints. <http://junkfoodnews.net/wordpress/ 497/procter-gamble-introduces-pringlesprints.html>

Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. --TED. (n.d.) TED.

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<http://www.ted.com/pages/about>

Kollock, P. (1998) Social Dilemmas: The Anatomy of Cooperation.

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Annual Review of Sociology vol.24 pp. 183-210. --KS12 (2010) Delivered in Beta <http://vimeo.com/9290664> ---

Zer-Aviv, M. et al. (2010) Collaborative Futures: A Book About the Future of Collaboration. Netherlands: FLOSS Manuals. ---

CREATIVE WORKSHOP The unique system of barter trading for education. Words & Photography by Ryan Len

The Creative Workshop series is a ground up initiative started by Transpire to promote an idea sharing community in the design industry through barter trading for education. It seeks to encourage a community that shares ideas and knowledge with one another, increasing oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning curves and also pushing the design industry forward with more multidisciplinary designers to solve complex problems in the world. The idea of doing barter trading for education came about when I read an article online that talks about the rising cost of education. Coming from an average income family, I often question myself whether it was worth it to do a degree program because the cost of education is so high. I wished there were alternatives for students like me who wants to learn but could not fork out so much money to pay for education. That was when the idea of barter trading for education came. This Creative Workshop is also a form of initiative to help people overcome the problem of financial difficulties in affording education to learn and grow as well. Transpire collaborates constantly with student designers, creatives, and non-creatives who are interested in holding talks, activities, seminars, and workshops. If you do have something you want to share through a talk or workshop, feel free to drop me a mail!

For the first Creative Workshop, Stanley and I decided to conduct a silkscreen workshop as there have been high demands from peers to learn how to do it. We booked a studio and did a simple set up to teach participants the photo emulsion technique to silkscreen. The number of participants have been limited to 10 so that it is easier to manage and guide everyone individually through the silkscreen process. The response was good and spaces were filled up within an hour! It kickstarted with an introduction to the workshop series, and a history to silkscreen and its techniques. A live demonstration was shown by Stanley before we proceed to let participants have a try themselves. There were 3 stations â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Drawing, Exposing, and Screening. We split the group into 5 each to cut down on the waiting time for

each station. The first 5 learners would start drawing their artworks and the other 5 would start coating the emulsion and prepare it for exposing. They will then switch stations after an hour later. The fast learners got to expose their screens earlier and can start screening their designs on paper. Stanley and I built a made shift darkroom at the corner of the studio using grey boards and black cloth. After everyone got their screens exposed, we let them have fun and experiment with their screens! Some even brought their own tote bag to screen on. Overall, it was fun to meet and work with new people. I particularly enjoyed the look on the participantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; faces when they were amazed that their artwork was exposed on the screen. We all had fun throughout the workshop and I am glad everyone walked away with their very own silkscreen done!

The second workshop was held in conjunction with Transpire: The Exhibition. By doing so, it will ensure that there will be a steady stream of visitors to the exhibition daily. Ella signed up as a facilitator this time to teach some of the techniques that she used for her project, Destination: Play. She taught the participants techniques like Cloud Spraying, Gold Leafing, and Marbling. Ella decided to split it into two sessions as these techniques were very time consuming and hands on.

The workshop started with an introduction to the different techniques, before moving on to a live demonstration of the techniques that were being taught. The first session taught participants how to do Cloud Spraying and Gold Leafing. It was an eye opener for me too as it was the first time I am trying out these techniques. You can tell that the participants are having lots of fun just by the pictures!

The second session of the Creative Workshop was conducted on the next day. Ella taught the participants on Marbling. There were two different methods that Ella taught, the first was to use acrylic paint and starch, and the second was to use marbling inks. I learnt from Ella that you have more control of how you want the print to turn out using marbling ink, but you will have less control of how the ink flows when you use acrylic paint. I personally liked both methods as it each of them gave a very different feel and outcome.

Participants traded their items at the start of the workshop and were given the freedom to experiment and do what they want after that. The most experimental piece would be from Andre, one of the participants, who did it on his bicycle bell! Other participants like Roy and Jasmine also brought it to the next level by doing marbling on their phone cases. The last I heard, the ink did not stay for long. I hope they continue to experiment with the technique at home and figure out a way to do marbling on other materials besides paper!

BLOOD, SWEAT, TEARS Setting up for the show. Photography by Ryan Len

I could not have made it in time for the exhibition if you guys did not help me with the preparations. From the bottom of my heart, thank you very very much. You guys know who you are. (:

PREPARATIONS

No.1

No.2

Filling the holes on the panels with wall putty.

It took two full days to paint all the panels white.

No.3

No.4

In-house production going on! Punching and binding the catalogues.

Catalogues done and ready to be distributed!

PREPARATIONS

No.5

No.6

Finally getting the vinyls up! Looking good.

Setting the works up on the wall and panels.

No.7

No.8

Cleaning up the exhibition space.

Wala! All done and ready for the show!

HUNDRED PERCENT HANDMADE A visual compilation from prep to finish of the A2 double side silkscreen poster. Photography by Ryan Len

CUTTING THE WOOD TO MAKE INTO FRAMES.

USING A STAPLE GUN TO SECURE THE JOINTS.

STRETCHING THE SILK TIGHT WITH HELP FROM SOME FRIENDS.

DUCT TAPE TO HIDE THE UGLY EDGES AND ENSURE A SMOOTHER SURFACE FOR SILKSCREEN.

DRYING THE FRAME IN THE DRYING OVEN.

LAST CHECK BEFORE SENDING SCREEN TO EXPOSE.

COUNTING DOWN EAGERLY TO SEE THE EXPOSED SCREEN!

WASHING THE EXCESS EMULSION OFF TO REVEAL THE IMAGE.

CLAMPING THE SCREEN TO PREVENT MOVEMENT WHEN DOING SILKSCREEN.

LAYING THE PAINT ON THE SCREEN.

SCREENING IN PROGRESS.

THE FIRST PRINT IS OUT!

CAN’T GET ENOUGH? WATCH THE PROCESS VIDEO HERE! https://vimeo.com/63151790

TRANSPIRE: THE EXHIBITION Transpire seeks to advocate idea sharing through collaboration, aimed to transcend peer and social progression.

LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore 29 March â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 31 March 2013 Block H, Level 5, Room H503

COLLABORATION STARTS WITH FRIENDSHIP Words, Interview, & Transcript by Ryan Len

Starting a collaboration is never easy, especially when it comes to working with people you do not know personally. It is said that a friend in need is a friend in deed. It is easier to approach a friend to talk about starting a collaboration than with a stranger. Though many may not realize, but we undoubtedly approach our friends whenever we face a problem that we cannot resolve by ourselves. Even though in some situations we can act unilaterally, we perhaps have to collaborate because of either limitations or the cost of acting unilaterally is too high. Embracing the idea of collaboration in the field of design is very important as it increases designersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; learning curves and leads to better growth in the design industry. Friends are excellent people to approach for a collaboration when you start a new project. The chemistry you already share with your friends is a good indicator towards a successful collaboration!

The first project that I wanted to work on is an introductory video that educates people on what Transpire is all about. But at the back of my mind I knew I will face the problem of having no unique and suitable music for the video. I decided to look for a friend who is good at music to complete the video collaboratively, this would help me overcome the barrier of not knowing how to compose my very own piece. Since the theme for this project is â&#x20AC;&#x153;Collaboration Starts With Friendshipâ&#x20AC;?, it did not take me very long to find a suitable friend to work with. Scrolling through my list of friends in my contact list, I short listed a few friends whom I knew were into creating music and were good at it. Looking through the list of criteria I set for the collaboration â&#x20AC;&#x201D; someone who composes the suitable genre of music I am looking for; has music background; helpful, I zeroed down to Serene, who fitted all my criteria. I would say that the collaboration process was pretty straightforward. We sat down to discuss about the tune and tone of voice for the music, and she went on to work on the tune. During this collaboration process with Serene, she faced some difficulties in cleaning up the noise level she had in her music composition. Having some technical skills that I learnt back in my poly days, I helped her with the post production and taught her how to do it as well. I felt we both benefitted from this process. Once the tune was finalized, I animated the visuals based on the tune and roped Shafik in to help with the voice over of the video. This video would not have come to light if not for the help from them!

RYAN: What collaborative project did you work on and how was the process like? SERENE: I helped Transpire to create a ukelele tune for their introductory video. Basically the process was quite simple, I was given some time to come up with the tune, Ryan and I met up after that to record and produce the whole song. R: Was this collaboration beneficial for you? How? S: The collaboration was beneficial for me because there were some things that I learnt as well from Ryan. When we were recording our tune, we had some problem with the sound, so he did some tweaking, some Garageband stuff, and that was something that I learnt from him. It gave me this opportunity to create my own music, and I had alot of fun doing this. R: Can the project work without a collaboration? S: The whole project wouldn’t have worked if we didn’t collaborate because given our different strengths, coming together to help each other to create this video was very helpful for Transpire and myself.

R: Does collaboration encourage idea sharing that will push the design scene forward? S: The thing about collaboration is that it’s always been around right? We’re always doing it, but never explicitly say ‘Hey, let’s collaborate!’, or ‘Hey, let’s generate ideas together’. It naturally comes when we are having our coffee, or eating our fish soup, and then we start to talk about our different ideas and stuff. Collaboration can help push the design scene forward in the sense that when one person has a brilliant idea and the other has another brilliant idea, coming together will create an even better idea. So that’s how the design scene is being pushed forward through all these different collaborations. I guess the key to the perfect combination for creativity would be through to be able to know when to be alone and when to come together to create brilliant ideas. I guess that’s the best picture where you can enjoy solitude and collaboration at the same time. That’s how great ideas come about.

ENJOY THIS VIDEO WHILE READING THIS TRANSCRIPT https://vimeo.com/63899546

COLLABORATION IS ABOUT BREAKING BOUNDARIES Words, Interview, & Transcript by Ryan Len

Nur Hidayah* mentioned, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Working and designing with other disciplines will provide an opportunity to explore uncommon grounds.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Collaboration is important to the future of our society. By bringing together a diverse pool of knowledge and shared problems, it allows us to grow and prosper as a society. Breaking the boundaries of what design can be, mixing or collaborating design with other non-design fields allow us to venture into unexplored places and discover new avenues that can potentially lead us to creating new and innovative works.

*Dean for Faculty of Design, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore

Joel and I have been learning how to use a program called Processing under Andreas Schlegel for a few months. Programming was a getaway from our studio projects. It was refreshing and fun to learn new things together, and help each other understand programming better. In order to improve on our programming skills, we wanted to do something with the skills Andreas taught us in class. We were researching on what to do and chanced upon a video of a graffiti robot that automatically detects your vectors from the computer and sprays the design on the wall. It struck us to do an automatic printer that prints Instagram photos that have been tagged with the hash tag #transpiresg. We thought it would be pretty cool to have it as part of the exhibition for visitors to participate in this collaborative effort to help document my exhibition, and giving them something to take away from the exhibition at the same time. We started working on the program. This piece was one of the hardest work to do as we were both novices in programming. We faced alot of problems with the codes and only managed to rectify and make it work with minimal chances of failure one day before the show! We started doing the back end coding using IFTTT, but it gave us a lot of problems when Instagram server blocks our access to their API database. We decided to switch to PHP but it was a totally new thing for us as well. We had to resort to find people to teach us about PHP and learn it from scratch! It was a difficult process as PHP were quite difficult to fathom. My heart stopped when the program did not work out the way we want it to be. The PHP program did not execute an auto refresh function that would allow it to crawl for new images every one minute. It was until we approached Andreas that we finally managed to fix the codes. He told us that we had placed a line of codes at the wrong place, resulting it to not be able to crawl for images every minute as we wanted. This collaborative project gave us a perfect opportunity to apply what we have learnt in class about programming and also many new things like PHP and rectifying errors in coding. I honestly do not think I can pull off this work successfully if I were to do it alone without the help and support from Joel.

RYAN: What collaborative project did you work on and how was the process like? JOEL: We were both new to coding. We have no prior knowledge nor skill sets. Therefore, we were looking to improve our general understanding of coding through collaborative project. What we did for the project was to create a system that people could go to the exhibition, take photos using Instagram and send it to the printer to print on the spot, giving them something to take away. R: Was this collaboration beneficial for you? How? J: This collaboration was beneficial for me because it gave me an outlet for me to actually practice my processing and my programming language. R: Can the project work without a collaboration? J: Although I believe that this project can work without a collaboration, I think that by collaborating with someone, you are actually exposed to new ideas and different way of working.

R: Does collaboration encourage idea sharing that will push the design scene forward? J: Alot of people might not realize but weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re actually engaged in the process of collaboration everyday as designers because going to the internet to look for inspiration is a form of indirect collaboration. Looking at distinct work and being influenced by the peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work to me is indirectly collaborating with the designer/artist of the particular work. Therefore, I believe that both direct and indirect collaboration happens everyday for designers. I think that it is very important in driving the design industry forward.

ENJOY THIS VIDEO WHILE READING THIS TRANSCRIPT https://vimeo.com/64144944

COLLABORATION IS ABOUT THE COMBINATION OF DIFFERENT EXPERTISE Words, Interview, & Transcript by Ryan Len

As mentioned earlier in the previous section, collaborating or mixing design with other fields of discipline allows us to thread unexplored grounds and discover new solutions or insights that can help us in generating new and innovative works. Very often, we find ourselves stuck in situations where we face limitations in our knowledge and skills when solving a problem. Embracing collaboration helps in tackling these issues through combining our different expertise to overcome the limitations. The design industry has to transcend from being an individualistic society to become a communal society where collaboration plays an important role in solving the increasingly complex problems faced in this world. This would help to eliminate these limitations that individuals may face along the way to achieve better designs through the power of collaboration.

Jacky and I were having a chat over beer one day and as we were chatting, it made me realized how time have passed by so quickly with a blink of an eye. We were all growing up too fast, and soon I will have to change my status from a student to being a fresh graduate. I told him how I wish we could go back in time and re-live the past better than what we did. Jacky replied that he could only make the clock move in reverse. This sparked an unexpected collaboration to create a reflective piece about how we have been spending our time. The collaboration with Jacky was special and interesting because both of us did not expect that we could collaborate together on a work, especially when we came from different industries. Jacky did what he do best, tweaking the clock mechanisms to make it move in reverse motion, and I worked on the aesthetics of the clock. We started facing difficulties with the work when we had to find a suitable material for the clock face. I started using chipboard as I really liked the texture of it but it had a risk of not being able to print on it well. I tried silkscreen but it failed terribly due to the uneven surface. Next, I tried the ink transfer technique but it did not turn out well too. My last resort was to stick vinyl stickers, but the text was too fine and it warped during the printing process. In the end, I found a piece of plywood with nice grains lying around in the studio and decided to use that instead. I printed my text using silkscreen. The only problem we have now was attaching the clock mechanisms to the wood. The wood was too thick and I had difficulties attaching it. I had to work around the problem by cutting a groove in the plywood to make a section thin enough to fit the clock mechanism in. It was exciting for both of us to see how this unusual collaboration would turn out with the merger of two different fields of expertise. We were both quite happy with the final outcome and am glad that there is an interested buyer for the piece!

RYAN: What collaborative project did you work on and how was the process like? JACKY: Ryan and I were under a block, as we were talking, time flies by. Then Ryan said ‘How I wish time could go backwards’. I was like ‘It’s possible with a few tweaks’. The next day, Ryan went to get the clock and we worked on it. R: Was this collaboration beneficial for you? How? J: I find this project beneficial for me because I didn’t know Art and Engineering could collaborate together in such a way. I think it’s very special. R: Can the project work without a collaboration? J: Ryan has the concept but doesn’t have the skill, and I have the skill but doesn’t have the concept. So this collaboration will not work without the both of us working together.

R: Does collaboration encourage idea sharing that will push the design scene forward? J: Yes I think that collaboration can push the design field forward. I think that this collaboration with Ryan is a perfect example of how design and nondesign field can collaborate together.

ENJOY THIS VIDEO WHILE READING THIS TRANSCRIPT https://vimeo.com/63905647

COLLABORATION IS ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER ON COLLECTIVE INTEREST Words, Interview, & Transcript by Ryan Len

Collaboration in Transpire’s context is defined as the joining of knowledge or the act of participation/interaction/reaction to achieve better designs in the process/outcome of the work. Steven Johnson* mentioned, ‘a good idea is a network. It is not a singular thing but a swarm. The best place to get good ideas is when diverse people get together in groups’. Idea sharing through collaboration is important for us because through interaction and exchanging of ideas, new ideas are born. If designers are too guarded over their ideas, there will be a lack of original ideas as designers are constantly fearful of their ideas being stolen. Therefore, it is always good to collaborate on collective interest as the joining of minds usually brings about better ideas.

*Johnson, S. (2010) Where good ideas come from: the natural history of innovation. New York: Riverhead Books.

Ella approached me to ask if I was interested in working on a collaborative project with her as part of her final year project, Destination: Play. One of her works was to start a collaboration with someone she has never worked with before and learn new skills from each other. I agreed as I am always for collaboration and it was a win-win situation for both of us to work together on an artwork that would benefit both of our projects, killing two birds with one stone. She wanted to learn and improve on her craft skills from me as I was good at it. We worked on the theme of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Start A Collaborationâ&#x20AC;?, where we used paper craft to visualize ideas pouring out endlessly. Ella applied her drafting skills, where she made templates of how the paper crafts would look like when it was a 2D piece. I continued with the process by cutting and folding the pieces, making it into 3D paper crafts. The first version of the poster did not turn out as well as we visualized. The text was flimsy and warped. However, we had to submit it as it was due for our first assessments last year. During the second semester, we decided to rework on the text for the exhibition and the next assessments. we researched on various techniques to do it and decide to go with embroidery to complete the text instead of paper craft. This collaboration was definitely beneficial for both of us as we took away new knowledge and experience learnt from each other. Ella learnt how to craft better through me, and I learnt how drafting skills can be used when making paper craft, which makes it so much easier to visualize and cut the paper pieces. Given a chance, I would love to collaborate with Ella again to see what other interesting outcomes we can come up with!

RYAN: What collaborative project did you work on and how was the process like?

R: Can the project work without a collaboration?

ELLA: Ryan and I worked on one of my posters about starting a collaboration. This is part of my final year project, Destination: Play, which encourages designers to step out of their comfort zone.

E: Definitely the project cannot work on its own because it is a project about collaboration?

The process was interesting, frightful, and fun altogether. It was frightful because I’ve never worked with Ryan before, so I didn’t know what to expect. But as we progress on, it became very interesting because I learn about his meticulous actions and his patience towards craft, and it was definitely fun as making seems so much easier when it’s done by two people. R: Was this collaboration beneficial for you? How? E: It was definitely beneficial as the experience rewarded me with a new friend, and many lessons that I would not have learnt if not for the collaboration.

R: Does collaboration encourage idea sharing that will push the design scene forward? E: Collaboration is important when designers and people from different walks of life come together to start a project. It is interesting to see what their process was and how their outcome will turn out because I think it’s a one of a kind, and a very special experience.

ENJOY THIS VIDEO WHILE READING THIS TRANSCRIPT https://vimeo.com/63822714

COLLABORATION IS ABOUT COMBINING RESOURCES Words, Interview, & Transcript by Ryan Len

Rachel Botsman* mentioned that collaborative consumption ‘isn’t a flimsy idea, or a short-term trend, but a powerful cultural and economic force reinventing not just what we consume, but how we consume’. Combining our resources will change the way we consume. Crowd sourcing allows us to pool together resources and tools that can help everyone grow together as a society.

Botsman, R. (n.d.) Rachel Botsman: The case for collaborative consumption Available at: <http://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_botsman_the_case_for_ collaborative_consumption.html>

Collaborative consumption is very real and applicable in the design industry. Combining our resources allows designers to share unwanted materials and tools, giving them second life. The collaborative consumption approach also helps student designers to save money on tools that they may need only for a project through sharing. As a student designer myself, I often find myself stuck between making the decision to buy a tool to make my working process easier for a project, or to suck it up and try to find alternatives to make it work. When I started working on this project, I realized that it will be awesome to have a platform that encourages designers to share their tools and give away unwanted materials, helping each other along the way. I created the Mrktplace Initiative where people can come to swap or give away their unwanted tools and materials, giving them second life. Though there were many who agreed with the concerns that I shared and felt that this initiative was a good start, but there were people who would rather exchange their unwanted materials or tools for money instead, or felt that it was too much of a hassle to post their items up on the group page, which makes it difficult to garner support for this initiative to survive. There has to be a new direction to this initiative. I decided to do a biannual physical Swap Meet that will happen at different public spaces, gathering like minded people to share and swap their unwanted tools and materials. The first Swap Meet was held last year on 16th Nov 2012, where I asked my peers if they would like to be part of it, and to meet up and see what items they can swap with each other. I was surprised that there were quite a lot of good stuff up for swaps! There was a whole range of products from little notebooks to copic markers! The participants loved it and wished that I will bring in more people from different faculties or schools to come together to swap! They thought it will be interesting to see what items people from out our social circle would contribute. I hope that this initiative would spread island wide. With more support and members for this initiative, it could potentially be self sustainable without the intervention of me every time.

COLLABORATION IS ABOUT LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER Words, Interview, & Transcript by Ryan Len

Ellen Lupton* mentioned that collaboration in schools is the first step to a lifelong network that students can bring with them when they enter the industry. Students create social networks in school that can last a lifetime. The people you hang out with are a source of artistic inspiration, healthy competition, and informal education that could be more important than what you officially learn in class.

* Lupton, E. (2009) Why Collaborate? Available at: <http://elupton.com/2009/10/why-collaborate/>

Collaboration can only do more good than harm. It allows us to learn from each other’s expertise and experience, picking up new skills through the collaboration process. I loved Sumaya’s illustrations and have always wanted to learn from her. I loved how intricate and detailed her drawings were. It was always enjoyable looking at her illustrations every time. The perfect chance to get her to teach me how to illustrate came when I started this project. I asked if she would be interested in a collaborative project where she teaches me how to illustrate and I teach her something in return. She expressed her interest in learning silkscreen from me and that was how this project started. The project we decided worked on dealt with pop culture icons that had teacher — student relationships within them. We explored the relationships as a metaphor within our project and created a series of contemporary illustration silkscreen prints where she taught me how to ink and I taught her how to silkscreen. Illustration proved to be a big challenge for me as I am bad at illustrations. However, Sumaya was very patient with me and slowly guided me on how to illustrate and how I should add details to enhance the illustrations. We were thrilled when we learnt that a lot of people liked the prints that we did and wanted to buy it. We will soon be producing an edition of 20 prints that will be put up for sale at Kult’s gallery!

RYAN: What collaborative project did you work on and how was the process like? SUMAYA: The project Ryan and I worked on dealt with pop culture icons that had teacher student relationships within them, and what we did was a contemporary illustration project where I taught him how to ink and he taught me how to silkscreen, and we explored the teacher student relationship as a metaphor within our project.

wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have been so interesting or give that much depth if there was no collaboration which involves like an interpretation from both sides of what this would be like, or what this pop culture icon would be like without these techniques and ideas combining, making this project a lot more layers than it initially did as a solo project. So yes, I think that collaboration does add to the project.

R: Was this collaboration beneficial for you? How?

R: Does collaboration encourage idea sharing that will push the design scene forward?

S: It is interesting to see a take of pop culture icons from somebody else that wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t me and how they would interpret it in their process of inking and drawing them out. What was really interesting was how we shared the same teacher student relationship where I taught him how to ink and he taught me how to silkscreen. It was represented through our entire outcome as like it combines all these various ideas and processes that we experienced together, and that was a really really new experience for me and I felt that I did learn from it.

S: Collaboration involves one or more people, which means the perspective, the interpretations of the brief will be way more. Therefore, alot more ideas come in. When these ideas mix together creating something new, it prevents the design scene from going stagnant within itself and pushes the boundaries of what we understand from context of briefs or other projects like what we interpret and it makes everything so much more colorful. I feel that collaboration is very necessary to the design scene because it will keep everything moving forward.

R: Can the project work without a collaboration? S: It depends on the context of the project each time, what the brief demands and stuff like that. But in this project in particular, I felt like the outcomes

ENJOY THIS VIDEO WHILE READING THIS TRANSCRIPT https://vimeo.com/64145792

COLLABORATION IS ABOUT TRUSTING EACH OTHER WILL DO THEIR JOB WELL Words, Interview, & Transcript by Ryan Len

Trust is very important in a collaboration. Being open and transparent in the collaboration ensures that personal interest would not overlap collective interests, forming mutual trust between each other. When collaborators do not trust each other to do their work well, conflicts will bound to happen and this will destroy the collaboration.

Eeshaun and I knew each other some time back during my polytechnic days. He used to teach me and I look up to him as my mentor. I would not have been where I am if not for his guidance. I approached him to ask if he was interested in a working with me on the theme of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Collaboration is About Trusting Each Other Will Do Their Job Wellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The collaboration process started with Eeshaun illustrating the text, and he will pass it on to me to complete the work without knowing what I would do to it. I felt that Eeshaun took a leap of faith to trust a student designer to complete his work, and I am really thankful for his trust in me. I had a big headache when I received the illustration. I did not know what to do with it as it seemed quite complete already! I did not want to ruin his artwork as well. I can do acrylic on canvas, but I am really bad at painting and it would defeat the purpose of a collaboration as Eeshaun could have done it himself easily without starting a collaboration. I could silkscreen it but it would not have been much of a challenge for me as well. I decided to break away from the traditional medium of painting, and broke down the different visual elements of his illustration. Animating it through After Effects, I turned it into an animated piece of art on a blank canvas. Being new to After Effects, it was another set of challenge for me to learn the basics and making the animation work! I was abit overwhelmed when I opened After Effects for the first time. The interface was confusing and new to me. I spent a day looking up on tutorials online to learn the basics of After Effects. While reading through the tutorials, I found a tutorial that teaches how to do layer masking, which I thought could be an interesting technique to apply to the animation. I animated every single highlights on the alphabets at a different timing to add more depth to the animation. It took me a few days to complete animating it. I was worried Eeshaun would not like what I did to his illustration, but felt relieved after knowing he liked it after seeing it for the first time at the exhibition. I am glad that there were many who liked the piece too!

RYAN: What collaborative project did you work on and how was the process like? EESHAUN: When Ryan approached me, he wanted a collaborative project and he had a phrase that he wanted me to illustrate, which was ‘Collaboration is trusting each other will do their job well’. I wrote the words digitally, and he animated it. So that was the outcome of the collaboration. R: Was this collaboration beneficial for you? How? E: I wouldn’t say it benefitted me in any way because after all it was Ryan’s personal project, so I believe the benefit was to him. To me it was nice to work with an ex student of mine and to see what working together would lead to. I’m actually more curious about the outcome because I personally haven’t see what he has done with the illustration. I’m looking forward to going to the show. R: Can the project work without a collaboration? E: Yes, the project can work without a collaboration. I mean after all if I had the intention of animating it, I probably would

have, and the outcome would probably be similar or somewhat different, but I think at that point of time I wasn’t planning on animating anything. In fact, I’m not really an animator. So I think that collaboration did create some sort of synergy. I think the outcome is definitely more interesting when there is collaboration. R: Does collaboration encourage idea sharing that will push the design scene forward? E: I believe that collaboration does result in many possible outcomes. In fact, one never really expects what to expect in a collaboration because anything can happen sometimes. It does lead to a very different outlook on the design as compared to somebody who have done it by himself. So definitely it does push design abit further than what it would be if done by one person.

ENJOY THIS VIDEO WHILE READING THIS TRANSCRIPT https://vimeo.com/64139385

COLLABORATION IS ABOUT IDEA SHARING Words, Interview, & Transcript by Ryan Len

Idea sharing is important in the collaboration process. Collaborators must transcend from being just about me to what WE can achieve together as a group. Idea sharing through collaboration allows the growth of new and innovative ideas. The Incomplete Manifesto for Growth by Bruce Mau* also encourages idea sharing and collaboration because it believes that the space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.

* Mau, B. (1998) Incomplete Manifesto for Growth. Available at: <http://www.brucemaudesign.com/ 4817/112450/work/incomplete-manifesto-for-growth>

As part of our Design Workshop module in school, it is compulsory for all of us to work on a D&AD brief. Ella, Joel, Boon, Stanley, and I decided to form a group to tackle the brief together. We worked on the It’s Nice That brief that wants more students to know about their website and journal. We created an integrated campaign called The Other You (T.O.Y.), where students can showcase their creativeness through an unusual medium: by decorating toy like versions of themselves. The campaign begins with an interactive booth that will be allocated in Art and Design institutions all over the world, in the bid to introduce It’s Nice That to more Art and Design students. Students would be able to have their pose captured by a scanner, which will be printed out as a paper figurine that they can use to decorate. They will then upload a picture of the finished figurine to the microsite for people to vote, and the winner will be featured on the cover of the next issue of It’s Nice That journal and on the It’s Nice That website. In this collaboration, we were all idea thinkers, while Ella was in charge of the overall art direction, Boon was in charge of animating the case study video, and Stanley was in charge of designing the paper craft toy template. The challenge for this whole project was to finalize on an idea that everyone is happy about and to arrange meetings where everyone is free to meet up for discussions. It took us longer than usual to decide on the final idea and styling. Everyone was throwing their fair share of concerns for the idea and we had to refine it till everyone was happy about it. The idea started with a 3D printer that will travel around the world, but looking through the design brief again, we decided that paper craft was the way to go as it is a cheaper alternative for a SME like It’s Nice That and have more room for decoration of the figurine. As I have not worked with everyone in this group before, this collaboration allowed me to have a glimpse on their working styles were and how I can adapt some of their styles to my own to make my working process more efficient. This collaboration also helped the project a lot, where whenever one of us overlooked a problem, it will definitely be covered up by the rest of us, making this project a lot more stronger than if I had to do it alone.

VIDEO STILLS OF THE CASE STUDY VIDEO.

SCAN THE QR CODE TO WATCH THE CASE STUDY VIDEO! https://vimeo.com/61929754

RYAN: What collaborative project did you work on and how was the process like? JOEL: We personally worked with Ryan on a D&AD brief that was submitted by Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nice That. STANLEY: During this whole design process with the group, I find that it is very challenging and fun, challenging in the sense that all of us have different ideas, and it is very hard to narrow and focus it down to one simple idea. R: Was this collaboration beneficial for you? How? J: I find that through collaboration, it was interesting to see how different designers have different thought processes as well as working processes. BOON: The areas that I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t focus on, they were all covered up by my peers. So I learn to see the same project, the same brief, from a different perspective. R: Can the project work without a collaboration? ELLA: Yes the project definitely can work without a collaboration, but I think with group collaboration, we learn many different things and definitely I feel that the outcomes are much more stronger than if I have to do it alone.

R: Does collaboration encourage idea sharing that will push the design scene forward? J: I think that collaboration does promote idea sharing. It is through idea sharing and tweaking of ideas that we shared that we finally arrived at an idea which we think can work. E: And I think that the process was a very enjoyable one because we worked with different people and see what they can do. The things that you come up with are much, much much more interesting. B: When people bounce ideas, the ideas will grow and it will grow stronger. This definitely benefits the project and ourselves.

ENJOY THIS VIDEO WHILE READING THIS TRANSCRIPT https://vimeo.com/64140192

COLLABORATION IS ABOUT PARTICIPATION Words, Interview, & Transcript by Ryan Len

Collaboration can be fun when designers get together to work through participatory design. Participatory design requires userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s input for it to be considered completed. Rather than having finished artworks, creating open-ended briefs for other people to work on it together can generate a very different outcome for the artwork.

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The Plan | H503

Creative Workshop

(Table A)

Guestbook

(Pedestal D)

Projector

(Pedestal C) (Shelving C)

iMac

(Table B)

Intro Panel

iMac

(Pedestal B)

DOOR

(Pedestal A)

iMac

(Shelving A)

iPad

(Shelving B)

Having done a yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth of collaborative works and research, I felt that it would be a waste to just showcase them during my final assessments in school and keep it in the storeroom after assessments is over. I decided to end my final year project with a bang, by curating an exhibition to showcase the works done over the past year, hoping to inspire more people to start collaborating after seeing the works and testimonials. The exhibition was designed with visitors as collaborators in mind, involving works of participation from the visitors such as the Instagram Printer, that serves to engage visitors as collaborators to help document the exhibition. Starting an exhibition is not easy at all! As this is my first time curating an exhibition, I did not have any knowledge of what to do or what to expect. The whole range of challenges started from looking for sponsors to finding manpower and equipment for the show to happen. I consulted Yasser on how to do a presentation pitch for a sponsorship and approached RJ Paper for paper sponsor. Jeanette was very kind to agree to help. It really saved me a lot of money. At this period where everyone is busy with their own projects, it was even harder to look for help. I am glad there are a group of friends that would sacrifice their time to help me make the show a success! Designing the space was a big headache for me as well. I dislike designing in large format because it is difficult for me to visualize how it would look like to scale. This exhibition design really took me out of my comfort zone. I learnt Google SketchUp and did a 3D render of the exhibition space to get a better idea of how it will look like. I would say that Google SketchUp was very easy to learn. Messing around with the user interface, I learned to use it within 5 minutes! 3D rendering never felt so easy compared to programs like 3ds Max or Maya. This exhibition would not have been successful if not for the participation of visitors and their precious feedbacks that could potentially help improve this community and foster a collaborative culture.

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DOCUMENTARY SERIES 01: BEYOND The idea of a documentary series was conceived after much considerations about what format I should undertake to showcase the testimonials of my collaborators. The thought of doing a printed folder came to mind, but I felt it was not the best idea. As this was part of my graduating project, part of my goals for the project was to showcase all the talents and skills that I have acquired throughout the years as a student designer. Videography happened to be one of those skills that I have yet to show. So I thought why not?! This documentary was produced, shot and edited by me. Beyond is the first series of short films that features the people I have collaborated with for the past year. Beyond the outcomes, I seek to celebrate the collaboration process, as well as to document their insights and experience.

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¤ ELLA ZHENG MEISI ¤

¤ STANLEY CHEAH, BOON TAN, ELLA ZHENG MEISI, JOEL GOH ¤

¤ SOH EESHAUN ¤

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造 JACKY CHEAH 造

造 JOEL GOH 造

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造 SUMAYA MAHADEVAN 造

造 SERENE YAP 造

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OPENING NIGHT What I have worked so hard for. Photography by Boon Tan & Ryan Len

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VERSION 2.0 Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next for Transpire? Words by Ryan Len

Even though I will be ending my studies in LASALLE this year, Transpire will continue to live on as a self-initiated project. Having said that, I feel that I need a well deserved break before continuing my design journey. Transpire 2.0 will be back shortly with more collaborative works, initiatives, and newer insights to the limitless possibilities of what collaboration can achieve. The collaborative projects that I did this year were mostly from the field of design. Based on the feedbacks gathered, Transpire 2.0 will move out from the design industry into non-design industries to look for collaborators who are interested in pushing the boundaries of what Art and Design can be. I am also interested in expanding the Mrktplace Initiative and reach out to a wider target audience, gathering more support for the cause. Transpire 2.0 also seeks to create a catalyst that will form a bridge for strangers to meet and start collaborating on projects they are both keen in. I am always on the lookout for interesting ideas and people who are keen to work on collaborative projects. Feel free to drop me a mail anytime!

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‘When creative minds come together, the sum exceeds all expectations. We connect, we learn, we critique, we prosper’ - Behance (2012) An Ode to Creative Work -

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Transpire is a ground-up initiative by Ryan Len Wei Wen for his BA(Hons) program at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. transpiresg.com +65 9668 7753 behance.net/ryanlen facebook.com/ryanlenweiwen Special thanks to: Yasser Suratman Stanley Lim Jessica Chua Muhammad Andri Bin Afandi Koh Choon Kiat Stanley Cheah Yu Xuan and everyone who have helped made this project possible!