Singapore Design

Singapore Design is Asian at heart, and global in mind.

Pictured above: Sarong Party series by Hans Tan Studio

A few words can be used to describe Singapore Design – creative while pragmatic, multicultural while modern, Asian and future-thinking.

Asian at heart, global in mind

Going beyond the aesthetics, Singapore Design embodies an attitude – the desire to always seek to make lives better using design. It is why design has been intrinsic to the Singapore story – where nothing was left to chance with our pioneers leveraging design and creative thinking to turn constraints into infinite possibilities. It is why design now permeates every part of the country, whether in the form of beautiful, useful products, services and experiences that elevate individual lives, or on a systems level that yields large-scale, national impact. The design industry has emerged as a creative force – leading Singapore’s drive towards an innovation-driven economy and playing a critical role in making the city a liveable and loveable one.

Often hailed as an example of a City of the Future, Singapore is shaping up to be a global Asia node for innovation, as global brands expand into the booming Asia-Pacific market while headquartered here.

Its greatly valued home-grown designers have gained global acclaim, winning prestigious international awards across design disciplines. These include the Red Dot Design Award, D&AD, World Architecture Festival and Awards and Design for Asia.

Similarly, their ideas and innovations – from furniture designs to urban and spatial planning – have garnered attention and established thought leadership on the global design scene, at key showcases like the Venice Biennale of Architecture and Milan Design Week.

Singapore designers are also often recognised by international and regional trade media; they are regularly featured in publications such as Wallpaper*, Monocle, Dezeen, Sight Unseen and Design Anthology.

A City of Design

Singapore was designated a UNESCO Creative City of Design in 2015, in recognition of its focused efforts to drive creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable and forward-looking urban development.

Often hailed as an example of a City of the Future, Singapore is shaping up to be a global Asia node for innovation, as global brands expand into the booming Asia-Pacific market while headquartered here.

MNCs recognise Singapore’s unique confluence of arts, culture, enterprise, and technology and are establishing new design hubs here to tailor exclusive products for Asian markets. Among them are Philips, IBM, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, UBS, and Electrolux.

To support a robust design ecosystem and to become a global city of design, the DesignSingapore Council promotes and develops the design industry, nurtures design talent, enables businesses to innovate through design, makes design education and activities accessible so that everyone can appreciate and use design, as well as promotes the Singapore Design brand globally.

This includes celebrating the most outstanding designers and designs for their impactful designs with the biannual President*s Design Award, and showcasing top and emerging Singapore design talents through public outreach events at the National Design Centre and the Singapore Design Week.