Brian Tan a native child of the tiny tropical island of Singapore, went to the United States to pursue a Masters of Interior Architecture from the world-renowned Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence. He then spent two years in New York City as a visual merchandiser for Hennes & Mauritz AB, better known as H&M, where he was instrumental in creating vivid brand experiences in line with H&M's seasonal campaign.Brian made the trans-Atlantic leap from New York to London in 2005, carrying out his current role as an Event designer at Imagination Ltd. One of the world's largest and most highly regarded design and communications consultancies, which has come in 1st for 6 conservative years in DesignWeek Top 100 design groups.
During his time at Imagination, Brian was selected by C&IT (Conference & Incentive Travel) magazine, as one of the 35 future leaders of the events industry from the country's most profitable and creative event agencies. He was published in The A List, a 32-page glossy supplement published in the April 2009 edition of C&IT. This supplement shines the spotlight on the future leaders of the events industry. He was also selected as a Judge at the D&AD 29th Global Student Awards 2007 in London.
In his early formative years back in Singapore, Brian was an assistant choreographer in the annual Singapore National Day Parade (Ministry of Education Contingent) in 1998 and 1999. The mass display was performed live to an audience of 55,000 people at the Singapore National Stadium and was also televised nationwide simultaneously.
Prior to that, Brian graduated with a Diploma in Interior Architecture and Design in 1997 from Temasek Polytechnic (Singapore). In 1996, he was elected President of the Design Studies Club, where he received a Certificate of Merit in 1997 for his efforts in the Design Studies Club. He was also Valedictorian at the School of Design ceremony in 1997. His other credits include being a semi-finalist at ASPAT Manila 1996 and a finalist in the SFIC furniture design competition in 1995, where his furniture design creation was featured in ID magazine that year.
Clara Yee is a student of the universe first year stuck forever a quest for knowledge. She was awarded the Shooting Gallery Prize, Best Illustration Student in Temasek Polytechnic (Visual Communication) and is current a Graphic Design student at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.She had two collaborative exhibitions in Singapore and a wall mural in a paper factory. Illustration is the love of her life and she has had an internship at Alexandra McQueen illustrating prints. She is not fickle-minded, she just has a nettlesome habit of seeing virtue in every argument.
Clara is also the 642th dwarf planet discovered to orbit the sun.
Calvin Chua is currently deciphering the paradoxes of architecture and the city as a student at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. He takes an interest in social and political issues in the urban environment, often negotiating these boundaries through architectural works. He has previously completed an interactive urban installation at the London Architectural Biennale and an informational graphics object for re:ACT at the Venice Biennale under the Singapore Pavilion in 2008. His interest in paradoxical urban conditions has also led him in contributing articles to the Singapore Architect magazine. Calvin is also a core member in [re:ACT], a Singaporean group of visionary architecture enthusiasts concern with the development of architecture in the Asian region, developing tools for increasing community awareness and interaction with architecture and urbanism through dialogues, films, exhibitions and community based projects.
Melisa Chan knew she wanted to be a designer at the age of 4 and nothing has been able to stop her since. She arrived on British shores ten years ago to start her formal design training at Kingston University. In 2003 she graduated with first-class honours in interior architecture from the Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication. She began her professional career by designing bars and restaurants for B3 Designers. She has also worked on Imagination’s Aston Martin Retail team. In 2006, a chance encounter with DesignSingapore Council earned her a post-graduate scholarship at the Bartlett School of Architecture. An internship with Space Syntax during her graduate studies opened up a world of urban-scale work and graphic-mapping analysis. Melisa now calls on her strengths in interior architecture, urban planning and the social knowledge of space in her work with Portland Design Associates on urban retail consultancy in Europe and the Middle East. Her work has recently been featured at the London Design Festival and London Fashion Week 2008 in collaboration with graphic designer, David Lee. Apart from her day job and DesignSingapore-led projects, she is currently preparing her post-graduate work for publication submission.Singapore correspondence - David Lee and Brian Chia
creative [SIN]ergy team 2009
