Shaking It Up - The President's Design Award Forum
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“Every Child is an Artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up”
That was the topic for Shaking it up – the President’s Design Awards Forum held today at Republic Polytechnic.
The forum featured some of the judges of the President’s Design Award which will happen this evening. Participants of the forum came from other polytechnics, junior colleges as well as professionals from the design industry.
The judges first shared some childhood stories with the audience to give them a better idea of how they got into the creative industry. Ms Madeline Lester (President, International Federation of Interior Architects / Designers (IFI) and Managing Director, Madeline Lester + Associates) told the audience about how she liked the color pink so much when she was just a child. So much so that, together with her cousin, they painted an entire bathroom pink – the walls, the sink, the tap, and just about every other conceivable surface in that room. She got into a lot of trouble for that little adventure, which she claims is her first attempt in interior designing.
The second part of the forum focused on the education of design and creative arts. Very much highlighted was how they thought the education system needs to be changed to embrace creativity. The audience also took this opportunity to ask questions of the judges. One of the questions was “Do you think philosophy and psychology should be taught at the young age?” That sparked off a very interesting discussion indeed!
Another issue addressed was how to strike a balance between the tangibles and intangibles. Mrs Cheong-Chua Koon Hean (Chief Executive Officer, Urban Redevelopment Authority) shared her story about how she has to take care of both aspects. While her designers are able to come up with very creative ideas and beautiful designs, she also has to take into consideration the regulations and the difficulties in implementing these ideas and designs.
One of the subjects that stood out was that people should not
be afraid to fail, because failure, in itself, is an experience whereby you
learn not to make the same mistakes again.
The discussion of different issues and the light bantering could have gone on for hours with everyone giving input and sharing opinions and ideas! The forum came to an end with the presentation of tokens to our invited speakers.
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