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I design

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 experiences. Now for screens, and previously for visitor spaces. In the late nights, I explore and make with rattan

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. Hence I am this

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and also that

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. Regardless, I like to ask a lot of questions.

How can we take visitors on an emotional journey in a physical space?


Exhibition detailsFaith Beauty Love Hope — Our Stories, Your ACM
Asian Civilisations Museum, 2020

The exhibition spotlights the people behind the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) through their stories of faith, beauty, love and hope. It was inspired by the best of ACM’s vast collection, staff and stakeholders of the Museum personally selected 60 objects that were close to their hearts and that they related to.

Brief and challenges

The direction given for the exhibition was to be “heart-achingly beautiful”, an apt one, as it was going to be exhibited in the midst of the pandemic in 2020— a trying time for everyone. The timeline was short too, with barely 2.5 months from start to the opening of the exhibition. This was not a show like any other, hence, the design considerations needed to be unconventional as well. These were 3 questions we asked ourselves:

  • How can we evoke the emotions of the stories in space?
  • What are the design execution methods to consider due to limited time?
  • Due to the pandemic, can we also find a way to remotely connect people to the physical exhibition?

︎︎︎ Identity and adaptations

Design approach

Instead of the usual spotlight on the artefacts, we wanted the identity and space to be centred around evoking and bringing out the emotions of the personal stories featuring: faith, beauty, love and hope. And what better way than to design a completely immersive environment! The circulation from the start of the journey from the outside of the museum to the entire exhibition within the gallery was also to be planned in accordance to the emotional flow we would like the visitor to experience. 

Visitor experience journey planning


Start of the entire visitor journey, at the front of the museum. In the ticketing area where visitors linger a little longer, a layers of fabric and lighting were used to accentuate the design. Since it is also often a spot for photo opportunities, I wanted the design it to be eye-catching as well. Process of working out the best route and spots for wayfinding to the Special Exhibitions Gallery One point of the visitor journey pathway that was served as an important wayfinding spot to direct them to the Special Exhibitions Gallery. Wayfinding that uses banners to match the entire identity of the exhibition

Visual identity direction


Entrance to the Special Exhibitions Gallery, view that can be seen from afar Visual identity direction - Love was chosen as the primary visual as it was both visually eye catching and also matches closer to the branding of the museum.

Visitor circulation and exhibition mood

Taking inspiration from the title of the exhibition, we wanted to create an emotional and reflective journey and yet end the journey on a hopeful note. After visually mapping the emotional journey experience, we decided that a thematic approach for the circulation would be direct in conveying that and yet still enable visitors to explore on their own without fear of trying to follow any specified route.

Through purposeful spatial considerations, each section was designed specifically with a particular emotion that we wanted to evoke through beautiful sightlines of artefacts, vibrant colours and ceiling-high graphic banners. Given the short amount of time for design and fabrication, these design also had to be considerably easier and faster to execute.

︎︎︎ Gallery circulation and images



Faith section Beauty section Love section Hope section End of exhibition with a lighter, hopeful note with a digital interactive for visitors to contribute to and enjoy

Exhibition style and content hierarchy




Role and challenges

This project was done during my time at GSM Project in 2020. It took 18 iterations in a one week’s time to get to the suitable visual identity direction but I think it was well worth it!

Failed iterations and progress

The first curatorial direction of the show was towards showing the Treasures of ACM. I wanted to portray the subtle beauty of the artefacts that are often neglected, thus I picked out the best looking ones available in their collection. however it was too difficult to assume that the final artefacts chosen for the show would all be as beautiful. Moved on to match the patterns on the artefacts to the different emotions that we mapped out. However, it proved challenging to portray the emotions we wanted with them. Method of fabrication in this iteration would be extremely difficult and was scrapped. Liaising with contractors to find out about efficient methods of execution was also key in the entire project. Simplifying from the previous iterations, the emotions to portray are matched with representations that are easily identified by most. Bolder colours were also preferred to bring out the vibrancy of the exhibition. For the final version, we decided to remove the figures in the background as it wasn't helping much in conveying the emotions we wanted. Instead, we brought forward the emphasis on the colours and visual representations.

Work in progress and trouble shooting on site