Projects, About


I’m Edmund Zhang, and I explore future visions—through design, research and storytelling.👋️


Inheritage

Innovating local heritage for active ageing

 
Inheritage taps on different pillars of Singapore’s rich heritage to come up with novel solutions and programs to help seniors stay active, healthy, and socially engaged, while also celebrating these beloved traditions.

For our first pilot, we worked with lion dance as it is well-loved even across different ethnic groups, and provides for a variety of roles and skills to suit elderly of different abilities.
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Design for Deities

Reinventing a last-surviving heritage business for the future

 
An innovative co-creation of a new contemporary product line, so that more non-Chinese audiences around the world can appreciate the stories of these mythological figures—and the timeless values they embody—in fresh, exciting ways.
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Offcut Factory

Reframing material waste for the local manufacturing industry

  
A research initiative which partnered with local manufacturing businesses to create new value from their material waste by design. Supported by DesignSingapore Council, under the Good Design Research programme. 
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Squeezy Peasy

Investigating delightful tactile interactions in objects

 
Squeezing is such a familiar gesture rooted in everyday life. In addition, there seems to be an inextricable relationship between squeezing and a sense of joy.

Driven by a fascination around this gesture, I was interested in imagining objects that could live in this world—objects which could seemingly come to life through the act of squeezing. 
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Wobble Lamp

Designing a touch-reactive lighting object

 
Following the Squeezy Peasy project, I was invited by Wallpaper* to design a new lighting object in collaboration with Slamp, an Italian lighting brand.

The Wobble Lamp is a touch-sensitive light that jiggles after it is switched on, creating a playful interaction between the object and the user.

Utilizing the company’s signature Lentiflex® flexible plastic strips, the soft structure is filled with warm light upon a gentle tap at the top of the lamp.
 

inSight

Designing intuitive interactions for the elderly

 
How might we kick-start communication for the elderly in Singapore who live apart from their loved ones?

inSight is a system of paired devices that act as a virtual two-way surface, connecting users through constant audio and video feed—achieved through the utilization of a simple interface metaphor of a fogged glass panel.
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Pals of the Earth

Exploring colors through natural ingredients

 
Together with my friends in our free time, we investigate the world of natural colors through Pals of the Earth (PALS), where we aim to understand how colors are originally derived, extracted and finally imbued into everyday objects. Each outcome is periodically documented through the medium of a t-shirt.
Website︎︎︎
  
© 2024 Edmund Zhang