2019 - 2020

[Updated 2021]

Project supervised by : Hans Tan

Designed with : Mervyn Chen

Canvas

We all have that pair of shoes we wear everyday.

From playing sports, or just running for our daily bus, they sometimes get to the point where they are completely worn out and unattractive. From being our favourites, we end up stashing them away, unsure if they will ever be used again.

Canvas gives you the opportunity to fix your once-great shoes with the use of a quick drying liquid rubber paint.

Canvas 01 | Artisanal Repair Kit

Canvas offers a visionary approach to the ‘make do and mend’ culture, reviving repairing culture as an art-making process.

Before | Process | After

The rubber paint dries to form a strong layer on the shoe, while keeping the details of what was once underneath. The outlines of the wear and tear becomes the highlight of the artistic designs.

The Repair Process

Visions of the Future Exhibition held at National Design Centre Atrium

10 December 2020 - 7 January 2021

Visions of the Future exhibition is a curated showcase of seven designs by emerging Singaporean designers. Each design has been hand-selected for its visionary approach to current issues, with key focuses of the showcase looking at the improvement of health and well-being, designing for multigenerational living, sustainable processes, new materials and safety through design.

Canvas 02 | Essential Repair Kit

With the aid of pre-cut stencils, users could artistically seal and accentuate wears and tears with the liquid rubber paint, giving your favourite shoes a breath of new life.

The R for Repair Exhibition at National Design Centre Atrium

13 January 2021 - 6 February 2021

The R for Repair exhibition also features nine repair kits by design students that deliver novel techniques for repair that go beyond reinstating utility. They empower people to engage in repair procedures that yield restored products that are “better off” than the original condition. Instead of associating sustainability with sacrifice and inconvenience, the design propositions demonstrated in this exhibition suggest that sustainable practices can be articulated in a desirable, purposeful way.

The Repair Kits

As the nature of the paint is viscous and quick drying, paint application has to be applied in one continuous setting. Thus bottles with flat tip was designed to aid the application of the paint efficiently and neatly.

Stencils with simple geometric shapes were designed to emphasize and highlight the damaged area. These shapes act as a basis for users to easily create simple and nice geometric designs.

Holes and tears can be repaired, but instead of hiding and forgetting them, they are preserved and accentuated. Thus, every repair is unique, depending on what kind of damage was underneath.

The Film

Filmed & Directed by : Mervyn Chen [lead] & Luowei Ng

Post-processed by : Mervyn Chen

Shoe Designs

Shoot by : Luowei Ng [lead] & Mervyn Chen

Post-processed by : Luowei Ng