5th SFIC Design Conversation

March 10th, 2010

Students from Inspiration Design School's full-time classes got the privileged opportunity to sit in for the 5th annual SFIC Design Conversation, yesterday, March 9th, 2010. The Design Conversation featured talks by Mr. Naoto Fukasawa of Naoto Fukasawa Design, Japan, Mr. Somchai Thanapolkiat of the Design & Objects Association, Thailand, and Ms. Susie Tay of "THELIFESHOP" Singapore.

Preceding the talks was the 2010 Furniture Design Award ceremony featuring young design talent from across the world who won awards in several categories from amongst over 1,000 international entries.

Afterward, students were able to make their way through the exhibition hall at Singapore's Expo near Changi Airport and view not only hundreds of international furniture and interior design vendors, but also stop by the SFIC Platform showcasing aspiring designers and their innovative work.

The International Furniture Fair, Singapore 2010 will continue until Friday when it will be opened for public admission from 5pm-7pm. For schedules and event information, please visit the Expo Singapore website's event page.

For more information about Inspiration Design School, please visit our homepage.

For more pictures from the event please visit our Facebook page.

Steelcase Site Visit

Wednesday February 3, 2010 Full-time students from ADID 11 and part-time students from DID 512 spent the afternoon at Singapore's Steelcase WorkLife Centre at Mount Sophia Old School.

Steelcase, headquartered in Michigan USA, is a global office system furniture provider operating in North America, Europe, and Asia. The WorkLife Centre at Old School, is more than merely a showroom of Steelcase's product line. It is Steelcase's regional office. Clients and designers can see the products and systems in actual use by Steelcase employees. The flexibility of Steelcase's systems, keeping ahead of the current open office concept, allows employees to carry on their work at any station even as clients tour and try out the various products.

Throughout the WorkLife Centre, Sales Manager Simon Koh showed interior design students galleries featuring projects done by commissioned designers using Steelcase products as pieces of art beyond their original function and form. Behind the displays and office spaces created throughout the Centre are meeting rooms featuring the latest concepts in collaborative and flexible exchanges within the work environment.

Cable management is a theme that is carried throughout the Steelcase line, subtly and practically as were ergonomic considerations for chairs.

ADID 11 students were able to take in a lot of information concerning the current open office trend, getting to see an industry leader's product line and see it in use. This will be a good start for them as they journey through their office design module.

If you would like any additional information regarding Steelcase please visit their website at www.steelcase.com. For more information about Inspiration Design School, please visit our website at www.inspiration.sg.

Hunter Douglas 24 Hour Branding Challenge

January 5, 2010 Happy 2010 New Year! What better way to start off the new year than competing in a competition featuring the top design schools from across Singapore? This Saturday, January 9, 2010, carefully selected students from Inspiration Design School will be putting their interior design and professional development skills to the test in Hunter Douglas' 24 hour branding challenge.

Students will face a yet to be announced challenge involving a theme provided by and based on a current or future Hunter Douglas product.

Hunter Douglas manufactures and develops both consumer and commercial window, ceiling, and wall fittings. You can see their work at Changi Airport, the Singapore Science Center, and Iconic at Yew Tee MRT Station.

For more information about Hunter Douglas in Singapore, please visit their website here. For more information about Inspiration Design School, please visit our website here.

Soon Bee Huat: Ceramic Showroom Visit

December 11, 2009 Inspiration Design School students from several intakes visited the Soon Bee Huat (SBH) showroom near East Jurong on Friday. SBH specializes in ceramic tiling for both floors and walls as well as marble and granite surfaces.

Project Executive, Waley Lim, gave IDS students a product presentation as they made their way through the expansive showroom. SBH has over 6,000 different varieties of tiles ranging from mosaic sized, to 300x300 mm, to 300x600 mm. Tiles are sourced from China, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Indonesia, Thailand, and Dubai.

Mr. Waley Lim explained the various innovations being made in ceramic design, including latest trend of inkjetting tiles prior to baking them, opening the door to designs limited only by one's imagination and budget.

The two story warehouse, cutting shop, and showroom also contains an exhibition of mock-up rooms featuring tiles from SBH's inventory. These displays, artfully designed by SBH's own in-house designer Angeline, allow potential clients to see these products fully implemented in interior design.

Students spent the remainder of the visit collecting samples, asking questions, and taking pictures of the endless selection of tiles available at Soon Bee Huat's showroom.

For more information about Soon Bee Huat, please visit their website at www.sbh.com.sg. For more information about Inspiration Design School, please visit our website at www.inspiration.sg.

Site Visit to Lam Chuan Laminate Distributor

Tuesday November 10, 2009 Inspiration Design School students made their way to laminate company Lam Chuan on 12 Sugei Kadut Way, Singapore. Lam Chuan has been in the laminate business for 30 years and supplies contractors throughout Asia with products from Print High Pressure Laminate from Italy, and Pionite Decorative Laminates from the USA.

Their product range is ever expanding, from a wide range of colors, textures, and now even customized digital prints, their interior and exterior lamination solutions provide designers with a myriad of choices to bring their concepts to life.

Lam Chuan representative Markus, gave students an informative presentation, and a tour of the company website which features a interactive catalog as well as an "e-renderer." The e-renderer allows designers and their clients to apply various laminates to a mock 3D kitchen online. After the choices are finalized it is possible to print a presentation sheet for clients.

Afterward, Markus brought students through the Lam Chuan warehouse explaining the process of receiving, preparing, and distributing the various lamination products offered. Finally, Markus bid IDS students farewell, but not before giving each student a sizable collection of Lam Chuan lamination samples to use as references in their up coming projects.

For more information, to see their catalog, or to try out their e-renderer, please visit the Lam Chuan website at, www.lamchuan.com.

For more information about Inspiration Design School, please visit our website at, www.inspiration.sg. You can see more pictures on Inspiration's Facebook page here.

Schiavello Showroom Visit

October 30, 2009 Interior design students from ADID intake 10 visited Schiavello today on 1 Magazine Road, here in Singapore.

Schiavello provides office systems, office & plaza seating, and conference tables. The philosophy at Schiavello is one of modular design to meet a wide variety of needs from clients based on many factors including floor space, company culture, and even the very business a company runs.

Elements such as dividers, table dimensions, seating and configurations all depend on factors such as the means of communication used within an office, the hieracrchy of a company, and even the technology a company uses to do its business.

Though the showroom is small, Schiavello has an impressive range of products depicted in its many catalouges. From renowned designers such as Starck and Citterio, comes an artful line of office system solutions to meet nearly any client's needs.

For more information about Schiavello, please visit their website www.schiavello.com.

For more information about Inspiration Design School, please visit our webiste at www.inspiration.sg.

Check out our MySpace and Facebook pages for more pictures from our trip.

Hansgrohe Showroom Visit

October 27, 2009 Three classes from Inspiration Design School made their way to the Hansgrohe showroom here in Singapore to learn about the German made bathroom fittings and systems.

Trainer & Aquademie Manager Belda Loo shared her vast knowledge and insight of Hansgrohe's designs and their implementation through interior design.

Hansgrohe has been in the business of innovative bathroom fixture design since 1901. They have maintained their German identity, quality, and attention to detail while bringing in renowned designers from around the world to add their creativity and concepts to Hangrohe's brand.

Each faucet fixture, each shower system, has its own story, influences and message it is trying to convey. Mixed in is a subtle attention to ergonomics and efficiency the world has come to expect from German design.

Hansgrohe's bathroom fixtures have been included in many high profile projects around the world such as the Yoo Apartments in New York City, the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Shanghai, and on board the Queen Mary II trans-Atlantic luxury liner.

Interior design students at IDS were given a tour and working demonstrations of the various product lines within the showroom. From the extensive and artful Axor fixtures, to the efficient & energy saving features of the Pontos water recycling system; students received many new ideas and concepts to consider when tackling their next design project.

For more information on Hansgrohe, please visit their website here.

For more information about Inspiration Design School, please visit our website here.

Check out more photos of the Hansgrohe visit at our Facebook & MySpace pages!