What’s an HDB motif doing on a Japanese ceramics plate? Well, that’s the handiwork of local design collective Democratic Society in a tie-up with ceramics-maker Kihara for a collection launched earlier this year.

And they’re not the only ones. Last week, well-known furniture designer Nathan Yong unveiled a series for Royal Selangor called Vapour. Meanwhile, Phunk Studio’s latest piece of art, Empire Of Dreams, is something you could very well step on — carpets they’ve designed for Hong Kong luxury carpet-maker Tai Ping, which were showcased at the recent Hospitality Design Expo in Las Vegas.

“It’s great that Singaporean designers have started to work with international brands to create products,” said Yong, who regularly collaborates with international names like Italian and French furniture houses Living Divani and Ligne Roset. “As a local designer born and raised here, I believe that Singaporean designers can draw upon their own unique experiences to create work that is highly individualistic yet international.”

> PEWTER POWER

After working with institutions like London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, as well as producing a Winnie The Pooh baby rattle, the 128-year-old brand Royal Selangor has enlisted Yong to create an entire collection ranging from vases to tumblers to bowls.

Yong first partnered with the Malaysian pewter manufacturer to design the Formula One SingTel Singapore Grand Prix cup last year.

The main material used certainly posed a challenge, especially in terms of creating smaller objects with ornate details. “Pewter is soft, malleable and can reproduce fine details very well. But at the same time, you can also lose these details if an item is over-polished by an unskilled worker,” he explained. “I agreed to the collection because I have always been interested in metal casting, and I can be assured that my design integrity is maintained.”

The Vapour series was inspired by pewter’s very properties: That transient nature between liquid and solid, and a shape-shifting ability to transform. “I wanted to create a new pattern that is inspired by this movement from more to less,” he added.

Although the collection will only be available for sale in August, Yong is already developing more products for the series. He’s also working on a collection with Belgian firm Ethnicraft, outdoor furniture for Ligne Roset and his very own “tell-all” monograph publication.

> FLOOR ME

Meanwhile, after showcasing their works on T-shirts, hotel rooms, G-Shock watches and credit cards, Phunk Studio has laid its latest on the feet of others, thanks to Tai Ping’s 1956 range.

The carpet-maker invited the group to be one of three artists from around the world to work on the range, said Phunk co-founder Jackson Tan.

“We were developing our Empire Of Dreams series when Tai Ping approached us and that inspired what we did for the carpets as well. Empire Of Dreams is about going back to our roots when we were very much into things like typeface, graphic design, iconography,” said Tan. “So we picked out some strong motifs which we thought would work well for carpets, which can be taken apart or combined together to form different patterns, like a palette almost.”

Unfortunately, the quartet didn’t manage to make it for their carpet launch in Las Vegas. “We were too busy here,” Tan lamented. “But I heard the response to the carpets was pretty good!”

> NIPPON CONNECTION

Finally, fans of retail outlet Supermama at Queen Street would have noticed something familiar among its lovely wares: Ceramic plates bearing motifs such as HDB flats, tembusu trees and even a lightning logo associated with a certain political party here.

These are all part of a Kihara collection called The Singapore Icons Studio Project. All were designed by Democratic Society, a collective currently made up of five studios and designers (Ampulets, Relay Room, Quiet Studio, Desinere and Chang Shian Wei), roped in by Supermama owner Edwin Low.

Each studio came up with a design theme, namely Tembusu, Days of Lightning, HDB, National Bird Of Singapore and Dancing Joaqim, which are all seen in chopstick holders, small dishes and plates.

Launched in March during the Singaplural event, and priced from S$8 to S$24, they proved so successful that Low is currently in Japan to talk to other brands for another collaboration that will be presented in September.

In fact, Low has already secured fabric-makers Maruju and Kiyohara, as well as tin and copper company Nousaku for the second collection.

Democratic Society will also see new designers joining as Low hopes to keep the collective loose to involve as many Singaporeans as possible.

“The collective isn’t exclusive to just designers,” Low elaborated. “Perhaps we might even include non-designers like chefs who could help create a product we can be proud of.”