How did you choose the objects to illustrate?

I had to search and watch recorded footage and published printed material from the three musicals. It was also a trial and error process because as the space began to fill up with items, I would have to keep watching the footage to find new silhouettes that would keep the space looking filled-up while maintaining the depth. You will notice that there are a number of items with poles, railings, shafts, and holes. This was intentional because it allowed viewers to look through one object to the next, and ultimately to the back of the stage. This made the drawing of objects, their shadows and reflected shadows (on the ground) very intricate and complex. I hope that more visitors to the site consider playing the game on their desktop to fully appreciate the layers and textures that you will not be able to see as clearly on a smaller, mobile phone screen.

How were you able to bring your own style into the project? 

I enjoy working with colour, shapes and lines in my own art practice. Over the years, I also have a penchant for creating compositions and spaces that are dynamic and filled with overlapping visual elements that challenge our perception of space. Creating a backstage world for the three musicals to co-exist on a single stage was definitely an opportunity for my style to live and breathe.

What were some challenges that you had to overcome?

The biggest challenge that was unique to this experience was working on a team with many different members who would come on board at different stages of the workflow. While I am familiar with client relationships, this project with FTV allowed me to meet an amazing, Creative and Technology consultant Caspar, and a highly skilled developer, Aditya, who helped to bring this project to life. While working with them was not an issue, it was having to plan my illustrations and workflow to meet their needs that was challenging and I did my best to ensure the labelling of files and layers was as clear and concise as possible.

It definitely was FTV’s synergy that allowed our different talents and skills to come together to make this project possible within the limited time and budget that we had.

How exactly did you create the Merlion headdress?

Oh, this was a fun challenge. I started by looking at the reference images provided - these were actually photos of what the Dim Sum Dollies wore for one of their skits. Selena (Tan) was dressed from head to toe as the Merlion, wearing a massive headpiece that extended to the torso and integrated with her costume. I initially thought of recreating something similar, but I actually only needed to make a headpiece without a costume. I also had less time and different materials, so I had to match the making of the headdress to my skill set - how can i create this with what I know I can try to do? It was very tricky because Kim would be singing while wearing it, so it couldn’t be heavy.

Eventually I decided to use styrofoam (polystyrene) to create the Merlion headdress. I had to google pictures of the Merlion - of the front, side and back views - to get the full look of it. I printed those out, drew the outline on the styrofoam and then started carving!

After carving out the face, I needed to use a different material for the mane. By this point I had used expanding foam as glue to put the face together, so it was already quite heavy. The material for the mane had to be light, so I chose some craft foam that I could bend into shape for the mane. For the base of the headdress, I used a cap so that it’d be easier to wear.

Fun fact! Polystyrene is notoriously troublesome and irritating to work with. I have to sand it down after carving, and the bits that come out while sanding are so small and light that they stick onto everything and anything! I have to keep my vacuum cleaner next to me when sanding to make sure my work space doesn’t get covered.

Were there any particular challenges you faced during this project?

Ha, yes there were! I had a few more issues than I had anticipated when creating the samsui women hats.

Honestly, I thought that they’d be easy to make and therefore didn’t consider them as much. I first wanted to replicate how they were made in the past, but after some googling I realized that it required too much fabric. I ended up googling how to fold an origami samsui hat and doing that! However, the felt that I had bought was a little too soft, and I had to figure out how to make it stiffer. Sometimes you don’t really know what the result is going to be - you just have to do it, and if the result isn’t what you want, you’ve got to be creative and come up with ways to get to what you want.

Did you have any props that you preferred making over others? 

Well, all the pieces I had to make were very different. I’d have to say that the three headdresses for “Singapore Icon” (Merlion, Kucinta ears and a Vanda Miss Joaquim) were the most fun to create. How often does one get the chance to create an orchid or the Merlion?! I got to immerse myself in a really creative process to get all of them done.

Animation wise, I decided to keep things simple - using small movements like nudges and wiggles, playing with scale and perspective, and introducing light and shadows as an element. Some questions included - what aspects of theatre could I weave into the animation to bring about an essence of storytelling, for instance, a light beam, intended to be a follow spot that shines on the pieces when you click the hint button. I also used simple fade ins and outs, which were simple but purposeful. I wanted to use light as a narrative device - shedding light (pun most definitely intended) on the unfortunate reality of our theatres having to go dark during the pandemic.

Sound is actually also a huge part of the UX/UI design. There were sounds when you clicked on each of the objects or buttons, and there are a certain set of moves that would trigger the sound. It’s so important because it's part of the user experience, and you’re helping them immerse themselves in the game. In summary, with HOUSE IS OPEN I had to adopt a design-first UX approach - UX designers typically start going all tech-head first - but given that the game was so aesthetic, i had to lead with my design hat on, and fit the scripts and codes to where they functioned.

What about your role in music/audio production?

It’s so different from UX/UI. As a mixing engineer, I believe that you're also a musician, but you’re behind a console, and that this console is just as important as any other instrument. Your craft, however, is a little different as you’re not creating the sound. Instead, you’re working with sound that is already presented.

For the videos in HOUSE IS OPEN, we had already recorded the tracks live and they sounded good, but my goal was to make it sound like a live show with the finishings and style of a studio record. There’s a huge difference between mixing for live music and studio recordings; I wanted to retain the original performance quality of the video and just amp it up a little, so I balanced the tracks individually to get that.

I had the most creative control in the mixing of “Hero for a Day”! I loved Joel Nah’s arrangement, and when I heard it I immediately visualized the band Journey playing in a massive arena in Tokyo, and I just wanted to bring that kind of intensity to the power ballad that he arranged. So I pushed the faders up, trusted my gut and ta-da! The mix for “Hero for a Day” was done.

Is there one role you enjoy more than the other?

I actually enjoyed them both as much, just differently.

I’ve trained in both mediums, starting off as a sound engineer then picking up UX/UI design 3-4 years later, and I like to tap into both and give them equal amounts of attention. There are different forms of joy - with UX/UI design there’s more freedom in crafting, expressing more in the design and throwing in ideas, but with mixing it’s about taking what there is and putting a spin on it. I do believe that design and music go hand in hand with each other and are equally important, and I’m really happy to have had the creative freedom to toggle them both.