Submissions Closed.
Overview
The World Health Organization (WHO) officially classified the Coronavirus Disease or COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020. Singapore, being the hub of Asia, is not spared. The number of COVID-19 cases has been increasing and locally we have to roll out increasingly stringent measures to curb community spread. Our daily lives are being disrupted and businesses affected. The way we live, work and play has drastically changed especially as we head towards a national circuit breaker – strict safe distancing measures including closure of workplaces and education/childcare institutions.
DBCS believes that designers are natural problem solvers who find creative solutions for societal issues. It is in this spirit that we are rallying the community of designers in Singapore to put our collective creative minds together to not only offer relief to some of the immediate problems, but also to reimagine the future of life, work, play and learning when we recover from COVID-19.
As such, we are issuing a call to designers to come together and pitch ideas on how we might make lives better during and after the pandemic.
We need your help.
– Are you a designer or a design agency based in Singapore?
– If you are a graphic designer, can you visualise information? If you are an industrial designer, can you put together a stay-at-home kit for our senior citizens or the home-bound?
– If you are a UX designer, can you alleviate the stress of work-from-home?
– If you are a business designer, can you help small businesses navigate the challenges in the current business landscape? The list goes on…
We invite you to look at the following design challenges and submit your design proposals by 22 April, 2359 hours (SGT).
THE CHALLENGES
#1 How might we keep our community safe and healthy (in body and mind) during the global COVID-19 pandemic?
#2 How might we encourage our community to support one another and look out for those who are socially isolated?
#3 How might we learn from COVID-19 to reimagine our futures for work, life, learning and play?
DESIGN CHALLENGE #1
How might we keep our community safe and healthy (in body and mind) during the global COVID-19 pandemic?
Here’s some inspiration to get you thinking.
If you have another idea or problem statement that you would like to tackle, feel free to submit them as well.
Inspiration: Timely, factual information
The number of affected cases is rising. As we learn more facts about the virus and the situation in SG, we are rolling out more measures to curb the spread.
How might we better visualise and communicate information to specific target groups in such a dynamic environment? How can we spread a climate of calm as we do so?
Photo by Weiman Kow
Inspiration: Personal Hygiene
If we can get everyone to observe personal hygiene, there will be a good chance of keeping the infected cases at bay and containing the spread of the virus. Currently, there are videos to share the message, reminders to wash hands thoroughly, masks and hand sanitisers given to households, etc. What else can we do? Whom have we left out?
DESIGN CHALLENGE #2
How might we encourage our community to support one another and look out for those who are socially isolated (home-bound elderly, people with special needs, young parents, caregivers, etc.)?
Here’s some inspiration to get you thinking.
If you have another idea or problem statement that you would like to tackle, feel free to submit them as well.
Inspiration: Safe Distancing -> Social Isolation
The way we live, work, play, learn and connect has been majorly disrupted e.g. weekend visits to parents’, coffee at the kopitiam, meetings over meals, gathering at the void deck for daily chats with neighbours, etc. There is a screeching halt to normal activities.
While many working professionals and children from middle class upwards can take to the online space to continue these activities, some groups like the elderly, homebound, special needs and the low-income do not have the resources and options. How might we address safe distancing leading to social isolation for these vulnerable groups of people?
For those with the means, how might we stay connected socially despite no physical contact?
Inspiration: Build strong community networks
We are in it together as a community. Helping others is also a way to help ourselves cope.
How might we create/encourage a movement where we help and look out for one another (in the workplace/neighbourhood/interest groups/etc.)?
DESIGN CHALLENGE #3
How might we learn from COVID-19 to reimagine our futures for life, work, learning and play?
Here’s some inspiration to get you thinking.
If you have another idea or problem statement that you would like to tackle, feel free to submit them as well.
Inspiration: Stay-at-home with kids
We can no longer bring our kids out to enjoy nature and the outdoors. How might we make staying at home fun, fulfilling and sustainable? How might we make home-based learning more effective? How might we help parents manage?
Inspiration: Work-from-home with kids
How can working parents manage work and kids in the same space, at the same time?
How might we make that a positive experience for both parents and children? For those who are on unpaid leave, how might we help them find jobs to supplement their income?
Inspiration: Get businesses online and back on track post-crisis
Never waste opportunities presented during crisis. Many businesses are suffering from lower walk-in traffic, others forced to take their businesses online or risk closure.
How might we help to onboard businesses online quickly in the short term, and perhaps help them maintain the additional sales channel(s) after COVID-19? How might we use this window to encourage businesses to adopt new and innovative ways of operation? How can we introduce relevant design principles/concepts to help businesses reinvent themselves?
CHALLENGE JOURNEY
Submission Guidelines
- We welcome submissions from any design agency, designer or simply anyone who has an idea.
- Ideas must be original and not infringe on any copyrights or trademark
- Ideas proposed must address any one of the topic areas or it can be a combination
- Actionable and tangible: Ideas must be actionable and centre on tangible results for the intended target audience
- Within funding scope: Ideas that can be implemented within a 3-6 month timeline
- All submissions must reach us by
22 April, 2359 hours (SGT). Extended till Sunday, 26 April! - Please submit via our online form here: http://designforgood.dbcsingapore.org/submit
Evaluation Criteria
- Value – Demonstrating ability to understand and identify users’ needs. Solving problems and improving lives in specific ways that relieve the challenges of target audience.
- Inspiration – Possessing a stroke of ingenuity in its approach to problem solving, aptly applied to the local context.
- Impact – Benefitting target audience in specific ways that are meaningful and significant to them. Enhancing or adding meaningful value to their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Timeliness – The proposed idea has the potential to be launched in the market within 3 to 6 months.
- Systems thinking – How the idea/project works in tandem with the rest of the mechanisms in the ecosystem; how it coordinates with other efforts currently in place.
Seed Money
Successful applicants will be supported from a cash pool of up to S$20,000 to develop the concept.
For any enquiries, please contact us at info@dbcsingapore.org
Organised by
Supporting Agencies
Supporting Partners (SG Mark 2020 Winners)
In support of
