Overall

Throughout the light-up, there are tigers in a myriad of different stances, with some leaping, crouching or walking, to demonstrate their dynamism, a distinctive attribute of tigers that we wanted everyone to feel energized by. At the same time, we have tigers that are also resting and lying down, to symbolise that it is important for people to remember to take a break when they are burnt out or overwhelmed by work and life during this pandemic.

Tiger Poses

Tiger Colours

First Segment: Growing Up

The first segment documents a tiger’s journey of growth from a cub growing up and discovering the world around it. The tiger cubs are seen to be playing around with their family as well as with fishes and butterflies in their surroundings. They are led forward by their parents and older ones as they traverse this new world, with peonies and cherry blossoms adorn trees in the background. The former symbolises prosperity and good luck, and the latter symbolises renewal and optimism, a bid to further highlight our message of wishing everyone good fortune in starting the new year afresh. A little further along this stretch, tigers in their adolescence can be seen being more active, prancing freely and climbing trees embellished with golden leaves and red lanterns. Once again, the golden leaves and red lanterns symbolise wealth, prosperity and vitality which we hope will be bestowed upon everyone in the new year.

Iteration 1	Iteration 2	Final
For the first stretch, we initially proposed to have tigers in their natural environment, keeping only the basics like rocks and grass.	As it was a little too plain, we added a myriad of plants (integrating the lucky flowers from the research) to increase the vibrancy.	The client felt that there was too much variety and suggested removing the darker-coloured flowers. Hence, our final design kept to two kinds of flowers/plants.

Details

Second Segment: Wealth & Fortune

The second stretch depicts the tiger reaching adulthood and striving to achieve wealth and fortune, similar to how all working adults who work hard every day either for their livelihood or for the pursuit of their careers or attainment of wealth. Tigers are seen leaping about bamboo clusters which symbolise strength and health. The flexibility of bamboo also symbolises one’s tenacity and adaptability, a pivotal trait for all to have especially during these trying times. In addition, there are overflowing baskets of pineapples, mandarin oranges and pomelos as well as heaps of golden coins and ingots scattered all over the ground, suggesting a bountiful harvest and great wealth and prosperity in the upcoming year ahead. In Chinese dialect, pineapple is an onomatopoeia for wealth coming one’s way. Moreover, the Chinese phrase "大吉大利" literally refers to mandarin oranges and figuratively connotes great luck and profit. Furthermore, pomelos symbolize prosperity, good luck and even suggest family unity when presented in pairs. Stacked golden ingots also form the shape of a wave, suggesting one to ride the waves of fortune coming their way. Cherry blossom trees are once again in the backdrop, reinforcing the message of remaining positive during adversity and starting anew.

Part A

Iteration 1	Iteration 2	Final
Our initial idea was that tigers in their youth had to undergo trials and tribulations before emerging victorious. However, this was too violent for such a festive occasion.	Hence, we proposed another idea, to show the idea of youth working hard and striving for greater heights by depicting tall trees that the tigers had to climb up. This idea was accepted, but improvements had to be made to the illustration of the trees and the positions/poses of the tigers.	We enhanced the depiction of the trees by choosing a golden-green for the leaves and keeping to only one type of lanterns for the focus to be drawn to the tigers instead. Tigers were portrayed to be resting, playing with each other and climbing the tree for variety.

Details

Part B

Iteration 1	Iteration 2	Final
We initially were imagining a light display that could mimic the tiger leaping by timing the lighting. However, this was not achievable due to technical constraints, hence we simply kept the idea of the leaping tigers.	Along with the leaping tigers, other details such as heaps of pineapples and oranges were added to increase the festivity. Waves of golden coins were added as well to symbolise prosperity coming in waves.	To better differentiate the trees, the flowers were turned to pink instead. More fruits like melons were added as well for symbolic purposes. Bamboo was also added for better continuity to the third segment.

Details

Third Segment: Celebration

The third stretch paints a picture of tigers in celebration, setting the stage for the centerpiece. The tigers here have moved on to start their own families, emerged victorious from the various trials and tribulations of life and are at the stage to revel in the abundance of wealth they have earned and live happily ever after with their family. The tigers lie amongst copious heaps of gold coins and bushes of peonies, symbolising their success and immense prosperity. In the foreground, there are waves of water, its undulating curves representing the ups and downs of life and among them, koi fish leap in and out. The koi indicate perseverance, accomplishment and courage, that we hope will be with everyone to propel them to greater heights. Koi fish are also commonly associated with longevity due to its long history and hardy nature, another wish we have for everyone in the new year.

Iteration 1	Iteration 2	Final
The initial design was approved!	More detail was added to the tigers and peonies. Bamboo was also added in the backdrop.	The design was finessed for production. The placement of tigers was adjusted to ensure that the tigers were visible from both sides of the road.

Details

Centerpiece

The centerpiece, comprising a harmonious family of tigers, lies at the end of the stretch. The father tiger is poised on top of a huge rock, a display of his strength and steadfast nature, while the nurturing mother tiger is on a lower elevation, surrounded by her three adorable children. The three tiger cubs are playing with each other and the golden ingots and coins that are within their paws’ reach. A spread of peonies around them adds to the vibrancy and festivity as well, while multi-colored koi fish are again depicted at the foreground among waves of water, signifying prosperity and success. According to chinese beliefs and feng shui (风水), water also implies the flowing of wealth and fortune.

Iteration 1	Iteration 2	Final
The idea of tigers standing on a rock surrounded with water was accepted. However, the tigers looked lonely and did not demonstrate festivity.	We decided to add more tigers and other festive elements like koi fish and flowers. However, 4 was not an auspicious number and the client felt that the centerpiece was not imposing enough.	We increased the height of the centerpiece to about 12 metres and added an additional tiger cub to make a family of five. Special attention was given to the tigers' facial expressions to prevent them from looking too fierce.

Details

Overhangs

Eu Tong Sen Street & North Bridge Road

Overhangs on this stretch are decorated with a creative assortment of illuminated lanterns that comprise cineraria flowers, tiger lanterns, red packets, pairs of goldfish, gold coins, 福 signs, traditional chinese lanterns, chinese fans and fire crackers. Cineraria flowers, known as one of the lucky flowers for the Year of the Tiger, also symbolise delight. The rest are common motifs that signify prosperity and the welcoming of good fortune in the new year. The lanterns on each overhang are also placed at different heights to enhance visual dynamism.

Iteration 1	Iteration 2	Final
This initial idea was given the go-ahead, however, variety was lacking and the overhang was not eye-catching enough.	We revised the design to add variation in terms of the elements and introduced the idea of levels to hang the elements at different heights.	The client then gave feedback that it was too haphazard with the 10 different elements. Hence, we divided the stretch of road and varied the elements in each stretch instead.

Details

South Bridge Road

Overhangs on this stretch consist of the typical Chinese New Year ornaments like traditional chinese fans, pineapples and couplets. However, one fascinating thing would be the tiger heads that grace the two columns on each side of the overhang. These tiger heads are inspired by the head of the lion during a lion dance performance, and they cleverly introduce the couplets on the two sides which illustrate corresponding auspicious chinese phrases to the words on the fans above. The sequence of the felicitous phrases are as follows:
五福临门 | 身体健康 | 金玉满堂 | 恭喜发财 | 大吉大利 | 吉祥如意 | 繁荣昌盛 | 富贵兴旺

Iteration 1	Iteration 2	Final
Initially, we had different designs for overhangs at different stretches of the road. The first two was based on the idea that we wanted to include animals from all the different zodiac signs. The first one simply strung them along to their sequence, the second one incorporated elements of Chinese chess, and the third one tried to use butterflies as a metaphor for transformation and hope to wish the public a better 2022.	However, the client gave feedback that logistically speaking, it was tedious to have different stretches of the road have different designs. Hence, they picked this design and mentioned that it was good to go except for the tigers on the side lampposts having a different design language from the rest of the overhang.	In our final design, we made changes to the tigers on the sides, getting inspiration from the head of the lion in lion dance (i.e. a traditional dance in Chinese culture in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune). We also incorporated auspicious Chinese phrases which were integrated both on the fans on the top and the sides.

Details

Photo Spots

In light of the pandemic, we wanted to pay tribute to our frontliners, namely, the Police; Hawkers & Food Delivery Riders; Safe Distancing Officers & Cleaners; Transport & Airlines Personnel; and Healthcare Workers. As the stripes are the most distinctive part of the tiger, we have adopted that strategy for the designs.

Category	Note of thanks
Police	To the people who keep our streets safe and orderly, helping us manage tensions in these stressful times, the work goes unseen many a time, but we want you to know that your effort is recognised and keep up the good work!
Hawkers & Food Delivery	To the hawkers and delivery riders who have stepped up in these times, who have adopted new ways of providing us the essential service of sustenance, thank you and keep up the good work!
Safe-distancing Officers & Cleaners	A thankless job it is, whether it is doing the uncomfortable job of maintaining safe-distancing and also keeping our communities sanitary, we want you to know that you are not forgotten in these times and we want to thank you for the service to our country, no effort is too small.
Transport & Airlines Personnel	To the people who keep our country’s network running everyday, business as usual, getting us to where we need to go safely, we want to affirm your effort, and you have our gratitude.
Healthcare Workers	To our Healthcare folks, who keep our country’s health in check, and help make our day to day living possible, thank you so much!

Iteration 1	Iteration 2	Final
At the photo spots, we initially proposed to have cute, approachable tigers depicted in the form of a play on words in the auspicious phrases they were supposed to refer to. For instance, 一帆风顺 is an idiom that means "everything can go smoothly without any obstacles", however the Chinese words it uses literally refers to a boat sailing smoothly. Hence, a tiger is depicted to be sailing on a boat.	However, after proposing this idea to our client, they commented that it would be very challenging to achieve the level of detail as depicted in the illustrations with a lantern material. Hence, we counter-proposed another idea we had, which was inspired by Bearbricks. We proposed to have these tigers each symbolise a message we wanted to convey to our frontliners. The client was receptive to this idea, however, they commented about the shape and patterns applied that made it not seem like a tiger.	Hence, we further iterated on the shape of the tiger and carefully studied tigers and other animals to find out their most distinctive attributes. We figured that the most distinctive part of the tiger would be its stripes. Hence, we designed and iterated on patterns with different thickness and distribution of stripes as well as different combinations of colours to portray each category of frontliners we had identified. We finally arrived at this design which was accepted by our client.

Details

Reflections

Here's a candid behind-the-scenes shot for a Straits Times article featuring the light-up 😂 Although it was by pure serendipity that I was led to take on this project, it was a very fulfilling experience. Through this project, my project management skills were honed significantly and I was really able to put what I learnt at school in a project management module to good use (e.g. work breakdown, stakeholder management). Leading teams was something I had experience in, however, one that was of such a large scale and with so many stakeholders was a first for me. There were many obstacles along the way, such as clients changing their requirements, team members not being able to deliver up to expectations, and a tight timeline. However, the fun I had designing and working with the team and the satisfaction after seeing our designs materialize in reality is undescribable.