Heritage is often only spoken about in relation to the past. Thus, when approached to create the visual identity for Heritage Activation Nodes (HAN), an initiative by National Heritage Board that seeks to empower communities to celebrate the heritage of their neighbourhood, we asked ourselves, how can we get people to recognise the heritage in their day-to-day lives and how could we get them to celebrate it?
Centered around the idea of everyday heritage and community, the visual identity for HAN featured everyday objects, people and buildings, highlighting and elevating them. Bright colours and a friendly tone-of-voice was also adopted to express the vibrancy of communities.
The idea of everyday heritage is also expressed through our mascot, Hannie, the European Tree Sparrow, a bird commonly found all over Singapore.
Hannie is illustrated in a variety of poses, allowing her to be used in a variety of scenarios.
Before we landed on the European Tree Sparrow, we considered the Javan Mynah and Singapura Cat for the mascot.
The key visual for the overall HAN brand features everyday objects, people and buildings. From HDB flats to the iconic blue tiled tables and stools, to a hawker centre and even a community cat.
Poster templates were created as part of the brand package, to be used by NHB to call for volunteers or collaborators.
Social media templates were developed as part of the brand package as well.
The resulting HAN brand is one that is vibrant and approachable, but also versatile. Filled with illustrations highlighting day-to-day objects and people, each neighbourhood key visual is unique, featuring structures and landmarks that are unique to that precinct.
One of the first few precincts to be activated through this initiative, Katong Joo-Chiat’s neighbourhood colour is a bright blue, inspired by the Peranakan influence in the area. The second neighbourhood, Clementi, has a dark green, inspired by the greenery in the area.
