Syahmz

In this hypothetical brief set in the future, Singapore has made NEWater its primary water supply. Problem is, NEWater doesn’t have the best reputation amongst locals – state-of-the-art molecular technology reduced to nothing but ‘toilet water’ because of bad press. It’s time to change that. Presenting, Neue Water, a reimagination that elevates the idea of recycled water from something dirty to a product that brings you closer to the greatest era, art, and moments of time. Drawn from the marketing insight that water is valuable and lasts forever, my team and I decided to romanticise the idea of drinking water that has been around since the beginning of time.

Rather than focusing on the contents of the water, we want to emphasise its history – to make people feel connected to a bigger idea. While researching, the idea of rebirth, as opposed to recycling came up often, pointing us towards the eventual direction of this project. We then came across the concept of Renaissance, which fittingly refers to a period of cultural rebirth. Renaissance art is timeless, valuable, and last forever. Similarly, with an unlimited filtration system like the one NEWater has, Singapore will become self-reliant in our water supply as any and all water can be reused. Essentially, our water can last forever. With Neue Water, it’s Renaissance in a bottle. 

Interestingly, while developing the images for this campaign, we noticed that most Renaissance paintings had bodies of water in them. This brought us back to the fact that water is, and has always been with us. Later, we learned that water in the Renaissance period symbolised purity and cleansing, which serendipitously added to our concept. 

A joint project with Tan Ek Liang and Ong Wei Guang of The Glasgow School of Art.