Remember huddling around the television set with the whole family on weekday nights at 8pm to watch local series like Under One Roof and Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd on Channel 5? Gone are the days where our only options on television were limited to local shows like these and boy, were they good.
To commemorate the release of 106 local films, Netflix collaborated with a bunch of talented, young designers from Lasalle to revitalise these dated shows in the form of quirky and unique graphic design posters. Some of these students were infants when these shows were aired, so it’s quite interesting to see how they’ve reimagined these classic Singaporean titles in their designs.
Credit – Netflix
For example, designer Daphne Cheong was only 4-years-old when she first watched I Not Stupid, yet the film still struck a chord in her after watching it again today after 18 years. She cites the high level of pressure that parents put on their children nowadays as the main inspiration for her piece, which portrays this social predicament in the form of a danger sign.
Credit – Netflix
Other designers like Brigitta Phylicia and Inez Prawiradirdja were not raised in Singapore, so they had no idea what certain shows represented.
In order to find out more, they spoke to elderly Singaporeans about what the series Growing Up meant to them. In their design, they’ve included the strong Singaporean value of family closeness by representing it on a traditional Tingkat container.
Credit – Netflix
Those were the golden days of local film, and I have to say, there was certainly a stronger sense of pride and belonging in local culture amongst Singaporeans.
We didn’t have to look far for entertainment, for we all looked up to local comedic legends like Gurmit Singh and Moses Lim. With this latest release, it’s the perfect opportunity for us to rekindle that Singapore spirit by indulging ourselves in some local television.
Check out the rest of the designs here.