Bridge Series - Bringing A Fresh Touch

Bridge is a campaign targeted at industry creatives in Singapore to showcase their expertise through creative storytelling. The appointment of a creative as the content creator would inherently be tasked to lead this campaign. I had the opportunity to be appointed as a content creator in this campaign organised by CreativesAtWork in collaboration with Blue3Asia and supported by IMDA.

The campaign kicked off in a joint session with the good people from CreativesAtWork and Blue3Asia. We ran through the concept, aligned our objectives and how we would role it out - running a campaign during Singapore’s ‘Heightened Alert’ due to the pandemic did cause delays. First, I came up with the title of ‘Bringing A Fresh Touch’ to support local F&B companies to promote their businesses through creative storytelling. I wanted to highlight some of the business owners in this industry who might be hit badly by the pandemic and as well as those who were still striving for the past year.

Being a photographer, my specialty is in portrait, event, and product photography. There is an increasing need for quality images during this period of ‘business pivoting’ as business owners come up with new ideas. Thus, I had the idea of supporting these businesses to come up with creative branding through having a ‘key frame’ which could use in various ways of advertising such as brochures, pamphlets, social media, etc. The deliverables would heavily benefit these business owners as they would have quality images for their own campaigns and advertising plans. We would also partner with them in promoting their business using our social media platforms as well.

I wanted to create something meaningful while useful at the same time to benefit these business owners during this time of uncertainty. During the session with Mr Daniel Yun (Blue3Asia), he mentioned that I should create something distinct and meaningful at the same time. When anybody look at these images, they would associate them with my style of photography. I went deep diving on how to create this set of images that would do just that, then came the idea of using my specialty. What better way to distinct myself than combining portraiture and product photography! An image popped up in my head of a business owner holding his/her signature dish and the ‘key frame’ was created!

I got in touch with various business owners and discussed with them the concept which I had wanted to achieve from the shoot. We went through the needed preparation and of course, what were the deliverables for them. Timeline was tied and I needed to make sure every aspect was well co-ordinated while coping with Covid-19 restrictions. As I embarked on this project, I played many roles such as co-ordinating the shoot sessions, make sure that our sessions did not interfere too much into their peak periods. I had to make sure the budget was well managed, liaise with their staff, their appearances, in some cases their makeup, doubling up as an interviewer and of course the photography portion during the shoot. Then from the edits to liaison with the printing company for the collection of prints and in turn, delivery to their shops/restaurants. (In addition, there was a session where we had included videography to capture the ‘behind the scenes’, interview session and some light-hearted moments)

One of the key points to note was that the organiser wanted the content creator to upscale their skills through this campaign, it was definitely a pleasure ‘upscaling’ myself throughout. In fact, it was extremely heartening for me to see the delightful faces of my clients when they received the prints. It is something special to see your creation bring meaning to these individuals when they see themselves in frame while holding their signature dishes. This campaign brought together many good souls to spur on one another during this not-so-good-times period. I am truly privileged to be a part of it.

Cheers,

Jay.C

Special thanks to the people below for this meaningful project:

Lim Kiang - Last Dog Café (www.instagr.am/lastdogcafe)

Yiyi - Chuan Wei Xuan (www.fb.com/chuanweixuan)

Yi Shing & Yu Ying - Chinnylixious (www.instagr.am/chinnylixioussg)

Ismail - Eighty8lights (www.instagr.am/eighty8lights)

Fanny Tham & Jayce Tham – CreativesAtWork (www.instagr.am/creativesatwork)

Daniel Yun & Raymus Chang - Blue3Asia (www.blue3asia.com)

FOUR SHOTS FOR EACH BUSINESS OWNER

PRINT DELIVERY

PRODUCTION CLIP