ISTD 2017 / Makers

The brief requires the project to celebrate the life of a local craftsman and to tell their story through their words and images. This project follows the story of a Master Luthier in Singapore, Malcolm Tan.

The project will take shape in the form of a publication, and will focus on certain aspects of Malcolm that speaks very strongly of his character and his craft.

About The Luthier

Malcolm Tan is Singapore’s foremost and pre-eminent luthier/guitar tech with over 20 years building, repairing and restoring guitars. An alumnus from Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery, and a former apprentice of Master Luthier, Sergei De Jonge, Malcolm is regarded by his customers as a legend.

Malcolm is a a lifetime member of A.S.I.A., the Association of Stringed Instruments Artisans and a G.A.L. member, Guild of American Luthiers since 1994. With all of these qualifications and recommendations under his belt, Malcolm remains humble, constantly giving all glory to God.

This project seeks to embody his piousness, while giving tribute to his excellence at his craft, especially his accuracy and precision.

Focus Points

1. Very staunch Christian

2. Family loving man

3. Takes pride in efficiency and precision of his work

Concept

Precision, to mimic Malcolm’s precision in his craft, combined with the 2 senses he deems most important: Sight & Touch.

Behind The Scenes

While exploring on my concept of precision, I initially attempted to use light rays to create typography.

The spread would be made out of diecut holes. With the right page lying flat on a surface, light will shine through the left page at a precise angle, from a precise height, with a precise intensity, to the right page, thus forming a complete word.

However, I was unable to to come up with the perfect calculations within the given time frame.

In the end, the project failed as the calculation requires me to cut holes that decreases in size, starting from 2mm.

I was unable to go any smaller than 1mm, and decided to discard the idea.