Every Mandarin Oriental hotel has its signature fan reflecting its own corporate identity and the culture of the country it resides in. Hans Tan Studio was commissioned to design their Singapore's branch fan and I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to work on this brief.

Paying homage to Singapore, we drew inspiration from the city’s multicultural heritage with Peranakan batik design and Mandarin Oriental's brand identity, to design a pattern of delicate motifs that encapsulates the essence of Singapore.

Refining and streamlining the motifs

Making the Fan

Instead of the traditional wooden fan, we chose to work with porcelain, a material that our studio frequently works with.

Using an intricate resist blasting technique, the glazed porcelain base is first masked with the pattern and then sand blasted to reveal the pink clay underneath.

The fan base is made from pink porcelain clay with a matt green glaze. The hues were handpicked from the vibrant colour palettes of Peranakan culture which converge with the hotel’s green façade and the warm, inviting pink that layers the atrium of the hotel.

The signature fan is currently on display in the hotel lobby. Find out more on their official coverage here.