Redesigning Singapore Passport Cover

I recently saw a post that Taiwan was holding a design contest to let the public design and vote for a new passport cover. Some of the passports designs are really quirky. I like the design which consists of a blue bird with a cup of bubble tea on its head. The design is adorable. In my humble opinion, bubble tea is one of the “national treasure” in Taiwan.

I am inspired by the idea of redesigning passport cover. So, I thought why not redesign the Singapore passport cover! Seriously, passport cover doesn’t need to be so formal. It would be fun to inject some local elements into the design.

Here are my designs…

1. Boy and Girl with Luggage

This is a simple design to represent all of us, regardless if you are a traveller at heart. Honestly, I think it is much more fun to travel with your family, friends and closed ones. Hence, I included a boy and a girl to represent group travel and diversity.

For the next 2 designs, I included the Merlion and Singapore national language - Singlish. These are the two iconic characteristics of Singapore. Majority of us would be able to relate to these designs.

2. Merlion and his meal

We have a unique hawker culture, and we are lucky to have a lot of delicious and cheap food, which are easily accessible in a place. Food is our love language. Of course, we have to feature Merlion having a good meal! Merlion is so excited about his meal that he has to exclaim “Makan lo!”

Can you guess what is Merlion having?

“Makan” is a Malay word, and it means “eat”. “Makan lo!” means “time for a meal” in Singlish.

3. Peek-a-boo Merlion

I wanted to use the word “Oi” in the design, so I decided to draw the Merlion peeking from behind a wall. It’s one of a cheeky way to attract your attention. This is my favourite design out of the three. It’s simple and cheerful at the same time.

“Oi!” means “Hey!” for the above context.

I would like to retain the current passport colour, so all the designs would be printed on red covers. Red and white are our flag colours, so I would prefer to use these 2 colours for the designs. On top of that, I would like to retain some elements of the old passport. Hence, having a red cover would be the most ideal.

Which is your favourite design?

Here are the original designs, in black and white, without the text. Isn’t the Merlion cute?