Design WAH! 2025:
Explore IP-Driven Design in Augmented Reality
Design WAH! 2025 showcased original design IPs by Singapore’s emerging designers and design students at FLAsia 2025, during Singapore Design Week. HOVARLAY brought 13 of the IPs to life in augmented reality: visitors scanned a QR code on each printed work to see the character move on their phone, with no app to download.
HOVARLAY demonstrated how AR can transform static physical assets into dynamic brand narratives, signaling a bold future for Singapore’s design industry.
Sector
- Nation by Design
- Design Futures
- Design Marketplace
- Design Impact
Service
- Hovarlay Insights
- Digital Experience
- Customer Engagement
The Experience
Celebrating Singapore’s Emerging Designers
Design WAH! is a curated exhibition within FLAsia 2025, held alongside Singapore Design Week. It aims to:
- Spotlight original design IPs by Singapore’s emerging designers and design students.
- Position IP designers for commercial opportunities, licensing, and collaboration.
- Bridge creativity and commerce, highlighting design IPs that are aesthetic, ownable, and market-ready.
- Provide designers cross-border exposure and a global platform to grow their IP.
The Digital Transformation Journey
Challenge
Give Visitors a Reason to Look Closer
The IPs were shown as printed works on panels and posters. The organisers wanted visitors to spend more time with each design, and wanted the designers to have something interactive to show potential licensing partners, without asking visitors to download an app.
HOVARLAY’s no-code AR platform answered this brief, demonstrating a new standard for experiential marketing in the MarTech space.
Strategy
Bring Each Design to Life on Visitors' Phones
HOVARLAY designed and built an AR experience for each of the 13 IPs from the designers’ artwork. Each printed work carried a QR code that opened the experience in the phone’s browser. Visitors scanned the code and watched the character come to life, and some experiences also played sound. HOVARLAY Insights recorded scans and time spent on each experience.
Outcome
13 Singapore Design IPs, Ready to Explore
Over three days at FLAsia 2025 (18 to 20 September), visitors scanned the AR experiences more than 5,000 times and spent an average of 45 seconds in each. The designers can keep using their AR experiences in portfolios and licensing conversations.
Result
“Design WAH! sincerely thanks HOVARLAY for their exceptional AR support. By bringing 13 Singaporean design IPs to life, this partnership created tangible opportunities for visibility and commercialization. We deeply value the real impact delivered to our emerging talents.”
Cindy, Senior Brand Strategist of Creativeans, Design WAH!
Average Dwell Time
Consumers rate the designs generated both in terms of desirability and trendiness.
