Year
2023
Creative Team
Dung Ngo, Nhi Bui
Supervisor
Sweii Chong
Support
Tinh Truong, Bam Tran
Scope of Work
Visual Identity, 3D Concept, Interactive, Animation


Accolades

Into Saigon Market

Local traditional markets have been part and parcel of Vietnamese culture. While facing downsizing and disbandment, the Saigon traditional markets retain their role as gateways into the deeper layers of local culture.

In this context, 'Into Saigon Market' emerges as a multi-channel campaign that promotes tourism in lesser-known local markets. By integrating gamification mechanism and emerging technology throughout the touchpoints, the campaign creates an authentic and captivating experience for tourists.

By transforming lesser-known Saigon markets into tourist-driven attractions, the campaign supports the sustainable development and positioning them as invaluable cultural assets.

This project has been recognised with a Gold Award at WBDS Student Design Awards 2024/25↗ and a Bronze Award at Young Ones Student Awards 2025↗.

Full case study on Behance↗.

The heart of the project is driven by the research question:
"How can a design project help preserve and promote cultural identity of traditional markets in Saigon?"

In the intersection of sustainability, cultural identity, and tourism, “Into Saigon Market” emerges as a multi-channel campaign that transforms the lesser-known Saigon markets into tourist-driven attractions.

In contrast to spiritual route, fabric market carries a more bustling atmosphere as the vendors constantly importing and exporting fabric and garments. The typical scene to see here is strong, young men carrying fabric rolls on 1 shoulder. Most of the time, they don’t even have time to take off their helmets since they are always on the go, ready to get on their motorbikes to deliver the next order.

To demonstrate the user journey and how the touchpoints come into interactions with the tourists, we broke down the campaign into 3 main phases: Before-trip, On-site, and After-trip.

AR Experience - How it works

1. Scan to link to AR Instagram Filter
2. Look for the poster as the trigger
3. Use 2 fingers to interact with the 3D object

Once they download the app, they are welcomed by curated routes with different themes by interacting with 3D miniatures. This phase allows the tourists to preview the destination in advance to see what suits them.

The app introduces an AR Mode that connects the tourists to our beloved Land Genie, the AR Companion and assistant. For now, you can tap the button to Summon Land Genie to help you navigate the way to the markets and have conversation with it through prompts and dialogue tree game mechanic.

Each route has a badge as a reward to users. As each route has 2 markets, we have a progressing circle for users to track their progress. This serves as a motivation to explore all markets.

While digital badges are automatically rewarded to users using location sensor
technology upon completing their visit to a local market, the physical merchandise require a certain number of badges to exchange at the checkpoints.

_{Year
2024
Scope of Work
Art Direction, Typography, Packaging Design, Product Photography, Visualizer, Event Photography
Artist
The Cassette
Composer
Tran Hoai Than
Guitar
Nguyen Huu Thien, Tran Hoai Than
Bass
Nguyen Thoai Quynh My
Drum
Le Dinh Sinh
Special thanks to BeLevian, Nguyen Van Hien, Le Hoang, Sword Coast Soundscapes}

_{Producer
Nhim Bien, Bao Le (BS16)
Mixing/Mastering
Bao Le (BS16)
Recorder
KAS
Record Label
Warner Music Vietnam
Executive Producer
Dan Ton 
A&R
Thu Hien
Marketing & Promotion
H. Luu, Loan Nguyen, Stella Dang, Eden Tran, Tuyet Anh
Artwork & Design
Dung Ngo, Nhi Ton, Nguyen Le
Special Thanks to LP CLUB.}

<sub>Physical Album Photography
Photographer
Dung Ngo
Concept & Styling
Dung Ngo
Lighting
Bam Tran
Event Photographer
Dung Ngo

Visualizer
Dung Ngo, Nhi Ton, Dinh Kha</sub>

The album reflects a duality: part dark and mysterious, part vibrant and accessible, much like a personal diary chronicling a contrasting emotional journey. This narrative inspired me to develop a visual identity that embodies the album’s complex, dreamlike progression.

Song titles were designed from the lightest weight to the boldest weight, capturing the contrast of light and darkness.

The songs were to brought to life using TouchDesigner, which creates dynamic, audio-reactive visuals. Additionally, varying font weights were employed in the lyrics to be cohesive with the packaging design.

In May 2024, The Cassette’s sold-out showcase and fansign event took place in Ho Chi Minh City. Projected onto large screens and woven into venue decorations, these visual elements helped transform the band's performance into a fully immersive experience.

_{Year
2024
Scope of Work
Design Direction, Typography, Packaging Design, Product Photography
Artist
Vu.
Record Label
Warner Music Vietnam
Executive Producer
Dan Ton
A&R
Thu Hien, Tiayy
Marketing & Promotion
H. Luu, Eden Tran, Stella Dang, Quynh Loan, Dinh Kha, Tuyet Anh
Physical Album Production
Nhi Ton, madbabycatz
Design
Dung Ngo}

<sub>“Bao Tang Cua Nuoi Tiec” concept photoshoot
Photographer
Cow10 @cow10_
Producer
Patrick@xxiiipl
Lightning
Fei Lung @fei.lung
Assistant
RMD @rmd_m
Art Director
Leo @__leeoh
Set designer
Ho Chun @chun_cl_
Props Man
Tung @twolayers2
Hair
Ziggie @ziggggie
Makeup
KK Tang @_k.tang _
Styling
Gel @gel.yiu



Special Thanks to LP CLUB.</sub>

_{Physical Album Photography
Photographer
Dung Ngo
Concept & Styling
Dung Ngo
Lighting
Bam Tran}

The visual identity draws inspiration from the structured, institutional nature of a museum, where memory, emotion, and artifact are preserved within a system of order. By fusing the bureaucratic, hierarchical language of archival systems with a sense of personal sentimentality, the identity reflects how regrets and memories are often catalogued, revisited, and reinterpreted over time.

The project expands into a line of thematic merchandise designed as mementos from an emotional exhibition. Key items include enamel pins and leather tags. Each product carries forward the album’s symbolic language while offering fans tactile, personal extensions of the listening experience.

< style="width:300px; height: 300px; object-fit: cover">

Mementos

Mementos is a project taking inspiration from Franz Kafka's magnum opus Metamorphosis. The goal of the project is to turn the novel's typographic material into a format to be experienced.

The thing I am obsessed with Metamorphosis is the concept of dehumanization and surreal transformation. In addition, the system of symbols in the story also captivated my attention since they are objects that significantly affect Gregor's transformation. At the end of the story, the question haunting me was:

"What's left to remember when Gregor is gone?"
"Will he be remembered at all?"

---

.

I decided to employ the medium of 3D since it could enhance the effect, turning the letters and symbol into organic, breathing, moving, living creatures.

After deciding to focus on the metaphorical aspect of the novel, I move on to analyse symbols from the novel to pick out the most significant ones.

Although Metamorphosis is packed with metaphorical imageries, I shortlisted them down to 4 symbols: the bug, the clock, the apple, and the violin since they are most prominant imageries that mark the main phases of the story.

The treatment for the 3D material and the animation aimed to embody the notion of transition, transformation, or to be exact, deformation. As the symbols and letters morph, they emphasize the deformation process of the story.

As the viewers scan the memento card, they will experience the morphing of the words into symbols. To make it even more interactive, the viewers could freeze and continue the morphing transformation at any moment by tapping on the screen. This allows them to inspect the morphing more thoroughly and thus, engage with the project better.

The AR Experience is demonstrated in the video below.

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_{Year
2020
Supervisor
Hellmut Monz, Patrice
Scope of Work
3D Concept, Animation, Mixed Reality}

Heavenhood

Heavenhood is a VR walking simulator that explores the theme of dystopia underneath the utopia camouflage. As the player progresses through the game, they interact with the surroundings and discover the underlying disturbing truth. Under the control of excessive surveillance, human lose their privacy, and eventually, their identity. Heavenhood aims to challenge the ideal standards of society and highlight the invasion of technology in our lives. At the end of the day, whether Heavenhood is a utopia or dystopia, it depends on the perception of the player.

The characters are dressed in 1950s clothes, an optimistic era of America. This aims to mock the utopian standards by modeling the characters after the cliché American stereotypes of respectable white collar working men and the ideal housewives. They are always happy with a constant smile on their faces. This depicts a dream-like life as if they are characters from a doll house.

Inspired by the idyllic housing of America in 1950s, Heavenhood introduces houses that are systematically built to be identical. Also, the iconic white picket fence and the perfect green lawn also pay tribute to the American 1950 utopian vision.

The Ferris Wheel acts as a metaphor for the distraction of the society, which represents the entertainment, leisure and hedonistic way of living. This is inspired by the theme park Pleasure Island from the iconic movie Pinocchio (1940).
Being placed at the heart of the neighbourhood, the Ferris wheel becomes the main attraction of entertainment. The excitement of the residents is demonstrated in the long queue waiting to take a ride.

The robotic details underneath are the big reveal, also the climax of the VR game. The players are able to reveal the truth by grabbing the masks of the residents. This point warps the perception of the players and makes them realise that there is actual trouble in paradise.

The houses are an essential part of Heavenhood. There are hints and secrets inside awaiting the players to explore. Inside the houses are the bedrooms. Once entering one certain bedroom, the players are one step closer to reach the secret trap door that opens the path leading to the dystopia.

As the transit station between the utopian camouflage and the technological dystopia, the corridor introduces a change of mood. The most noticeable change is the colours. From pastel bright hues, the corridor flips to a to darker, dimmer scene. The monochromatic bluish colour scheme also reveals the dominance of technology. As a result, this creates the contrast between two realms.

The lab is by far the darkest and most disturbing area of Heavenhood where the dystopian nightmare is revealed in all its glory. Packed with dystopian elements, this area uncovers the origins of Heavenhood and make the players ponder upon the consequences of the technological dominance.