L I M I T M AG A Z I N E I S S U E # 0 1 A C E P E R S O N A L I S AT I O N
L I M I T I S A S E R I E S O F P U B L I C AT I O N S , B O R N TO C A P T U R E THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND INSIGHTS OF D E S I G N E R S T H R O U G H T H E I R C R E AT I V E WO R K S PAC E S .
Contents
Contents FOREWORD
04
The notion of workspace personalisation
06
Introduction
14
Roots - the Interview
16
Beautiful - the Interview
38
Notes
52
Contributors
54
L I M I T M a ga z i n e I SS U E #01 [4]
foreword
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Fo r e wo r d
Welcome to Limit. Limit is a series of publications, born to capture the personal experiences and insights of designers through their creative workspaces. Our hope is that through this we will get to share our inquisitive fascination and enthusiasm for workspaces with other like-minded individuals, who in turn can be inspired to personalise their work environment. The magazine will be featuring creative workspaces of designers, both established and emerging, from different parts of the world. We understand that how a workspace is being defined can affect not only how people feel, but also their work performance; the commitment to their employee, and the creation of new knowledge in the organisation. A workspace is dictated foremost by the culture of the studio and people working there. Therefore, the purpose of the magazine is to inspire, through research and interviews, the
individuals in personalising their workspaces. But also to encourage the discovery of new possible ways in doing it. Of course allowing individuals to understand the process and value of workspace personalisation; how it can affect their work process indirectly. In addition, we hope that this magazine will also be a source of inspiration where we can initiate dialogue and collaboration among individuals in their workspace personalisation. In this inaugural issue, we thought it appropriate to look first into the private workspace of designers who run their design studios alone; and analysed how their workspace has been personalised to reflect and support their work process. The theme we’re kicking things off with thus is ‘workspace personalisation’, understanding the notion of workspace personalisation. We have also include a few trivia and benefits of workspace personalisation.
L I M I T M a ga z i n e I SS U E #01 [6]
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The notion of WORKSPACE personalisation Did you know that According to studies, employee personalisation of office environments is a very common phenomenon with 70% to 90% of Americans Personalising their workspaces? Wells, Thelenand and Ruark, (2007)
L I M I T M a ga z i n e I SS U E #01 [8]
Individuals sitting at empowered (allowing the individual to design the area) desks were
32%
more efficient & productive than those working in their lean counterparts (bare and functional) without any increase in errors. University of Exeter (2010)
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the notion of workspace personalisation In this current society, barriers between work and personal life are breaking down as people seek more career opportunities rather than jobs. Thus people are working at longer hours, making a social life at work, and sometimes sleeping and eating at work even if necessary. Therefore, when a workspace is poorly designed; with inadequate facilities to support occupants’ work related task or activities, this will have an adverse effect on their thinking and working ability. As a result, affecting their morale and work performance. With these increasingly changes in the work environment, understanding the notion of workspace personalisation is essentially beneficial for every individuals. Workspace personalisation is a form of empowerment which refers to the control given to the occupant in the participation of the environmental decision-making. Through workspace personalisation, individuals can redefined their workspace, and shaped them accordingly to meet the needs of their work related tasks and activities. This helps to support their work process better.
This is further supported by the research undertaken by the University of Exeter (2010), with results shown that people working in enriched spaces (decorated with plants and pictures) were 17% more productive than those in lean spaces (bare and functional). Those that were sitting at empowered (allowing the individual to design the area) desks were even more efficient being 32% more productive than their lean counterparts (bare and functional) without any increase in errors. Workspace personalisation is also particularly helpful for designers. As creatives, designers are often on the quest for creative ideas so it can get mentally draining for them. Especially at times when projects are under way, designers are expected to work around the clock in workplace to meet the tight deadlines. Therefore, a personalised workspace can help to motivate designers and cope with work stress better.
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L I M I T M a ga z i n e I SS U E #01
94%
Students AGREE THAT A PERSONALISED WORKSPACE CAN HELP IN their CREATIVE THINKING
Survey conducted among 50 lasalle students (2012)
WORKSPACE PERSONALISATIOn highly related to creativity? Workspace personalisation is also highly related to creativity as well. It has found to express one’s personality and uniqueness. Personalisation as the form of self-expression, is the deliberate decoration or modification of an environment by its occupants to reflect their identities. In addition, the personalisation of workspace can also express emotions, and even intentionally evoke certain desired emotions. How a workspace is defined can also be a influence to the work process. Like Pandarosa, an art and design studio from Berln Germany has described, that their workspace and objects displayed within the space define their ideas, which ultimately define the visual aesthetic and conceptual approach of their work. Therefore, how a workspace is defined can in turn help to support and influence the creative thought and design process directly or indirectly.
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‘Our space defines the visual aesthetic and conceptual approach of our work’ QUOTE by art and design studio, Pandaroal From Berlin, Germany
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introduction
spaces that called for relaxation The featured design studios in this issue, Roots and Beautiful, both share quite a few common things. Jonathan and Roy respectively run their design studios alone mostly. They have both came from Kinetic, one of the most highly-awarded agencies in the region. Roy was one of the founders and creative directors of Kinetic, while on the other hand Jonathan was working there as a print and advertising designer. Roy was like a mentor figure in Jonathan’s years of working in Kinetic. Both designers also share very similar affection for the items they collect. They love their workspaces to be neat. No cluttered tables, that’s for sure. Thus their studio looks somewhat alike. Furthermore, both Roots and Beautiful are coincidently located in the east of Singapore. Their neat and organised work environment are great spaces for reflection which helps to promote the filtering of information into the brain, allowing it to make connections. Their private yet comfortable workspaces help them to contemplate in the midst of working, henceforth leaving them feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.
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I NTROD U CT I ON
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ROOTS - J o n at h a n Y U EN
ROOTS JONATHAN YUEN ROOTS IS an interdisciplinary graphic design studio based in Singapore. ROOTS produce captivating, intelligent and beautifully crafted design with forward thinking ideas and executions. http://www.whererootsare.com/
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ROOTS - J o n at h a n Y U EN
Studio Roots shared a workspace together with graphic design studio, SLINT.
‘MY current workspace is spacious, comfortable and QUIET’ Tell us a little about your studio. You work alone? It started last year May, I was working at home. After working for a year, I thought maybe I should move out to find a dedicated space, a change of environment. I thought it will work better, in the sense that workplace and home is distinctively separated. So when SLINT found me if I’m interested to share this space with them, I thought why not. Because my team is kind of small, so far it’s just one person or one intern. So the room fits me nicely. I have had one intern period before. So it kind of helped me out in the busy period. PERHAPS A SHORT HISTORY BEFORE YOU STARTED ROOTS? I was from Malaysia and came to join Formulate, as a web designer, in Singapore at 2002. Two years and a half later, I joined Kinetic. That was where I make the switch to print and advertising. As I designed some name cards before in Formulate and have a print portfolio so it kind of worked out for me. I joined Kinetic on the print side, and started from the bottom, learning how to do FA. When I first joined, I have no idea how to do FA. Whatever I learned in school, it did not apply at work. Pann and Roy were really gracious to teach me from ground zero up. So I just tried to learn as much as I can, making many mistakes, colour checking, etc. It kind of help me as it builds up my experience. As I do more projects, I gained my confidence. I worked in Kinetic about seven years & a half before coming out and start on my own. The reason was that it just came naturally. I don’t want to be a designer behind the screen. I want to interact with clients and be involved with the entire process. Talking to the clients and do the work, get paid. In a way this could be a fulfilling process. As client approach me or vice versa, we talk and understand what is required for the project. As a designer, I am no longer behind the desk. Back then in Kinetic, there is a design team and account servicing team which is required as the size and account of the company hold. So which is why there is a typical set up, which the design team got the brief to design and account servicing team help us to sell. Sometimes, there would be a distortion in between. The account servicing team may not get exactly what you or the client trying to say. It is very common and normal.
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At least now I can just try to manage the whole process. Of course I can’t do big scale projects. But projects that I received, I feel that it could be fulfilling on a personal level. I can work on the things that I wanted to work on. What type of work do you do? As I have only started out a year and a half, I am not picky in the kind of projects that I wanted to work on. When an opportunity comes, I will just access it. Whether it is good to take on or if the budget is reasonable, etc. Hence in order to make the studio stable until it is financially capable to dictate what kind of work you have to do. For now, it really just survival and building up the base. I try not to be picky although there are jobs which has enquiries like, do you guys design power point and the budget may not be that great. Then I will chose not to do it as the time spent on doing that could have done on something with greater satisfaction and enjoyment. I have been doing quite a number of small branding jobs for clients. As my skills set is luckily quite wide, so I can do print, advertising and even digital platform like websites. This gives me the flexibility so I am not so dictated by only a certain type of work. The great set of skills give me opportunities and flexibility to work on many various projects. What is your studio size? 300 square feet. What is the first thing you’ll do when you enter the studio? Put down my bag, make a cup of hot water. Nowadays, not really coffee cause I eat at home. Then check email which would take about half an hour. Looking at the usual sites, reading on world and general news, just to know the current updates. I tried not to look at design blogs too much as I do not want to be influenced by trends. I would start the day with whichever work need to be done. I don’t usually plan my daily tasks. As my studio is smallscaled which includes me doing servicing as well, so I’ll have a clear overview of what’s supposed to be done. Thus I will have an idea, more of less of what work I need to work on for tomorrow. What is your average day like? Basically, the flow of day just goes like that. I would come in around 9:30 or earlier 9 a.m. Half an hour to settle down, then I would start work around 10 to 10:30 a.m. When I don’t feel like doing work, I will just pick up a book and read. It feels natural to do that. I won’t just come into the studio and start work immediately. I will check email first and see what needs to be pay attention to.
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Graphic designer Jonathan Yuen at work in his private studio.
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‘I would usually check my email at the start of my day to see what needs to be paid attention to.’
Followed by working on the jobs that need to be done today. I do not have job briefs. I talk to clients and work with them directly, so we will sometimes share and brainstorm ideas together. Everything is quite close so I do not need to do a lot of paperwork. Especially when it one person running the studio, there isn’t much time to spend on paperwork. The amount of time to do up a timetable, I may as well use it to start work. As I know what needs to be done and I don’t have an
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overwhelmed of work which would require me to keep track with a timetable. So there is no point for me to do a timetable when I already know what needs to be done. What time do you go for lunch? I would go for lunch around 12:30 to 1p.m with SLINT, usually to Ann Seng Canteen and Joo Chiat area. We will lunch together and have a chat before going back to work. At evening time, my wife who works nearby will walk over and we will go back home together. As I live in the same neighbourhood as the guys from SLINT, so we will sometimes share a cab back together. Do you listen to music when working? Sometimes, when it get a bit too quiet and I don’t need to think too much, I will switch on some music. When I need a bit of quietness, I will switch it off. It’s not like a must, a routine thing. I listen to random music. I follow songs more than artists. I may like a particular song but not necessary a fan of the artist. My choice and taste is quite random. What do you like most about your workspace? I like that it is quiet. Though it is a room without any windows, but it’s okay. Preferably it would be nice to have window, with sunlight streaming in, but it is not something that I particularly need of for the time being. It is a comfortable space for me to work so it is fine for me now. My current workspace is very quiet so it is easy to work in such quiet environment. As I am not disturbed or distracted so I can just focused on what I need to do. I have a decent space which I can organise my things. This place is definitely bigger than my home office. Previously I could not fit one more table. So when I have thoughts of getting an intern, it was not that convenient. The current workspace is quite spacious and comfortable. I can do my cutting whenever.
‘The studio has a decent space where I can organise my things’
[26] A collection of the classic Penguin Books cover postcards.
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A promotional material took from an exhibition held in V&A London museum.
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ROOTS - J o n at h a n Y U EN
Both the typewriter and Polaroid camera were purchased at a flea market in Europe, Venice.
[29] Jonathan Yuen’s collection of design books and Cocacola bottles.
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ROOTS - J o n at h a n Y U EN
WHAT IS ON YOUR DESK? Books, design journals that I reading now. Laptop. I like my table to be neat, including my desktop. I don’t like messy. A bottle of drinking water and a few pomelo leaves soaked in a cup of water, left for scent. An old wife formula. As it is a room without ventilation except air-con, so I put plants to refresh the air. I don’t know if it helps though. I don’t like air fresheners as it smells too artificial. I prefer natural fragrance. Do you have any favourite spot in the studio? When come to relaxing, I will just drop whatever I am doing. Msning with my wife. Or go to the porch outside and sit down to chit chat. I enjoy being alone. So being here in the room is fine with me. Sometimes, I will just pick up a book and read. What do you like about your studio location? It definitely near to my house. So the travelling time is not too long. I don’t like to waste time travelling, to and fro office. It about 20 to 30 minutes to travel from home to the studio. I can cycle here or I can take 2 buses down. It is quite convenient.
Shoppinghour Maagzine issue 08, Critique of Science.
‘I like my table to be neat, including my desktop. I don’t like messy’
[31] The intern desk at the other corner of the studio.
How does your workspace reflect /define your work? The workspace reflects the kind of work environment I would like to work in. Clean and neat so my work is also not messy kind. Indirectly, it is a form of reflection. I think the workspace helps more in supporting me to concentrate on my work better. I don’t have to work in a cramped or messy space which affects me indirectly by making me feel uncomfortable. There is no such small indirect distractions. Thus I can focus better on what I trying to do. I don’t spend so much time to think of other stuff like why is it so messy, or I need to sweep the floor, I need to pack things up. I can spend this amount of time and think of ideas for my work. I guess when you don’t have time to deal with distractions, time to time it helps. Clean and organised. Having things I like around me kind of make me feel that there’s a space where I can retreat to. Just be comfortable and work. It’s like a physical comfort zone and mentally support you. you have a place where you don’t have to worry about other things and just do.
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‘When come to relaxing, I will just drop whatever I am doing’
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Nigo, the office cat of SLINT which roams around in their shared workspace. Both Jonathan and SLINT have a love for cats.
What do you do when you are faced with creative blocks? I will think very hard then I will go back. I will come to work tomorrow with a better clarity. I guess it is a exercise. You have to think a lot and let your brain worked very hard. Then you relax and get away. So when you come back, your brain will kind of find its way. Your brain has to work on something. That why you need to exercise your brain. But it is not necessarily that you would immediately get your answers right away. As least you absorbed as much as you can. Let your brain sort it out. That how it works for me. Sometimes if you keep thinking about it; being so consciously focused on it, you might not get what you want. While you let your brain absorbed as much as you can and you have tried your best, and if it doesn’t work. Just take a break. Then you will have the time to sort the thinking out unconsciously by itself. By tomorrow, you just have to re-loop the whole thing and look at a bigger picture, slowly think through. Somehow, your brain will tell you something useful.
What is the best advice you have ever received, and you would like to offer to young designers? I have a lot of advice. I can’t said any single piece that stands out from the rest. All these advices have been accumulated over the years and sort of shaped me as a designer today. For young designers, I guess the most important thing is that, everybody has to start from the bottom. Nowadays I feel that a lot of students when they graduated, they immediately feel like that they are of certain high level, in terms of salary. They have to align their expectations a little with the real world. Because design, looking at how it works, you really have to have a lot of real work experience. Excelled well in school work doesn’t really translate of how well you will excel in the real world. Although there were certain talents that you can identity from some individuals. But sometimes, most of the graduates and interns will stumble when they enter the real world. It is not what they think it is. So I think it is really staying humble and start from bottom. Working really hard, willingness to work on simple stuff, such as FA. It is the only way you go through the process then you could go higher.
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WHAT I S YO U R WORKSPA C E L I KE ?
BEAUTIFUL ROY POH
Beautiful is about looking at things differently. It’s about perception. It’s about beauty in imperfection, beauty in the ordinary, beauty in everything. Most of all, it’s about finding silver linings, living a happy life. Beautiful is a design studio set up by creative director, Roy Poh. http://www.abeautifuldesign.com.sg/
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B e a u t iful - R oy p o h
“MY WORKSPACE is PEACEFUL AND QUIET” Tell us a little about your studio. Do you work alone? Beautiful is a design studio, a thinking space, a store room, a play room and a gallery. Beautiful is about looking at things differently. It’s about perception. It is about beauty in imperfection, beauty in the ordinary, beauty in everything. Most of all, it’s about finding silver linings, living a happy life. Most of the time it’s me alone. My other working partners are the writer and web designer. We meet up only for briefing or discussion, otherwise we communicated mostly via emails and phone calls. What type of work do you do? Anything graphic design, from branding to publication to advertising to TVCs to web solutions. What is your studio size? About half the size of a badminton court. What is the first thing you’ll do when you enter the studio? Switch on the air-con. The weather in Singapore is too hot. A cool room makes the place more workable and the body more relax. What is your average day like? I only spend about a few hours a day on the computer, very early in the morning and late at night. The rest of the time I’m doing thinking work, drawing ideas on papers or typing notes on the phone if I can’t find any paper. My day activities involve fetching the kids, lunching with them, going for meetings and maybe a swim in the evening. do you listen to music when working? None, I like peace and quiet. What do you like most about your workspace? Everything. Because I’m proud that I own it. It’s not really about the colour of the walls or how it looks. It’s more of an accomplishment feeling.
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‘I like everything about my workspace. I’m proud that I own it’
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B e a u t iful - R oy p o h
Roy sitting at his work desk, admiring his room and work.
Do you have any favourite spot in the studio? Got to be my chair facing the computer. It’s where I’m in control of my work and I can admire the whole room. What is on Your desk? My desk is usually not cluttered. I am a neat person. Most of the time it’ll be reference materials, drawing papers, writing materials and work briefs. I will clean up at the end of the day because the next day I might be starting on another job, so I will have space to place new materials on the table. What do you like about your studio location? My studio is in the east of Singapore, a quiet street of low shophouses selling delicious food and ice-cream. The beach is 15 mins away and the nearest mall is 10 mins away on bicycle. There are not a lot of tall buildings around the area so everything seem more pleasing when trees are what I see when I look up. WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU LOOK OUt FROM YOUR WINDOW? Trees and sky. And roof tops of other shophouses.
‘MY FAVOURITE SPOT GOT TO BE THE CHAIR AS I CAN BE IN CONTROL OF MY WORK AND ADMIRE THE WHOLE ROOM’
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B e a u t iful - R oy p o h
How does your workspace HELP TO DEFINE YOUR WORK? I dislike things that are regimental and I never follow a fixed system. Which is why I like design, it is free, it has no rules and it’s alive. My designs don’t follow any thing or any philosophy. As long as I’m happy doing it and the recipients are happy. My designs are also conceptual but not complicated. Something that is easily understandable and not abstract. I always treat work as something fun. This is why my workspace has no system. If I see something I like, I get it and put it somewhere in the room. It doesn’t matter if it looks odd with the rest of the room.
‘I always treat work as something fun. This is why my workspace has no system’
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B e a u t iful - R oy p o h
Letter of ‘A BEAUTIFUL DESIGN’ spelled out on the shelves of books.
‘Things and people inspire me greatly’
What do you do when you are faced with creative blocks? If there is a creative block, it means that I’ve not got enough knowledge and learning about that subject. So I do more research. When I have all the information I need, I’ll start the design development process. Also things and people inspire me. Therefore I see more things and know more people. I get a lot of inspiration from awards judging overseas. I get to meet many top creative people and learn many things from them. And I get to see many entries from different countries that were good but did not make it to the book. I get to listen to opinions, different views on design and experience much arrays of cultures from these events. It’s great to get the opportunity to listen to the comments made on your design projects by these peers.
What is the best advice that you would like to offer to the young designers? Start young, it’s a plus point. At 27, I started Kinetic Design & Advertising with Pann. Together we were thrown into this huge responsibility of carving out our career path as well as looking over the business. We tried to be good at both. The good thing was that then we had nothing to loose, no cars, no house and not much commitments. The worst that can happen was to work for people again if we fail. That gave us lots of courage. And it worked. Now I’m close to 40 and at Beautiful, I have the blessing of being ‘known’ in the industry, so jobs come by quite easily. So far I always have the luck of jobs looking for me and not the other way around. So being ‘known’ actually has its benefits. Now I have more time to do more self-initiated projects. Instead of spending more money at awards, I put them into these projects and only when I feel it’s worthwhile to submit a work for awards, I’d do it.
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WHAT I S YO U R WORKSPA C E L I KE ?
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L I M I T M a ga z i n e I SS U E #01
NOTES
Go ahead and write down any ideas that you like from the featured design studios. Feel free to apply any of these ideas in your workspace personalisation. Be bold. Be inspired. Have fun!
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n ot e s
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CONTRIBUTORS
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C o n t r ibu to r s
ROOTS DESIGN STUDIO
BEAUTIFUL Design Studio
The Selby Is in Your Place
I Wished I Worked There!
Where They create
Open Studios
Where We Work
Inspiration Office
Jonathan Yuen
Todd Selby
Paul Barbera
Ian Mccallam
Future Office
Christopher Grech & David Walters
Roy Poh
Kursty Groves
Lotta Jansdotter
Daniela Pogade
APARTAMENTO
Apartamento magazine
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L I M I T M a ga z i n e I SS U E #01
First published and distributed by LIMIT Publishers
Designed & edited by Jooey Lek Copyright Š 2012 Jooey Lek The copyright on the individual text and design work is held by the respective designers and contributors. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval systems or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner(s). The caption and interview in this book are based on material supplied by the designers whose workspace is featured. Printed and bound in Singapore
Jooey would like to thank all the designers and design studios who have involved in the complication of this book. This project would not have been accomplished without their significant contribution to the production of this book. Jooey would also like to express her gratitude to all the designers for their invaluable opinions and assistance throughout this entire project. The successful completion also owes a great deal to many professionals in the creative industry who have given Jooey precious insights and comments. And to many others whose names are not credited but have many specific input in this book, Jooey would like to thank them for their continuous support the whole time.