Designer Interview

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Interview with Chih Wen Chaw at Saturday 9th of March 2013

FS: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
CWC: As a young boy , I have always been inetersted in the fields of art and design . Ironically , I am diagnosed as color blind . Somehow , this did not deter me but I found ways to work with this condition . And I reckon , because of this , I am actually more sensitive to tonalities which is useful in both art and design.

FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
CWC: The design studio is a small set up but with an interesting collaboration of designers , an engineer and a business driven director. We have between us resided in London , NYC , Hongkong , Shanghai , Beijing and Tokyo and we take with us these diverse experiences into out work and hopefully with these varied influences , be able to produce some interesting works

FS: What is "design" for you?
CWC: Design is first and foremost a question as it is an answer. In short , it should be a journey of constant discovery and for sure , a pleasurable journey.

FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
CWC: I do not have a particular genre of work that is prefered but I prefer to design across various scales as I believe our sensitivity can be sharpened.

FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
CWC: The paper clip . so simple yet so powerful .

FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
CWC: An addition to school of advance studies at Princeton University while I was with Pelli Clarke Pelli architects

FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
CWC: No favourite materials but to use materials that speaks of their inherent qualities.

FS: When do you feel the most creative?
CWC: No specific time

FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
CWC: What is the "invention" . Is there progression from my previous designs?

FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
CWC: Pleasure

FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
CWC: Trauma

FS: What makes a design successful?
CWC: When it performs not only the way I expected but also further suprises. This will help enrich one's experience .

FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
CWC: Is there a knowledge contribution and if there is a position taken by the designer.

FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
CWC: Deifferent designers play different roles in society , some are educators , some are facilitators , while some simply executes designs . So I would say the term designer is too generic a terms to pinpoint a certain reponsibility.

FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
CWC: It is getting more streamlined with pigeon holing of design knowledge.

FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
CWC: World architecture Festival 2012 . Not in Singapore

FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
CWC: I think the most banal of obeservations can be sources of inspiration if we think hard enough.

FS: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
CWC: Style is an over rated word but rather I like to think if having a consistent design principle wherby we think of ourselves not as "THE" designer but more like a facilitator that empowers individuals with the ability to exploit their own creativity.

FS: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
CWC: Singapore. Its typically a very diverse country with different ethnicity and dialects. This lack of one strong identity is useful as there is no predominancy both socially and culturally . As a designer , this motivates us to carry on searching for what is unique to our society . Perhaps we may find the answer one day but perhaps we may not but I think its not important as I believe the process of the search itself is productive.

FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
CWC: A good fit is important . Most designers have ceratin ambitions no matter how small they are. As such ambitions and expectations must align .

FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
CWC: Design process is rather fluid . It however usually starts with a question and sometimes it remains a question even though the project is built .

FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
CWC: Smeg fridge , An Ikea shelf , A muji tricycle , Coffee Machine , My bag

FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
CWC: Thinking all day

FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
CWC: Do some inetersting work and try to earn some money along the way

FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
CWC: We love what we are doing which is the envy of some professions . But we sometimes love it too much and that can be detrimental

FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
CWC: what is a golden rule ?

FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
CWC: A sense of destruction

FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
CWC: Internet, autocad , 3dmax

FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
CWC: I don't

FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
CWC: depends on scale

FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
CWC: Who is your favourite architect

FS: What was your most important job experience?
CWC: When I first worked in NYC with Pelli Clarke Pelli . Made me realsie designers are humans too .

FS: Who are some of your clients?
CWC: Manor Properties , Playeum , National heritage Board of Singapore , Individual home owners

FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
CWC: Work of different scales as i get bored easily.

FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
CWC: Get back to work

FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
CWC: Team preferably

FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
CWC: A chiangmai hotel is in progress and despite doing the intitial submission , I am still trying to understand what is the one thing that will make me smile whne I talk about the project .

FS: How can people contact you?
CWC: Via email chihwen@manor.com.sg

FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
CWC: No

FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.

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