Creatives in Conversation

“Imagine the wheel of time turning in a seemingly endless round, revealing that the beginning is the end of another beginning. This is the cyclic nature of the inward journey of creativity, which is by nature back and down – back in time and down into the soul’s depths.”

– Phil Consineau

What happens then when we go on a journey with creativity for a whole year – do we end up in the same spot with greater clarity, or a different one altogether?

It is this curiosity that sparked our interest in starting Creative Chronicles. We are interested in the lived journeys of Singaporean Creatives, and for us, that means going on the journey with the Creatives ourselves.

Celebrating Creative Voices

Creative Chronicles narrates authentic experiences of 4 Creatives over the course of a year. Made up of 4 series, this project will be published quarterly on our website. Each series features the same 4 Creatives as we check in with them at different points of their creative journey. With each series, we invite them on a self-exploration journey as they reflect on different facets of themselves.

Through the series, we hope to gain a better understanding of who these Creatives are, beyond the works they do and are known for. By exploring these voices and humanizing the creative experience, we hope to represent and celebrate a wider range of narratives within the Singaporean creative space.

So, who are these Creatives, you ask?

L-R: Fariz, Nurul, Pei Kang & Min

We feel that these 4 individuals authentically embody creativity in their works and in doing so, have created ripples of change in their respective fields.

Fariz is a Senior User Experience Designer at Chemistry. Trained in Communications Design, he leads multidisciplinary teams through all phases of the digital UX design process – developing insights through ethnographic research, creating actionable design through prototyping and usability testing – when working with clients like Singtel and IMDA. Driven by his belief in human-centred work, Fariz is also an educator. He is an Adjunct lecturer for Experiential Design at Nanyang Polytechnic and was a Visiting Instructor at General Assembly.

Min is the co-founder and CEO of Red Dot, a consultancy aimed to support leaders wanting to effect change. A Singaporean based in Mauritius, Min leads Red Dot in using modern innovation methods to bring rare skills to the community, and works with clients across government, corporate and social sectors to design solutions to complex strategic challenges. She approaches life and work with intentionality of a designer, and sees every conversation as an opportunity to be precise and thoughtful about shaping outcomes. Min also co-founded PlayMoolah, a social enterprise exploring financial literacy, gamification and behavioural change.

Nurul is the founder of The Codette Project, a non-profit ground-up initiative to get more minority women into technology. An ecosystem of support, access and skills training, The Codette Project has organised over 30 events reaching over 1000 women and led Singapore’s only women’s hackathon. Convinced that success should look like everyone, Nurul is committed to inclusion and designing ecosystems for long-term impact. In recognition of it, she was recently honoured as part of SG100 Women in Tech 2020.

Pei Kang is the founder and CEO of TRIA, an innovative and sustainable foodware company. Trained in Industrial Design and previously a Designer at Philips, he now leads TRIA in designing foodware for clients like Krave and Tim Ho Wan, and in developing Bio24. A zero-waste solution, Bio24 allows food waste to rapidly digest into compost, without the need to separate organic and inorganic waste. Committed to sustainability, Pei Kang believes this integrated closed-loop systemic solution is a game-changer for the industry.

A Journey For All

We are honoured and excited that these Creatives have agreed to come on this journey with us, and we invite you to do the same.

Read up on Series 1, where our Creatives reflect on where they currently are in their respective journeys.

In Series 2, our Creatives revisit a challenging time in their lives and write a letter addressed to their younger selves.

In Series 3, our Creatives explore the question, What would I want my life to be like in 2031? First, they acknowledge a challenge that they are facing today. Then, they reimagine alternate possible futures regarding those challenges through a Futures Thinking technique called Causal Layered Analysis (CLA).

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Till then, stay creative.