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Interview with Chih Wen Chaw |
Home > Designer Interviews > Chih Wen Chaw |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Chih Wen Chaw (CWC) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Chih Wen Chaw by clicking here.
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.
A’ Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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