Interview with Leung Jia Jun from Singapore

I made my first sofa and solid work furniture in 2013 when I was in school studying interior design. I didn’t understand that it required an artist approach and using hand and materials to produce a 1:1 furniture. I enjoyed seeing material like felt fabric, how it can be turned into a furniture piece.

YSQ International is a tobacco manufacturing company that produces cigarettes. Tapping into the digital device approach, we hope to convert traditional smokers to the heated consumed cigarette.

Heated cigarette as compared to the traditional cigarette uses the battery to power the heat and burn the tobacco leaves instead of the traditional method of combustion.

Design is an emotion. To design is to give meaning to the object created. It is an emotional object because the exterior form of an object makes us feel a certain way. Sometimes a softer form are able to make us happy. Design exists to please the user through a practical function.

My favourite will be a basic design, a design that doesn’t look like there was another step to create beautifying element. Nature serves as an inspiration to me and when the material behaves how it should be, I feel that it is natural.

Good design is honest and not pretentious. A Good design is costly because the designers are trying to create something that no one has attempted and being innovative in the concept of the manufacturing. Good design to me is to create something that is extraordinary and spread the positivity.

My style is a modern rugged type. This method is to give a modern look to replace the existing look of the object. The main characteristic is clean edges with intricate details.

When I receive a project brief, I will start the project with a competitor’s product research. Then, I will create a mood board, to capture the essence of the concept and make 3 prototypes. After the prototype, I will 3D print the detail and I will refine the details. The final touch is to go back to pen and paper to sketch to study the overall look, and restart the cycle of prototyping.

Living in Singapore has allowed me to refine my concept of using less material and achieve more. The design scene in Singapore is focused on catching up to design trends, hence, it does not really encourage one to stay on one area of design for long. The designers have to always upskill their style to meet commercial needs.

However, for me I came to a realization that I love repeating one single action of sculpting clay for a long period. I found a quiet space to continue making small iteration and refinement on the clay prototype and that has slowly develop my style.

It is very encouraging because as an independent designer, I was glad that I took risk for these projects. It is always safer to choose an easier method to design and to execute the project, however, taking the harder route sometimes might lengthen the ideation period. As a winner of the 2023 MUSE Design Awards, I feel honored.

It is really encouraging because these 2 years has been especially challenging for independent designers. During COVID-19, furniture manufactures were trying to keep the assembling pipe line moving as per normal. However, proposing a change in the construction technique was frowned upon and I was slightly discouraged by that fact that, furniture manufactures were reluctant to try any new method of construction. Hence winning this, under this category was heartening for me.

My main difficulty was to convince the furniture manufacturers to change their existing ways of manufacturing furniture. Manufacturers are used to the simplest and most efficient method , hence it is slightly challenging to allow them to try another method of construction.

It has given me more confidence in developing concepts and broadened my perspective on manufacturing methods. Winning this award has allowed me to see how concepts can come to life, it made me realize that prototype and rendering are ways to visualize the project.

In Singapore, there is a very strong UIUX design. Hence, developing hardware has been an interesting area in my country because I have to find resources and the right manufacturer to produce my work.

The next topic is to discuss circular design and how the products will have an even lasting appearance. How to get consumer to choose something which is more timeless and long lasting, so that as designer we don’t keep encouraging the buying and replacement mentality.

Design your style and be patient. Do not rush into something because everyone else is doing that.

Behance is a good platform. Fiverr will be good for freelancing and Pinterest will be great!

I thought that creative projects can just focus on manufacturing but I was wrong.

My professor in my university gave me the confidence to continue developing my work. Without their encouragement in school, I would probably have a very narrow vision of design. Having tried medical design, fashion design, furniture design and electronic design. I enjoyed doing these categories. I will be doing and focus more in my brand and designing more projects under my name.

Trying and taking the less common route.

Try and take the harder route because you might not see the immediate outcome but it is worth it.