I majored in interior design during my university years. The reason I chose this field goes back to my teenage years, when I watched several interior design TV programmes. Those shows sparked my initial interest and inspired me to pursue the idea of making spaces more beautiful. From there, entering this profession felt like a very natural and inevitable step.

That defining moment would probably be when I decided to transition from being an employee to starting my own business. From that point on, it forced me to evolve from a ‘follower’ — someone who imitates — into a ‘creator’.

This is quite a subjective question, because every designer brings a different background and design perspective. Every project also serves a unique client. So, whether an interior design project is successful or not really depends on whether the people you’re designing for are satisfied, and whether the design genuinely creates a positive impact on their life or business. Of course, the designer’s own aesthetic expression must also be present in the project.

Currently in our studio, we work on quite a few projects for emerging brand retail stores. Behind many of these brands, there is a strong sense of the founder’s self-expression. So a key point we’ve come to believe is this: you have to communicate a lot with the client. That’s how sparks fly. Communication is the key to everything.

The mantra that encapsulates our taste in design is this: we hope that the spaces we design, beyond being ‘beautiful,’ can carry a certain depth of expression. We consistently strive, in every project, to see beyond the surface and get to the essence — stripping away unnecessary elements — so that the space becomes sincere, unpretentious, yet full of strength.

I would like to recommend ‘Kashiwa Sato’s Ultimate Method for Reaching the Essentials’ by Kashiwa Sato. The author is the Creative Director of SAMURAI, a design and creative studio in Japan.

While reading how he walks through his graphic design case studies, I realised that the design process is fundamentally the same across all disciplines.

I don’t really have a specific design tip to share, because behind every design there are people. So what I would say is this: when you work on a project, approach it with sincerity and try to truly understand the people behind that project.

Recently, we designed a very interesting street-side specimen shop. Usually, you would have to go into a national natural history museum to see these fascinating biological specimens. But in this small shop, you can easily immerse yourself among them.