Today we are getting an insider look of OCD – Orchan’s official design arm, through an interview with our Creative Director, Kristy Voon.
Tell us about yourself, and your role as Creative Director at Orchan?
I like reading, and long walks on the beach.... oh wait, you mean in regards to design? I graduated from The One Academy with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Graphic Design. The degree was from University of Hertforshire in UK, but I did it in Malaysia – a twinning-without-leaving-home thing (it’s actually less complicated than it sounds).
I was actually an intern-turned-part-timer with Orchan while I was slaving away studying for my degree. In that capacity I was given the chance to dabble in the PR side of the operation (I got to hang out with cool people), and I brought along a graphic design mindset to the projects.
After 2 years here, it was time for me to leave the nest. I stepped into an advertising agency where I learnt an immeasurable amount of things, and was opened up to the professional creative world on a new scale. This is me now, bringing those experiences to OCD.
Do you have a personal design philosophy? How is this manifested in your design work?
I’ve always believe in the not complicating things. Minimalism, some would call it. But I would say it’s striping away the noise, and allowing the audience to reach in and connect the dots. Design is telling a story, whether it’s a logo telling the story about a brand, or a packaging telling the story of the product. It has to work. Function over form is important. This is not to say you aren’t allowed to dress things up, of course you are, but always remember who you are talking to. As the cliché goes, less is more.
Is corporate branding your specialty, or do you focus on design across the board?
While I enjoy helping businesses tell their stories through branding, I like all aspects of design. To me, it’s a matter of stringing together ideas in a visually-pleasing manner, and that can be applied to any medium. However, I do have a fondness for editorial design and motion graphics.
How would you explain great design practice?
Like I mentioned before, less is more. Good design is adding things to make it look good. Great design is knowing when to subtract.
How important is great design for a company’s corporate identity?
A logo is the face of an operation. It’s the one thing that appears everywhere. Therefore it should tell the world what the company stands for, and look good while doing it. If your logo looks like a 90’s girl band trying to stay relevant, that’s not a good thing. Vintage and retro can be fitting, but dated should only be retired.
How do you guide your clients in understanding their vision alongside proposing your ideas? What are some of the advice you would highlight?
Most of the time, it’s a matter of aligning our understanding. I will not profess to know a business as well as the client, but sometimes, an outside eye might shed new light, or open up avenues for exploration.
The clients need to tell their story, and as a designer, it is my job to tell that story. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and poke at the story, because that’s when new ideas are formed.
What were some of the projects that you have worked on under OCD? What were the goals of the projects, and what were the thought processes behind them?
The most recent project is for an education centre under BASF. BASF is a company that makes fertilisers and such for farms, and they wanted to educate the people who will be using their products – the farmers. It was a great initiative on their part, because information is often scarce in the rural parts of Malaysia, and this centre provides a great hub for them to learn and to exchange ideas with other people in their profession.
What are the types of industries or clients that Orchan looks to work with?
Following the tradition of Orchan, OCD will not discriminate against any industries. If it’s different from what we are used to, it will just take a little time for us to understand the business and the market. But design principles are universal.
What do you think are the biggest challenges in design today?
The world is such fast-paced, everything is constantly changing, and we have to fight to stay relevant. A viral video is only relevant for the two days it is being shared across social media platforms. After that? They all lapse into obscurity by the end of the week. How exactly do we keep up?
Another thing the internet and social media has done, is make everything accessible at the tap of your finger. (With Siri and Google Voice, you would not even have to lift that finger). All inspirations, styles and trends can be seen by everyone. Designers have to fight hard to be unique, to be original.
Where you do see design in the future?
I’m not a fortune teller, I don’t know where design will take us. Great design should make people think. It makes people question the status quo. I hope it continues to do so in the future and that I can contribute to that somehow.
Source Image:
(1) www.legalstudio.co.uk
(2) www.paul4innovating.co
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