Born in 1981, it was my childhood dream to be a writer. That dream changed somewhat when I was introduced to my first computer at the age of 15. I built my first website then.

I tried to go the ‘sensible’ route by studying for a diploma in Information Technology in college (polytechnic), trying to make my parents happy, who thought I would grow up to be a lawyer. There is a risk of getting disowned if I told them that I wanted to go to art school. (Singapore is a very realistic, pragmatic society.)

Studying data structures & algorithms, along with computing maths drove me nuts. The saving grace was programming classes though (which is handy for integrating design with code now). Nevertheless, passion overcame me and I decided to dropout to follow my heart, almost getting disowned in the process.

I couldn’t draw to save my life and under-confident of my artistic abilities, I decided to pursue a 9-month diploma course in Multimedia instead of the traditional three-year art course.

It was largely technical, where I learned software skills.

The next seven years after graduation were spent working in various local outfits across different disciplines.

…I decided to take the leap of faith to be an independent designer in pursuit of happiness.

I naively thought that design wouldn’t be an industry where I can realistically stay in for life, thus I opted to study for a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Journalism in 2002, in an effort to pursue my original dream. Midway and several distinctions later, struggling to cope with the demands of university, financial restrictions and being an overworked full-time designer, it dawned upon me that a life without design is unconceivable. I deferred my degree course and focused on my career.

I still hope to complete the degree one day.

Fast forward to July 2007, I decided to take the leap of faith to be an independent designer in pursuit of happiness.