Your surroundings DOES affect your design

SimCity -  a computer game that allows you to build your own city was a big hit among the teens for its fun and sophisticated graphics. I, a self-proclaimed fan till this day, recalled the way I built my own cities – built-up, filling every conceivable space with high-rise residential and commercial buildings, and ensuring no space was spared of my invading construction woes. To me, crowded was beautiful, simply because I come from populous, skyscraper-ridden Singapore. My sister was also guilty of building her cities in a similar fashion.

Once in the UK, I was greeted by colourful friends from all over the world, people who come from countries obviously many times bigger than the small dot on the map. No matter how different we were, many of us were united by the single love for computer games. I committed every Friday to visit my good’ol university mates for our weekly computer game addictions, and one of our common fixes was SimCity 4. I was fascinated by my Maldivian game partner’s frequent use of low-lying buildings and open spaces, a far cry to my suffocating layout. And it made sense. His graphic design pieces have always been minimalist but smart, while mine was filled with more components before I melted with the British style of optimized graphic design that is not too overwhelming, and that embraces minimal abstracts that still effectively conveyed the message to the target audience.

And now back to Singapore. Minimalist design? Nope, not very much welcome here. “Portfolio looks…unfinished,” so remarked a creative director who once hired me for freelance, whose “finished” taste led him to doubtfully question if I was even cut out to be a designer (lol). Other creative directors had mixed reactions as to my artworks during my first year at home after a 6-year stint overseas. A few of them insisted me adding more components to the artworks, while the rest remained content with my artworks…”unfinished” or not. It wasn’t a matter of good or bad design, it was a problem of differing aesthetic tastes shaped by different cultures. My Chinese friend shared with me similar experiences where her British-taught design skills were not entirely welcome in her homeland China, as she was made to add more components than needed. Needless to say, we were foreigners in our homeland who had to relearn all over again.

This time around, when I design for an Asian client, I made sure I add a bit more spice to my graphic works than I’d normally do for a European client. And as the ever-growing waves of globalisation continue to rise, the now 40% foreigner-filled Singapore will be challenged on whether keeping its current taste for “crowded” design will stand with time. It is vital for any graphic designer to understand the culture and design tastes of your client’s host country, even if that country is your home. Let me part with this finishing video for those who still remain in debate whether a minimalist design is considered “unfinished” or not:

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