We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Ben Cheong ("BC").

BEN CHEONG, has been studying design and animation on his own since secondary school. Ben graduated from the Department of Multimedia Design at Macao Polytechnic Institute. In addition, he had the honor in representing Macau and winning numerous regional and national awards in multimedia design. In 2015, Ben started CLIFFS STUDIO, he and his team offer a variety of fresh, innovative and bold design ideas to customers, their design work shows creativity which often surpass customer expectations.

Ben Cheong Designs

We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Ben Cheong.

Designer Interview of Ben Cheong:

DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?

BC : I had been studying design and animation since secondary school and I graduated from the Department of Multimedia Design at Macao Polytechnic Institute. I was hired by a local media company while I was still in college and I had the honor in representing Macau and winning numerous regional and national awards in 3D animation design. I went to a 3D amination course when I was in secondary school, all my classmates were designers and they influenced me a lot. I started to love design and choose it as my career since then.

DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?

BC : CLIFFS STUDIO was founded in 2015. It is a multimedia production company that specializes in 3D animation. We are dedicated to create quality video productions images with innovative and bold attitudes. We have participated in various projects including brand advertising, post-production, hologram, projection mapping, 3D printing and so on. Our team members have participated in numerous regional and national competitions of 3D animation design on behalf of Macau and have achieved remarkable results.

DI: What is "design" for you?

BC : Design is a kind of customer service. By listening and understanding our clients' needs, we provide complete and customized solutions. As a result, our design creates the greatest value to our clients' business.

DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?

BC : Motion Graphic and 3D Animation

DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?

BC : Motion Graphic and AnimationMotion Graphic is a kind of animation. It can be formed by 2D or 3D, usually matching the rhythm of music. An excellent work comes from outstanding design sense and perfect color scheme. 3D animation is generated by a chain of pictures which played in a certain speed to create optical illusion so we are able to see the movement of still images.

DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?

BC : 3D Modeling of Casino building, including The Venetian Macau, Sands Cotai Central, Studio City, City of dreams, etc.

DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?

BC : 3D Software: Maya/C4D

DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?

BC : I always focus on art scene and color sense when I design.

DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?

BC : I feel distressed when I design because I need to think about a unique idea in a new design.

DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?

BC : I will feel happy and sense of success.

DI: What makes a design successful?

BC : A good Concept, art scene, colour sense and research.

DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?

BC : Concept, A good art scene, color sense

DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?

BC : It is necessary to design projects that can help to make the world a better place, such as eco-friendly, disadvantaged and disabled projects.

DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?

BC : Design will be treasured more and more as the life condition become better, people’s demand to “beauty” will be higher.

DI: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?

BC : I had exhibited my work in Shenzhen, and I hope I will have a chance to show my works again this year.

DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?

BC : I check out Behance, Pinterest and Vimeo everyday, where I can find most of the inspirations. They can also be collected and reviewed when there’s a need.

DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?

BC : I live in Macau. I feel cultural heritage has influenced my design a lot. Different places have different cultural backgrounds. I think the con is my knowledge is not wide enough, so I need to go aboard to experience different culture and customs so as to enrich myself.

DI: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?

BC : If the companies can respect the specialty of designers and give them more rooms to create, I believe the design can be more interesting. Besides, companies should choose the designers basic on their potential, and make progress together.

DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?

BC : Discussion- Concept -Graphic-Style Frame-3D-Editing- Composting -Output

DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?

BC : They will benefit from watching Behance, Pinterest, Vimeo, where they can find good works and tons of inspirations.

DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?

BC : Though Design is really a tough job, if you can manage it, you can even change the world.

DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?

BC : Excellent concept, broad vision, vivid color sense, interesting expression.

DI: What skills are most important for a designer?

BC : Innovation, ideas, concept

DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?

BC : Maya/C4D/Zbrush/Behance/Viemo/Art book/Yearbook etc.

DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?

BC : We will spend most of our time on meeting and discussion. We prefer figure out how to execute in the most efficient way with the best result, instead of thinking by doing.

DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?

BC : Two month-One year

DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?

BC : How long it takes to complete the design.

DI: What was your most important job experience?

BC : Obris- Darkness to go

DI: Who are some of your clients?

BC : Obris/ Graphic or Multimedia company/ Casino etc.

DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?

BC : Motion Graphic, as it is always very interesting, not time consuming and easy to get a sense of accomplishment.

DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?

BC : I aim to get more awards in future and get to know more people over the world.

DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?

BC : I always work with my team.

DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?

BC : A 3D animation project, which is really a tough work. I’ve spent almost a year to revise the story and it also costed me a lot.

DI: How can people contact you?

BC : Bencheong227@gmail.com