We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Rachel Tan Hui Min ("RTHM").
Rachel draws her expertise from a variety of disciplines such as business, arts, design and fashion. She has prior training in jewellery design from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and fashion design from Central Saint Martins. Rachel is also a graduate from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Commerce with high distinction. She has been steeped in the design discipline for over 14 years. Her wide exposure to different cultures through her extensive travels is infused into her designs. She aims to create jewellery for the modern woman who is confident of her identity and unique in her style.
Rachel Tan Hui Min Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Rachel Tan Hui Min.
Designer Interview of Rachel Tan Hui Min:
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?
RTHM : My first foray into art and design was when I enrolled into a formal art programme in high school where I learnt how to express my creative ideas in different mediums, honed my dexterity and was exposed to art history. I eventually pivoted and took business classes at university but there was always an aching desire to go back to my first passion. I had designed a jewellery collection that visually conveyed the effects of the destruction of natural ecosystem for my A level coursework and wanted to take it further from there. This led me to design, manufacture and market my first affordable jewellery collection that tackled environmental and real world issues.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
RTHM : My jewellery company is almost a one woman's show! I work with my suppliers, crafting the design and conveying any modifications to it along the way. Bringing a collection to fruition is not an easy process and involves commitment to a vision and overcoming design and business obstacles. My best pieces involve a co-design element where I source for feedback at different stages to understand how best to represent different themes visually for my target clients.
DI: What is "design" for you?
RTHM : Design for me is where beauty and functionality intersect. A good design should enhance one's quality of life through its aesthetics or through enabling or simplifying certain functions. It should also have deep consideration for user preferences to meet a need or deficiency, visually communicate certain ideals and enable effortless adoption.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
RTHM : I enjoy the process of design thinking and applying creativity to problems. The medium of jewellery design fascinates me as it also serves as an extension of personal identity. I have also designed equipment to mentally engage dementia patients and information models to aid the creation of a global marketing strategy. I am a firm believer that design is an integral part of a thinking methodology and more fields it is applied in, the better!
DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
RTHM : I found the art that I enjoyed at the Museum of Old and New Art is Tasmania particularly fascinating. There was one piece that even involved the science of optical retention of images - when you moved your eye from side to side, it captures the flickering light and you can see words from the corner of your eye in that split second. I liked the art showcased as they explored the intersection between art and science and expressed a certain visual curiosity towards natural and physical phenomenons.
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
RTHM : I like material that I can physically tinker with and manipulate. As such, material that can hold their form and have a sculptural quality such precious metals appeal to me. I have also begun to play with other material with different densities and properties such as glass and plastics. More recently, the theme of sustainable living has also inspired me and I am looking into how I can work these into creating pieces of fashion from recycled material to change how we treat and deal with waste.
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
RTHM : I feel most creative when I speak to people and discover an existing pain point. This spurs me to start to envision many different ways of solving the problem through different mediums.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
RTHM : When working in a product design team, the roles I usually focus on are conceptualising the functionality of the product as well as refining its look to create a streamlined design. I often consider the spectrum of use cases for the product and mould the product to better fit its users and environment in both aesthetics and functionality.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
RTHM : I enjoy the contemplative phrase of designing when you are accurately identifying problems and creatively discovering solutions to them. I become very relaxed and in sync with myself when I begin to explore representing solutions visually and ultimately excited and intrigued as the idea takes shape and form.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
RTHM : It is very satisfying to arrive at the end of your thought experiment with a product or solution. This feeling is enhanced if your solution is well received and widely adopted or appreciated by your niche market.
DI: What makes a design successful?
RTHM : To me, a successful design embodies a new way of thinking about the interaction between various elements such as materials, people and systems. It inspires people to reimagine the art of the possible and changes their perspectives and in some cases, even their lifestyles.
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
RTHM : It is my belief that designers would increasingly play a larger role in society as humankind is freed from performing mundane and repetitive tasks with the advent of automation. We will be empowered to self actualise and be creative in self expression and value creation. How they steward their role in the context of society and environment will be for the designer to decide. However, there exists large opportunities to use this for good in helping to create more cohesive and cultured societies that exist sustainably in their environment.
DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
RTHM : I think the design field is evolving to become more cross-disciplinary. Our definition of what design encompasses is expanding and I believe in the future, design would join together expertise from different fields and span different mediums. Processes and cultural norms may be changed through the process of designing institutional frameworks and products to meet a wider range of needs and lifestyles.
DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
RTHM : Born and raised in a city and having travelled extensively around the world, I like to draw inspiration from alternative sources such as nature as well as diverse cultures. I feed my creativity through experiencing new places and interacting with people who have different world views and life experiences from my own. I also draw my inspiration across different art forms such as literature, theatre and music. Each of them provides me with a window into understanding the human condition.
DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
RTHM : I would consider my design style to be experimental and exploratory and sometimes slightly whimsical. I tend to like putting two and two together and seeing what comes out of their combination and permutation. You may also see me applying biomimicry to my works. This style stems from my appreciation of the beauty and diversity prevalent in nature and its ability to teach us how to adapt and evolve.
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?
RTHM : I was born in Canada but raised in Singapore. Singapore has flourished as a multi-cultural and global city with a strong focus on innovation and technology. The benefits of living in this fast-paced country is being able to gain exposure to forward thinking idea exchange, efficiency in business processes and explore the different facets of art and design, having secured a basic standard of living. There is room however, to develop marketplaces for local art across different art forms that is essential for fuelling the next level of artistic expression and the building of a strong ecosystem for designers to share ideas and inspiration.
DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?
RTHM : I try to keep my design process fluid yet focussed to enable incorporating new insights along the way while driving towards an end goal.
DI: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
RTHM : One of my favourite design items at home is this glass clock - I like how it balances delicate design with durability and is purposeful in providing function and form. Secondly, I like this simple spork that I acquired while on a trip in Tasmania. I love how the designer had the wits to combine items (fork, spoon and knife) with complementary functions into one and provide ease in the traveling process. I also find other simple everyday items such as scotch tape, instant noodles and ballpoint pens fascinating. They are ubiquitous and used by everyone so constantly but so much thought went into their initial creation.
DI: Can you describe a day in your life?
RTHM : My typical day involves a lot of multi-tasking! I try to apply my best to every situation and opportunity that I am presented with.
DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
RTHM : I think getting appropriate exposure and mentorship is key to the development of young designers. I would recommend that they be open and bold in putting themselves out there and taking in constructive advice in bettering their design skills and developing themselves. I would also recommend them to be fearless and not afraid of rejection and to be intentional about finding new opportunities, developing the right networks and building relationships.
DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
RTHM : The positive of being a designer is being able to experience the endless possibilities involved in the creativity process. The negative of being a designer is also being able to experience the endless possibilities involved in the creativity process.
DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?
RTHM : My golden rule in design is that everything should have a place and purpose. Never more, never less, but in the right proportion.
DI: What skills are most important for a designer?
RTHM : Exercising empathy is key for viewing a situation from someone else's shoes and identifying with their struggles and challenges. Having this skill allows one to look beyond themselves to understand how a design can best be adapted to a different context. Versatility also importantly allows one to apply oneself in new and creative ways. It is never dull to learn about the evolution of a designer and understand how their experiences shape their work and growth.
DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
RTHM : I score the internet for visual references for my inspiration. I also score literary sources when I look for inspiration in the metaphysical form of words, languages and ideas. These later sources tend to add texture to my final designs. Most of my work involves a tactile designing process where I work with traditional mediums such as graphite and colour pencils and markers to sketch out ideas and colour in details. I would later create a digital copy of the design that is simplified and cleaned using software such as Adobe Photoshop.
DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
RTHM : Unfortunately for me, my best designs come to me when I am "in a good place" mentally and emotionally and typically cannot be forced out of me when I do not feel inspiration. I try to strategically set aside time when these phases come upon me to get the most out of myself during these creative spurts.
DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
RTHM : A good jewellery design tends to take some time to create from beginning to end - typically several months of conceptualising and reiteration. Later, the item also needs to be manufactured, modified and marketed. When this process was first undertaken it make a full circle and create a market ready product. However, this process is shortened with greater familiarity with suppliers, manufacturers and customers.
DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
RTHM : What drives you to do what you do? My answer to this is simple - because it improves my quality of life and gives me an opportunity to improve the quality of other people's lives. Design is a way for communication and self expression for me as well.
DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
RTHM : I like design work that challenges the way we understand and interact with the world. Simple, usable and zen designs tend to interest me the most as I believe life is complicated experience and design with its understated beauty can help to reduce that complexity and bring peace and convenience into our lives.
DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
RTHM : I am continually exploring new materials and ideas and may be also looking into using sustainable material for wearable design that would help to make our lifestyles more eco-friendly.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
RTHM : This depends largely on the product and what capabilities are required to develop it. For aesthetic items such as jewellery, I largely work alone. For larger and more complex projects I would work with others with complementary skillsets and working styles.
DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
RTHM : My team and I designed a digital card game "Karta : Mind Game" recently for dementia patients to help them draw associations between everyday objects and stimulate their minds. We are looking to fine-tune the design now and this involves refining the game process, hardware and user experience. Creating medical assistive devices requires a lot more in terms of validating assumptions, proving product effectiveness and modelling it to fit user requirements and is perplexing and challenging at the same time!
DI: How can people contact you?
RTHM : Feel free to reach me at racheltanhuimin@gmail.com or on my cell at +6587386311.