Creative fountains

Most people would be content with one achievement and one career path. Not Sarah Cheng-De Winne. To describe it means rolling off a list of professions that most can only imagine having: Entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, producer, emcee and host, brand strategist, photographer, florist and radio DJ. READ: Creative Capital: The fashion entrepreneur bringing African fabrics to Singapore But of all her achievements, Cheng-De Winne is proudest of being a mother and wife. She has two children, the first which she had when she was in her late teens. Her husband, who married her when she was 18, is a respected creative director. Despite what many would have seen as a setback, she has succeeded. If anything, perhaps being a young mum has driven her to be more ambitious and to prove to anyone and everyone who wanted to criticise her that she could make it. 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of her professional music career as a published artist. Her first EP was released back in … [Read more...] about Creative Capital: How this former teen mum turned into a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur

Take three super creative and senior advertising people. Put them in a room and ask them to create a business. The first thought would probably run in the direction of a digital product or solution, one that they will tell you is going to disrupt a chosen sector and change your life. After all, we expect hyperbole from agency folk. The last thing one expects to hear pitched is a sock business. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Freshly Pressed (@freshlypressedsocks) But that is exactly what Vincent Teo, currently Business & Strategy Director at Tribal Worldwide, Ling Ang, Brand Communications Director at Adidas in China, and Karl Ng, a freelance Creative Director, came up with. The trio launched Freshly Pressed Socks in 2015. We catch up with Vincent Teo to find out how Freshly Pressed and their quirky designs are doing, as well as learn more about the business. VINCENT, HOW DID YOU, LING … [Read more...] about Creative Capital: How three former colleagues got together to start a quirky Singapore sock company

Just the other day, my wife asked me to set up a car track for our two year old son. I had assumed she meant a Tomica track – since becoming a dad, I have spent so much time setting up these modular, motorised tracks. She told me it was already in his room. When I went in, I didn’t see a box of plastic pieces anywhere. Instead, there was a poster tube with the cutest fabric decal car track. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Urban Li'l | Interior Decor (@urbanlil) When we were installing it, I noted that the drawings on the decal were Singaporean landmarks. There was the Merlion, and MBS, the Esplanade, and Changi Airport’s original iconic air traffic control tower. This was clearly a local product. So I asked my wife who she got it from. When I found out that it was from the same people who also made the custom laser-cut Chinese New Year family plaque with our family name in Chinese, I wanted to … [Read more...] about Creative Capital: The Singapore mumpreneur who custom makes wall decals and cake toppers

Inspiration can come from almost anywhere. For Jun Tan, an avid traveller and professional marketeer, an underarm rash while visiting Cuba kickstarted an interest in all-natural personal care products. Two years ago, Jun Tan enrolled in Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Master of Innovation programme. She had wanted to make a change in her life. More specifically, she wanted to become an entrepreneur. As she went through her course, the idea of launching a very Asian, all-natural line of deodorants and other personal care products took shape. Believing she was on to something, she quit her job at Bose and invested her savings into launching Jomingo. Jomingo’s packaging is eye-catching and colourful. And even more importantly, in the eyes of her customers, her deodorants are very well made, with lovely scents and great results. Over the circuit breaker, Jun even launched a new and so far well-received range of hand balms. READ: Creative Capital: Singapore’s youngest … [Read more...] about Creative Capital: The entrepreneur who’s making people smell good naturally

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is finally opening its doors in Los Angeles in April with an exhibit celebrating the works of the legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. Envisioned as a journey through his six-decade career, it's the first of its kind in North America and will have more than 300 objects on display, organisers said Thursday (Sep 10). Some have never been shown outside of Japan. "Miyazaki's genius is his power of remembering what he sees," said Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki. "It is our hope that visitors will be able to experience the entire scope of Hayao Miyazaki's creative process through this exhibition." Curator Jessica Niebel said she hopes that it will appeal to both the most avid Miyazaki fans and newcomers. Visitors will enter the temporary exhibit, which is organised thematically into seven sections, following Mei, the four-year-old heroine of My Neighbor Totoro, into the "Tree Tunnel" gallery. From there, they will emerge into the … [Read more...] about Inaugural Hayao Miyazaki exhibit at Academy Museum to show his ‘creative process’