Branding and Identity for Lucha Loco, 2012

Today we speak to Edwin Tan of Bravo Company, Singapore.
 

Yanda: Introduce yourself.
Edwin: I run a design studio call Bravo Company. We create brands for new businesses.

What do you do first when you get up in the morning?
I read my news in the loo. Then I feed my hamster and 2 tortoises. After that I play with my cat for a while before setting off to the work.

What daily routines you cannot do without?
The morning dump. Without it I’ll be grumpy the whole day.

How would you describe your work in three words?
Simple. Direct. Obvious.

When did you first get involved in the design?
The only subject I was interested in in school was arts & craft. I’ve always been I intrigued by music CDs packaging of the bands I listened to when I was young. When I found out graphic design is a profession, I immediately knew that was what I am going to do.

If you have a chance to own someone’s work and wish it was yours, what would it be and why?
The promo design for the play BOTE (Beginning of the End) by Asylum. So much love.

Who do you dream to design for?
My dream job is to brand a professional football team or a new airline.

What’s your definition of happiness?
The carefree feeling you get when you know your day has been productive.

What makes you guilty?
Being unproductive.

How do you set your benchmarks?
I set my benchmarks by the places I want to see my works in. At first it was to get certain design websites to feature our work, then it became certain magazines and books. We’ve accomplished most of these and we thought the next natural progression would be awards recognition. We were really happy when we got a bronze gong at CCA this year. Now for the international awards! However, being brand designers, what’s more important is that our design answers the client’s brief. If your design wins awards but doesn’t work for the client’s business, it is still bad design.

Branding and Idendity for Five & Dime, 2012

Chain Reaction Project, 2012

Namecard for Jupiter Futbol. 2012

How do you keep educating yourself?
Recently we’ve been getting a lot of requests to brand restaurants. You really won’t know what you’re going to get. We’ve done a French restaurant, a Mexican one, and now we are finishing up on an Italian joint. We start every project with intensive research and referencing. That is part of our education. However this is never enough. The design will be a lot stronger if it is coupled with life experience. As designers, the best education is always to see more because seeing is believing. If you have never seen something, you believe that it is impossible. That becomes your constraint.

Any heroes? What do you admire about them?
Jonathan Ive. I think when you need to invent a new technique to manufacture one component of a product, you elevate design as a whole and push the industry forward. That is the pinnacle of what a designer can do.

Can taste be taught or nurtured?
I believe so. Like all things, once people know what to look out for, they will know the good from bad.

What about hunger?
Hunger is something more personal. A person must want to be hungry in order to have hunger.

Do you think our design scene in Singapore is lacking of what they have in the advertising or art world — critics, bitches and their own magazines to hype things up.
I’d rather not have those. I like design to be pure, made with love, and with a childlike enthusiasm.

Tell us about your proudest collectables.
I collect those illustrated safety instructions of airlines.

Lastly, if you have a chance to change a public space for the better, what would you do to it?
I think Singapore as a whole can do with more organic growth and ageing. Not every old building needs be torn down or rejuvenated with a fresh coat of paint. When I saw them paint over the nicely aged stone exterior of the old Supreme Court, a part of me died.

 

View more of Bravo Company’s works at http://bravo-company.info/.

Posted in Conversations, Singapore