The way I see it, every form of design is related. Back when I was a newly- graduated employee, I noticed that Thailand didn’t really have any multi-disciplinary design firms. If designers from other countries were capable of doing many types of design, why were Thai design firms limiting themselves to one discipline?
Combining aspects from different types of design has always been themost exciting aspect of my work. We call the signature approach of my firm “graphitecture,” a combination of graphic design and architecture.
The most important aspect of being a designer is knowing when to trust your instincts. Everyone has their own style; you should follow that and take it as far as you can. That’s how you create
something new.
I studied both interior design and architecture, so I have an affinity for both. However, Ductstore’s employees don’t necessarily have to be skilled in multiple design disciplines. Experience is more important, which dictates how you apply the knowledge you’ve attained to your work.
Attitude is crucial. I tend to hire people with an upbeat and enthusiastic work attitude; people who want to have fun with their work.
The person who has left the biggest impression on me is DJ Wasana Wirachatplee. She broadened my horizons regarding music and life. Music has always been a huge source of inspiration for me, and during college the music she introduced me to motivated me to become a better person. I’m positive there’s no other 60-year-old woman with a better grasp of modern
fashion and music than her.
I’m very proud of all the CD covers I designed back when indie music was at its peak. Ductstore was pretty well known at that time.
Everyone grows bored of their job at one point or another, so you should continue finding new things you are interested in. You might be interested in graphic design and magazines today, then get bored and become interested in interiors and architecture the next day. It really helps to make
you feel like you are always discovering and learning something new.
I feel like I can do a decent enough job at every type of design except architecture, even though I graduated with a degree in architecture.
Architecture is like designing the future. To design a building so that it will still look beautiful 30 years from now, that ’s the challenge. That’s why well-designed buildings look beyond
their time, anticipating how future generations will live.
Anyone can be a designer, but not every designer knows how to get paid for their work. The more experience I gain, the more I realize the importance of knowing the business side of things as well: being able to tell when someone’s trying to swindle you, or how to resolve situations with difficult clients.
There is an immeasurable amount of potential value in every design. People are uninformed about why good design costs so much, and how it will benefit them in the future. Those who can’t see past a price tag will always fail to recognize good design from bad design.
The biggest challenge for all designers is clients. How do you create the best possible work without breaking their constraints on dimensions, cost, time and so on? For each job, you must learn to identify all those subtle restraints early on because often even the client won’t recognize them. There are some who simply refuse to acknowledge the problems.
Sometimes when I’m down, I like to go to parties with my friends, even when I feel worn out. The second I get there and meet my friends, everything’s OK again. If you can find things that make you happy, that happiness will spill into everything else you do.
All designers experience feelings of stagnation. I usually cheer myself up by thinking back on where I came from; why I wanted to be a designer in the first place. Nostalgia is a very powerful motivational tool.
The thing that makes me happiest is undoubtedly my one-year-old twin sons. I honestly never believed it when people said having children makes your life happier, but now that I’m a father myself, I must say it’s true. It’s the kind of thing that can’t really be described. You start planning your life more carefully, instead of just barreling through and doing whatever you want to do.
Always think about what makes you and your loved ones happy. That applies to both life and design. I plan to one day design my own house, and if I happen to want to turn one entire floor into an indoor garden for my kids to play in, who’s to say I can’t?
