Chew Swee Lye

Chew Swee Lye is the Design Director and sole proprietor of Design Composite, a firm established in 1999, specialising in branding, design and art direction for established corporate clients. Its scope of work includes conceptualisation and execution of design, visuals and print-production, and it provides above and below-the-line creatives such as press and magazine advertisements, design and print of brochures, leaflets, direct mails, newsletters, corporate profile, annual reports, as well as web design, EDM and other marketing & promotional collaterals.

His clients include IKEA, Bank of Singapore, OCBC Bank, NatSteel, KOHLER Company, EQ insurance, DSTA (Defence Science Technology Agency), AsiaMedic Limited, MSF (Ministry of Social & Family Development), DADs for Life, People’s Association, Morning Star Community Services, ITE College West, CNIS (Chinese International School Singapore), SCGS (Singapore Chinese Girls’ School), and KDF (Kidney Dialysis Foundation).

He brings more than 25 years of creative entrepreneurship and professional experience to the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. He is a role model for how design practice opens up opportunities and can lead to an exciting career.

Lim Jit Hwang

Lim Jit Hwang has had many years of professional experience in the design industry. Since the 1990s, he has worked as a consultant and designer for Silverlining Bridal Couture, freelance fashion/wedding gown designer, home interior design consultant, as well as a freelance illustrator/graphic designer for clients such as Pan Pac Publications, Singapore Heritage Board, CPF, URA and Credit Suisse Singapore.

Jit Hwang also has an accomplished track record in teaching art, design and illustration. Since 1998, he has lectured at the 3D Design and Design & Media Departments of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. He has been a part-time art trainer for Composite Art and Design, and has taught art and craft/illustration to students in various primary and secondary schools in Singapore for over 12 years.

Fiona Koh Wen Chii

Fiona Koh is an artist-designer and art educator—her multi-disciplinary background attempts to integrate art and design as a common field of inquiry. Having previously had the experience as a designer and an executive producer at design and digital imaging studios, she now manages Poppy Studio, an independent design company.

Fiona is also a co-founder and member of the art collective, Vertical Submarine. The collective has exhibited extensively locally and in other countries such as Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Mexico and Spain. They have also been awarded the Celeste Art Prize (Installation) in 2011 and the President’s Young Talents Award in 2009.

She is currently the chairperson of the Community Arts and Culture Committee for Nanyang Community Club which aims to promote the arts within communities.

Peh Mei Lian

Peh Mei Lian has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in design, having worked commercially as a graphic designer and an illustrator for greeting cards for many years. She was commissioned in 1994 by SAFTI Military Corporation (Singapore) through Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp Architects (MGT) to design two series of banners for the new SAFTI army barracks in Jurong, Singapore. She also received the Best Illustration Major Folio Award in the 1995 Degree Show.

Reflecting on Jack Trout’s Differentiate or Die: Survival in our Era of Killer Competition (2000), Mei Lian is intrigued to delve into the branding of design education in Singapore. Like any business constantly in a state of reconstitution and responding to the needs of a diverse array of clients, there is a need to diversify, respond, and redevelop practices and products. Likewise, in education, there is a great deal to learn from this discourse and remain true to learners and the diverse range of youth within our communities. Mei Lian sees herself embarking on research projects to understand learners’ patterns and to help more students realise their potential. Her research interests focus on areas such as: Do educators view their learners as partners? / Do the learners view us as dictators rather than partners whom they collaborate with? / Do we understand our learners as well as we thought? / Do we reflect on the pedagogies that we have been using and hence question the relevance of our teaching methodologies? / Are we still preparing today's youth for a knowledge-based economy with the relevant thinking skills?