Continuing along the thread of graduation, we were asked a few weeks back in our Design Professional class to sketch out our designer alter ego, someone with superhero powers that represented our strengths as a designer.

I saw my alter ego as this character called "The Strategist" (got feedback in class that I should call him "Dr. Strategist"), who has telekinetic powers and superhuman analytical abilities. He has levitational abilities too.

He uses those abilities to establish order and structure in a world filled with broken, chaotic, and disorganized systems and services.

While this was done as a fun class exercise, it also helped to put together my personal statement. Here's the final draft of my personal statement that would go up to Art Center's Product Design Grads website.

Hi I'm Kenneth, and I make the complex simple.

Coming from Singapore, I grew up in an environment that was very structured and organized, which at times felt really constricting.

Things changed when I was first introduced to the design process in high school. It empowered me to work within constraints, challenging it, but at the same time respecting it.

I probably didn’t realize it back then, but that also contributed to my moderate (some say borderline severe) obsession with neatness and organization.

This bleeds through to who I am as a designer today, living in a world that is becoming more integrated and seamless, yet also more complex and convoluted to navigate.

I seek to bring organization and clarity back to the user, transforming complicated and frustrating transactions into enjoyable and engaging interactions, making the complex, simple.

--

Click here to view the complete series of posts on my graduation.