Nando's Suicide Prevention Day 2023 IG Feeds

One of the posts Nando's wanted included in their September calendar was a static on Suicide Prevention. My thoughts on it? Don't do it just because you have an empty slot in your calendar, but do it with intention. This makes a difference because:

1) You can put words on a page and tell your followers to commemorate the day by thinking about the vulnerable and maybe they will feel it, maybe they won't. After all, mental health awareness is a relatively new conversation in conservative Singapore.

2) You can instead call them to action and show how caring requires effort, but it doesn't take much to make a difference. Simple suggestions on how to make that difference may indeed help make that difference.

As a result, that intended one-page static became a carousel of statics. Hopefully, we can sustain the momentum with something even meatier as we go along.

Elementary Parent Support Group of St Joseph Institution International: Posters

I often step in to help the parent support group of my kids' school to promote their events or create announcements.

I don't snub work that isn't cool or award-winning. If there's a problem I can solve, it's already a fantastic opportunity I get to solve it. 

Moreover, I get to dabble with the art side of things this way, via the various fun platforms out there that are time-saving as well as customisable. That's something I rarely got to do when I was a full-time Creative at ad agencies.

Who doesn't love technology that liberates our creative sides, right?

Blog Articles for Gregory Outdoor Packs (Japan) | May/June 2022

Gregory Packs have a strong blog following whether they're sold in the USA or in Asia. 

The brand's social media makes space not just for product info but cleverly uses its brand ambassadors (outdoor junkies) to push product efficacy and features. The blog simply allows for more to be explained.

Articles with outdoor angles and relevant to brand target market are often shared to provide utility and affiliation with fans and casual users alike. 

I was commissioned to write 3 articles based on 3 topics provided by the client. They would later be translated to Japanese for the East Asian market. Check them out at the links below.

Article 1: Work-Life Balance @ https://bit.ly/3qfZ28J

Article 2: Top 10 Beach Towns Around the World @ https://bit.ly/3MGrWX1

Article 3: Essentials for Everyday Adventures @ https://bit.ly/3N1Klij

LEGO: Making Surfing Safer for Kids | December 2021

Everyone loves LEGO.

Everyone remembers playing with LEGO.

Everyone probably dreams of working on, if not at, LEGO.

So I was honoured to be invited to help write for an online board-game that aimed to educate kids, through play of course, on a few safety tips when surfing and using the internet.

Like every established brand worth its salt, there is a a protocol to writing when you work on a LEGO job. I love learning on the job and it was exciting to see my words become a reality on this job. To top it off, the strategic planner and art director I worked with were friendly and open-minded. This was a really enjoyable experience even if the project was a small fraction of a larger campaign.

For context: https://www.lego.com/en-sg/sustainability/children/digital-child-safety/

For the board-game:  https://www.lego.com/en-sg/sustainability/digital-child-safety/digitally-smart-explorer-easy

January 2022 | Headlines for Gregory Backpacks' 45th Anniversary (Updated)

Writing head lines always sounds easy. But for writers, it’s a task more challenging than penning articles. Here's why: on top of charm, wit and the sprinkling of other ingredients that make words pop and stick, there are usually technical factors that apply and circumstances to consider in the real world.

For the 45th anniversary work I recently did for Gregory -- Samsonite's outdoor adventure backpacks -- the parameters were as follows:

1. I was working remotely, and the visual style adopted by the team at Gregory imposed a rough word count.
2. I was given a few requirements - being Gregory’s 45th anniversary, the number 45 was important but not 1977 because ‘Since 1977....’ was felt to create an image of agedness. 
3. I naturally needed to be on brand in TOV.

Having said that, this is what writers do, and, indeed, what all creatives too. We play with the blocks we’ve got. (And they’re always, always different). Then we sit back, wonder for the 100th time what could’ve been done better, and then wait for the next challenge to try things out again. 

Eternally grateful to the team at Gregory, especially Douglas Goh, for the opportunity to work and play.

Upskilling: Drawing Sasuke With Sketch And Wacom Tablet

My most recent labour of love project began two months back when my then-11-year-old son requested for a drawing of Sasuke, a beloved character in the popular Manga series, 'Naruto'.

I've always wanted to learn how to use Photoshop, but in the course of building my career as a writer in the last 20-odd years, I never had the time. My Art Directors and I were always chasing deadlines. 

It was not meant to be.

The Wacom Tablet kindly lent to me by Primus Nair (Chief Creative Officer, Lego, Singapore HQ a year back), allowed me to explore layers and various brushes. I practised using it whenever I had time to spare, and finally figured out which pens and brushes suited me most.

This drawing ate up whatever little free time I had but it was worth it.

I framed it up and gifted it to my son on his 12th birthday, which we celebrated a few days ago. His face lit up behind his mask as he took it out of my hands.  I can say this because every mother knows when her child is happy (or sad). 

Plus, I could feel the warmth from where I sat. 

Musings: Taking on the World in Downtime

From time to time, when I am not bogged down with work and parenting, I sit down with my pen, paper and Canva app (yes, I am promoting this app for the multiple times it has helped me - to explore basic layouts, send personalised sketches to friends, and whip up the parent support group's newsletters for my kids' school).

Here are some of my musings.