William Lim
Material Coordinator, Denniston International Architects and Planners, 2008
Diploma in Product Design
The beauty of being an industrial designer is that you are not limited to just interior design or architectural design. One can venture into any field of design, from product design, interior design, furniture design to car designs. The job scope is borderless and that is what makes industrial designers unique.
15 December 2008
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Charting His Own Course
Written by Christine Chan
William Lim wakes up in the wee hours of the morning to sketch ideas for industrial design that his mind generates while asleep. If this sounds like the stuff of geniuses, then his life story is one that will blow you away. Christine Chan speaks to this young man who has already gained numerous industrial awards and experience in a wide area of industrial design, including consumer goods, graphics and logos, automobiles and buildings.
William Lim is a man who can claim to have design in his blood. This alumnus of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology was born into a family of designers, and it did not take long for him to discover that design was truly his passion and talent in life.
Following his dream, William took up a diploma course in Product Design at Limkokwing University, and graduated in 2001. William is grateful to his alma mater for giving him the foundation that he needed to propel himself into the world of industrial design.
Thanks to the effective and exhaustive campaigns that the university had across education expos and schools, I became exposed to the world of industrial design. Through the workshops held by the university, my interest in industrial design grew even more
“Thanks to the effective and exhaustive campaigns that the university had across education expos and schools, I became exposed to the world of industrial design. Through the workshops held by the university, my interest in industrial design grew even more,” he explained.
“I had no doubts that when I completed my foundational studies, I would be joining the university right after,” he said. “Limkokwing University of Creative Technology is the only university that promises quality practical and theoretical training.”
William’s embarking on the first steps of his professional career happened when he underwent a three-month internship in Four Design, a company in Australia in 2002. Although it was only an internship, William believed that this was an important stepping stone for him, and treated it with all the seriousness of a real job.
Seeing his determination and hard work, the company offered him a job position without any hesitation within three months. That point was the beginning of a continuous stream of success as William bagged one industrial award after another.
While working in the company, William’s design for the Gatorade anti-drip sports bottle won the Dyson Best Design Award in 2005. Proving that his design was not just a prize-winning success but a commercial one as well, the design was widely distributed across Australia, the United States and Europe.
His flair in design was further proven when he won the Best Logo Design Award, an award granted by the prestigious Australian Design Council. Like his design for Gatorade, his creation for the Australian Design Council was also widely used in Australia.
The same year, William left Four Design to join Euro Chairs as a Senior Research and Development Designer. Leaving Four Design to join Euro Chairs was an important step in his career, as it was through Euro Chairs that he was met with new challenges that required him to sharpen his skills as a designer and to think creatively.
As a Senior Research and Development Designer, William was required to come up with unconventional designs for furniture. Beyond just coming up with the concepts itself, his job scope also involved selecting suitable materials and then running tests on mock-up creations to ensure their quality and durability.
While working at Euro Chairs, William once again proves that he is able to create designs that are not just appealing to members of the industry but the general public as well. His works are now seen in some of the offices of the largest companies in Kuala Lumpur, including the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Citibank, RHB Bank, and Limkokwing University.
Never content with settling into one niche, he decided that he needed to get out of the rut and moved to Toyota, where he worked as a Research and Development Designer. For the first eighteen months, he deeply absorbed all sorts of new knowledge related to designing vehicles, and his field of expertise broadened into car designing and rendering cars.
At the height of his career at Toyota, William was providing up to twenty concepts of car designs every day.
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology is the only university that promises quality practical and theoretical training
“The beauty of being an industrial designer is that you are not limited to just interior design or architectural design,” explained William.
“One can venture into any field of design, from product design, interior design, furniture design to car designs. The job scope is borderless and that is what makes industrial designers unique.”
Despite having a vast amount of experience in various areas of design, William was still thirsty for greater challenges and more experience. Thus, when he was offered a position as Material Coordinator with Denniston International Architects and Planners, he simply could not say no.
By taking on the job, he quickly became an expert on materials, with an ability to give advice on different building materials ranging from plastics to aluminum, from stones to glass, as well as many other kinds of building materials that many might be unaware of. With this expertise, William was assigned to deal with clients from all over the globe, including from countries such as the Maldives, Spain, and Greece, just to name a few.
Working at Denniston, William focuses on high end market materials as about 99% of the projects under this company come from international clients. He also works closely with the architects of the many projects that he is involved in, which include buildings, resorts, and many other kind of structures.
At 28, William would still be considered young to a many people. Youth, however, has proven to be no hindrance to him in achieving what he wants and gaining as much expertise as possible from a wide and diverse pool of experience.
He is successfully carving his pathway to cover different areas of the industry, earning him a solid background in the different corners of industrial design. It was no easy task to undertake, but unsurprisingly, he managed to do it – after all, he is an alumnus of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology.
