Originating from a small town in the east coast of Pahang, Malaysia called Kuantan, alumnus Fong Say Kiat has always had a dream of empowering communities through design. So it was only natural that he started his own design practice after graduating from Limkokwing University.
It was aimed to help local communities design their brand and produce editorial-related materials such as video montages and documentaries. “I actively ran clubs during high school and often designed posters, created social media posts and produced video clips for events. Those early days gave me a good idea of the impact of branding and perception through visual communication,” Fong says.
Soon after graduation, he gained interest in using the Web as a medium for storytelling. He joined a digital research firm as a UX Researcher intern to observe how people react to digital products. “It’s exciting to learn how people interact with a multitude of products – including the badly designed ones. When I felt ready, I took on the role of digital product designer and started designing for web and apps,” Fong shares.
Today, Fong works remotely as a Product Designer for SixtyTwo, an Indonesia-based design studio that focuses on crafting good digital products used by millions of users. Their clients include Grab and Langit Musik. “We also had a recent collaboration with CyberKongz to help design their online platforms,” he adds.
Outside of his job, Fong is a multidisciplinary designer with a deep interest in branding, motion graphics, and web design. “During my free time, you’ll find me tweeting a lot about my never-finished side projects and learning front-end development,” he says.
SixtyTwo focuses on product strategy and framework by taking in different contexts of how users interact with the product and their surroundings, and place high emphasis on designing for accessibility. They’re currently working on an experimental playground called ProjectLima that aims to explore the possibilities of inclusive designs by conducting workshops to ignite curiosity in the topic and also research topics related to inclusive design.
As a product designer, Fong is involved in various processes before designing a web/app such as doing competitor analysis, user interviews, usability testing and ideation workshops. “I believe it’s important to discover user’s pain points and their motivation, and avoid solutionizing too early and designing high fidelity prototypes without sketches. For me, the research process is just as fun as the design process,” he shares.
Fong is currently working on two web-based related projects. One of them is PaletteUI, his personal playground to explore web and interaction designs. “PaletteUI showcases experimental design components referencing unique design patterns found on existing user interfaces. As the codes are open-source, everyone can take inspiration and tweak the starter code to fit their preference,” he explains.
The second project is a design learning platform called Prepr.tv. “As a fan of self-learning and edutech myself, I’ve curated a mega-playlist dedicated to design tutorials and lectures that I wish I had watched during my university years,” Fong says.
Fong studied the Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Professional Design (Visual Communication) at Limkokwing University. Throughout his course of study, he explored design disciplines such as branding, advertising, web design, motion graphics and video editing. “I even got the chance to build sculptures!” he exclaims.
“With the freedom provided by the course and supportive lecturers, Limkokwing University pushed me to explore a wide breadth of design approaches and modern creative tools practical for industry use,” he says.
Through Limkokwing’s diverse landscape, Fong learned to mingle with friends from different countries studying courses such as animation, fashion, and architecture. “The interaction was very beneficial in my career, as I understood how to work better with partners from different backgrounds and sparked my curiosity to learn about people of different cultures,” he shares.
Portfolio: https://studiofana.com/
