DAZINGFEELSGOOD

Kiat Ng (b. 1984, Singapore) is a furniture designer by training. He received his formal education from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Raffles Design Institute where he graduated with Distinctions in Furniture Design major for his Diploma and Degree education. Kiat began his design career in 2009 and specialised in designing interiors for upscale residences with modular furniture systems. Since then, he collected a wide portfolio of industry experiences in aspects of design development and production, furniture fixtures and equipment (FF&E) and project management for commercial, exhibition, hospitality and residential projects. Karen Chiam (b. 1983, Singapore) is a graphic designer by training. She started her design education in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 2002, and further her studies to attain Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Graphic Communication from Loughborough University (UK) in 2011. Karen has a background in retail, where she worked on numerous campaigns and designed print/digital assets for fashion, beauty and lifestyle stores. Till date, she has gathered 13 years of work experience in aspects of design development, marketing communication and project management in furniture, graphic and spatial disciplines.

Based in Singapore, DAZINGFEELSGOOD (DFG) is an independent multidisciplinary studio, co-founded in 2015 by Kiat Ng and Karen Chiam. In our practice and approach, we constantly aim to re-define and re-evaluate subjects of design; often revolving around the translation of form and function through recurring themes of logic, origin, and reduction.

We believe that design, as much as art, should be integrated into everyday life. A good design should be consistent and cohesive; it should not only fulfill form and functionality, but also create experiences and evoke emotions among the users.

Trained in furniture and spatial design, Kiat applied his industrial sensibilities together with Karen, who is trained as a graphic designer, to collaborate and produce works spanning across furniture, graphic and spatial disciplines.

System. It started as a self-initiated project that grew purely out of our passion with characteristics that represents both our interest in art and design, unaffected by commercial values. Naturally the outcome came off as an art object which was picked up and exhibited in a major design event in Singapore called SingaPlural. That really boosts our morale for being validated.

It was a collection of kitchen designs that we conceptualized for a furniture company.

Our preference in materiality/process in design tends to incline towards the origin within its given context; hence very often it is associative to the rawness and expresses brutality in literacy, something we like to call as ‘non-design’.

The visuals of the design purpose and outcome. Visualizing and verbalizing the process of how a design looks like and how it will eventually lead to is an important aspect in our ideation phase.

Usually like a roller-coaster ride with the ups and downs. We believe good design should be as real and emotion like life itself.

We believe that design, as much as art, should be integrated into everyday life. A good design should be consistent and cohesive; it should not only fulfill form and functionality, but also create experiences and evoke emotions among the users.

Purpose in the storytelling, functionality, materiality and presentation, both the tangible and intangible values of the design.

As the word ‘design’ meant, to improve effectively according to a plan.

The language of design should be as seamless as possible, merging and integrating all disciplines into a common cohesive relation, focusing on the experience of the purpose.

Stay hungry for passion and learn to co-exist within success and failures.

As designers, we find simple enjoyment from the 'awakenened' sensibilities from a design point of view. Design became a way of life, not just a learnt skill nor career.

Being a designer drafter in my first job made me realized how the importance of seemingly mundane and meaningless tasks can bring, to train character and technical hard skills.

We enjoy designing works that involves cross-disciplinary efforts because the outcomes are always unpredictable and refreshing.