We had the good fortune of connecting with Dylan Chan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dylan, what do you attribute your success to?
The strength of YEYE Design comes from loving and valuing people. Every person we meet and every relationship we have is precious. When you’re launching a business, it’s the connections that count. It surprises me when I trace back my clients from a seemingly unlikely encounter to an actual business partnership. So don’t take that BBQ hangout for granted, or that obligatory reunion dinner, because you never know who you’re gonna meet that you’ll have the opportunity to collaborate with later.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The biggest worry about starting your own business is not knowing if you will make money the following month. But instead of thinking I may be paid this month, but next month I might not, I have learned to flip it and tell myself: hey, I am getting paid this month, so next month I will too. This has changed my perspective from one of endless worry to one of anticipation and confidence.

Other than these doubts and worries, everything went more smoothly than I thought. I didn’t start with any seed money or anything. I just kept doing what I was doing – investing in any freelance projects/ relationships and hoping for the best.

After our launch, more clients started streaming in. And we’ve been riding on that wave ever since. Whether it’s through a social media blast, website launch, email blast (or all, as we did), make yourself known! “Fake it till you make it” was pretty much the mantra of the first year.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Singapore, which is an island of foodies. At the confluence of Southeast Asia, Singapore has a very diverse Asian culture. Food is a mix of herbs and spices from the dominant cultures around – Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai, Burmese, Filippino, Cambodian, and more. I can barely describe it. We are very proud of our cuisines and hybrid local dishes.

The number one thing you should experience in Singapore is the local hawker center. It’s an outdoor food market where you can find delicious, iconic street food. The thought of colors and flavors of our Chilli Crab, fried noodles, soups, grilled and stir-fried foods just makes you salivate. If you ever find yourself in Asia, you must stop by!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Aside from my husband, Matthew Roop, my late grandfather is the biggest source of inspiration for me. The studio name “YEYE” is a tribute to him (In Mandarin, “Yeye” means “paternal grandfather”).

Yeye wasn’t really the creative sort. He was a doctor in general practice. Nevertheless, he cultivated a deep appreciation for the arts. An Asian man born in the late ‘30s, Yeye had a holistic perspective on life which was rare. For instance, he studied English literature, learned Mandarin and even Arabic on his own; when he was 75, he asked my brother Ethan to teach him the drums.

It is this essence of Yeye that really shapes how we at the studio manage our own design practice. We keep an open mind when we approach design. We ask ourselves, “How could this be done differently?” That, for us, is key to making fresh work.

Website: https://yeyedesignstudio.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yeyedesignstudio/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-chan-009064136/

Image Credits
T-shirt & Totes photoshoot courtesy of Sean Ng, photographer Tiger rug photo courtesy of Sean Ng, photographer Mixoloshe Can photos courtesy of Mixoloshe Remaining photos courtesy of YEYE Design Studio

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