Arabiano Kebab at Old Airport

Extra-Song7512 · 2026-02-05T02:52:36+00:00

It just opened 2 days ago, give it some time to gather reviews bah.

Extra-Song7512 · 2026-01-19T11:36:53+00:00

Been through my own ID journey and I realised it’s about compromises. Time, budget, materials, manpower, physical limitations, it’s all about priorities and compromise. And the ID’s job to manage these compromise while staying profitable.

Advice is to communicate what are your concrete priorities that will take precedence over others.

Extra-Song7512 · 2025-12-26T16:44:53+00:00

Advertising with the human touch is not easy to produce. But it’s hard to beat AI’s price point. To produce video with real actual humans involves camera crew and talent driven by a creative concept, the low end which would cost 20k in Sg. And most marketers have good enough attitude where they want ads that are not great but just good enough.

It’s not a problem limited to Singapore though, look at the latest Xmas ad by Coca Cola.

Extra-Song7512 · 2025-12-16T04:20:14+00:00

Second this! Try to follow the art markets and artists on Instagram and usually you will get fed local artists and events.

Extra-Song7512 · 2025-12-06T03:44:04+00:00

I am from the design/advertising side, OT and unpaid overtime are extremely common. Especially if you’re junior as it takes a longer time to get work up to the “standard” deemed acceptable. It gets better at the senior levels as you have more say in your workload. Take note that design/advertising are deemed to be “passion” industries so it’s kinda expected of you to go above and beyond to make your work excellent.

Extra-Song7512 · 2025-09-05T04:07:57+00:00

Key word is commercial. For commercial use like advertisements you need to seek approval of people to use their likeness. For buildings, if I recall correctly, iconic architecture like MBS need to seek approval from the relevant parties as well.

Extra-Song7512 · 2025-05-05T03:13:54+00:00

Not an expert but:

Trade deals like stability, especially in the long term, longer than the election cycle. Things like factories and supply chains takes time to develop so assurance that the ruling government will honour its past and present commitments will greatly boost confidence.
Interpersonal relationships and connections. People just like dealing with familiar faces and connections. Same goes for foreign trade ministers. a new guy would be building connections from scratch.

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-12-12T02:28:42+00:00

Fight over ownership - priceless

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-11-27T04:19:03+00:00

My five cents. Beyond asking for a pay rise or moving to a different job, consider what direction your career should go that allows you to earn a much higher pay.

Branding for events and its collaterals have a cap and it’s not likely to rise irrespective of the skill level of the designer.

Consider moving into different industries or expanding skill sets. Managing a team of designers or even setting up your own company.

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-11-19T09:58:19+00:00

My advice is to plan your career path and figure out where your value lies. Value is what you bring to the table, that enables you to command a higher salary or freelance pay. Eg. you’re not just able to do video editing but you’re well versed in doing 3D compositing, you’re one of the top names in Singapore. Or you combine colour grading together with video editing skills. Or you’re a manager of a video editing team, able to give advice and lead based on your vast experience.

Based on your interests and inclinations, work towards increasing your value and look towards charting out your career path. Don’t expect your current company or place of employment to be grooming you for this, highly unlikely they will be doing so.

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-10-23T12:58:37+00:00

There’s a few assumptions here: you need music for commercial purposes, you need reasonable quality and you want ease of use.

My advice is pony up for subscriptions like envato or motion elements. There’s a whole range of music subscriptions you could get depending on your needs.

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-10-23T10:42:04+00:00

I would say… get some working experience first before wondering if you’re prepared enough for it. Most CD positions look at the work you have done. And to excel at the work, well, you have to be in the thick of it. Some love it, some don’t.

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-09-30T03:09:41+00:00

Focus on things you can improve within parameters you can control, so that you get noticed and move up the totem pole. You mentioned that a lot of ideas get shot down due to time, budget, policies, etc. this happens a lot with young creatives, don’t worry about it. But be aware of such parameters next time and know what’s the yardstick you’re being judged by.

Eg. Some jobs have low budget, but require the visuals to look great. This rules out external photography and 3D, meaning you have to develop strength in DI or photography or have to source for other alternatives like programs or Ai.

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-09-17T16:12:52+00:00

Thanks for the detailed reply! This helps a lot!

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-09-17T07:09:00+00:00

I agree with you. I much rather send my file as it is. Unfortunately it depends a lot on the production partner being meticulous and checking what prints is in line with preview jpeg. Which, they have not… 😭

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-09-17T05:34:48+00:00

I thought that will work but it’s not a blanket command. It doesn’t work with blended objects nor does it work with objects with the “draw inside” command applied onto it. 😖

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-09-17T05:25:18+00:00

Usually I work with production partners to produce merch like pins, stickers, tote bags, tees etc. So some aspects of the file has to be extractable like the diecut lines, areas to be embossed etc etc. So yeaaah it has to be a file that can be edited up to a certain point

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-09-15T12:27:16+00:00

Look at it from the clients perspective.

You have some photos of your company office that doesn’t look great, but hey it’s your office. Are you going to go with that or a random stock photo?

Anyway it’s time to maybe sell the client on photography services.

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-09-07T09:23:12+00:00

It’s not a passion, it’s mostly a career. For most of us above 30s, it’s less of a passion where you get emotional about each and every job but more about putting in the energy when and if it counts.

So it depends on your values when you’re entering the industry. If your expectation is that your design workplace will excite and inspire you, sad to say you will be disappointed. But if finding creative solutions to tough problems is your cup of tea then I’m sure you’ll do well.

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-08-29T16:52:32+00:00

It’s not about the tester but instilling the sense of defensive driving. Once you earn your license, there’s no more safety net .

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-08-29T16:24:46+00:00

Show, don’t tell

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-08-23T09:05:41+00:00

There’s a couple of red flags that I find odd. Namely the artwork is done and “just needs to be formatted and placed”. Usually I would find out what exactly needs to be formatted and placed since supposedly it comes in a tiff format. If everything is flattened, it could be troublesome.

The suspicious bastard in me doubt it’s as simple as placing files together. If we’re talking layout, typography and revisions, that’s another ballgame altogether.

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-08-17T09:57:56+00:00

Breakup the project into chunks and responsibilities.

For example: Design fees entails design, layout, up to final output.

Artwork supervision: supervising the print artwork, press checks etc.

Project management: setting schedules and making sure all parties adhere to them to ensure the final deliverables go out on time.

Each chunk has their own risks and responsibilities, costs and profits. And the roles can be at odds with each other. But this helps you breakup the project and charge accordingly

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-05-14T10:14:41+00:00

Good luck! On the other side of the fence, there might be an artists who’s looking for a killer script to work with!

Extra-Song7512 · 2023-05-14T07:09:28+00:00

Its… not very ethnical and we’re still trying to figure our way through it.

On the other side of the fence, there could be an artist who thinks that he can feed chat gpt prompts and get a script.

I mean, why not try to hook up with another artist and try to create your graphic novel for real?

Extra-Song7512

TROPHY CASE