TheFWA - Kit Man

The most important quality of a good creative craftsman is how much love he/ she has towards his/ her creation.

Please give us a brief bio of yourself.

I am Kit Man, founder of Kit Da Studio, located in Hong Kong. I studied all the way to be a bio-engineer, but something happened (long story...) and here I am as a Creative director. Digitally, I speak fluent AS3, C++ and obj-C; fair JS, PHP and HTML. Love day-dreaming, film photography, sketching, DIY-ing and windsurfing. My Motto is "Believe you can, Then you can".

What do you do for inspiration?

Hobbies, serious hobbies of unrelated subjects and there's always fun things / inspirations hiding at the junctions where knowledge of different fields overlap. We need to walk long enough on different paths, patiently, seriously, to reach the junctions.

Please list 3 of your favourite sites.

- google.com

- ted.com

- makezine.com

What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

Personally - I got a scholarship to Sheridan institute of technology & advanced learning, Toronto in 2002

From Company's POV - Our app FotometerPro got private copy 1 month after launching in 2011 (!)

How many hours do you work each week?

It's hard to tell - since publishing our own app is fun. Personally, my work has been blended into my life completely, like farmers of the old time - life is work and work is life.

How do you relax or unwind?

Film, photography, windsurfing, DIY things including camera, interactive installation items & weird stuff, leather crafting, acrylic painting, kayaking ... different activities is healthy for the brain to brew ideas.

If you weren't working on the internet what would you be doing?

bio-engineer / lab technician / medical sales...

What's your favourite part of your job? What's the hardest part of your job? What do you do when you get stuck?

Keep learning new things would be both the favourite / hardest part. It is the hardest when deadline is tomorrow; but it is the favourite part after deadline's gone. When we get stuck, we would go for a chinese-hacky-sac session or a mario-kart-DS race.

What software could you not live without?

It would be Flash, it was where I started my digital journey.

Who do you rate as being the top 3 design companies?

http://tha.jp/ of yugo nakamura

Has winning FWA awards helped you in any way?

It is a recognition to the quality of our work, and it cheers up the whole team so much. We are all on high adrenaline now !

What are your views on design/graphic school. Do you think someone can get into the field without educational experience in a school environment?

Design School is a good place to brew up a designer; it is good to have - but not a must for someone who wants to get into the creative field. The most important quality of a good creative craftsman is how much love he/ she has towards his/ her creation. You love something and you want to make something happen, it is the motivation which drives you to learn whatever needed. And google made self-learning so much easier now. (though you need to filter off wrong info.)

What would be your ultimate vehicle to travel in?

VW Camper Van with my surf board to the coast !

When your company was just getting started, what did you find was most effective for getting new clients?

Passion. Do every job with passion, fine tune this and that to the very detail - I reckon the passion you filled into projects will be the nectar for more bees !

How have you learned so many Flash/design skills and techniques and can you offer any advice for newbies?

Read more books. Most designers i know, they are afraid of reading text; so do I. But reading is probably the most efficient way of importing new knowledge. And after reading, do it once for reinforcement - that's my learning pattern.

What country excites you the most in terms of innovation?

Japan, this crazy nation is born with strange, weird & FUN ideas!

What does the future hold for your company, or you as a person?

Apps, Apps and Apps for these few years.

What is the most expensive thing you have bought in the last week?

Otona no kagaku Vol 30 - Theo Jansen's Mini Strandbeest. Wow it's always amazing to look at the Kinetic sculptures created by Theo Jansen, it is something existing on the boundary of art and engineering - an absolute beauty.(http://otonanokagaku.net/english/magazine/vol30/index.html)

Any parting shots or pearls of wisdom?

Never grow old in mind, stay curious to everything, and keep day dreaming.

It has been a privilege, thanks very much

Thanks for having me in theFWA interview, Rob. It's a big honor for me. Have a good day :)

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