Inheritance

Introduce yourself!
I’m Jeena, and I recently graduated from uni. I guess my professional occupation would fall under graphic designer, but I’m currently in the midst of also working on my own passion projects while trying to settle in to life at an agency, so I’d say I’m more of a designer/creative.

Tell us more about some of these passion projects of yours.
I’m wearing it actually. I want to create bandana, headscarf-type of multi-purpose fabrics, and this is a sample that I recently received. I don’t know what I would call it at this point, but I do a lot of illustrations, so I’ve just been getting samples from a manufacturer to work out this possible entrepreneurial avenue.

What has this process been like for you? Is the goal to start your own brand one day?
It’s not really a brand right now, but in terms of creating the actual product, yeah I can say that I’ve done it. This was essentially my graduation project, revisited after some time.

How would you describe your personal style as a creative?
I guess professionally speaking, I work more with editorial layouts, like in magazines and all. But in my personal work, I’m more of a scribbler and doodler.

Tell us more about how this graduation project of yours came about then.
In school, my major was in visual communications, but I did a minor in media (photography). Back then, I thought since I was graduating, I should embark on an idea of my own and blend my two majors together. So not just brand design, but something that involved photography or the use of media as well. I also wanted to weave in fashion because it’s a personal interest of mine.

So the idea behind it came about because I’m Korean, and in Korea, we have this wrapping cloth called a bojagi, similar to the ones used in Japan, where we use it to wrap many different things or as home decor. In contemporary settings, it can be used as a fashion accessory as well where people drape it on themselves, but this isn’t really explored in the traditional realm. So that’s where my idea was born—I based my project on this single piece of square fabric inspired by traditional Korean designs, and explored how I could turn it into a fashion piece.

That’s interesting! When did you first move to Singapore?
I’ve been here since I was three, so I basically grew up here.

My parents are very Korean, so naturally I am too since I was raised by them, but given that I went to local Singaporean schools, I would say I’m half-half. I think my Korean side is still strong for someone who grew up in another country, but I definitely do see bits of Singaporean culture in myself as well.

Will you be exploring more of your Korean roots with this scarf project of yours?
Yeah, I will never stray away from the fact that this all started out as a Korean cultural project, because once it loses that element, it would have lost everything, including the point of why I wanted to embark on this project in the first place. But I hope that as I come up with new designs and patterns and bring in more of a fusion element, I hope that it will take on a more complex look as opposed to this super simple, traditional design.

Do you have a name in mind for this project?
The name that I used in my final-year project was Arum, and I’m leaning towards retaining this name. In Korean, Arum Datta means you’re very beautiful/elegant, so that’s the prospective name for this project. I still have a lot of things to work through, but hopefully I’ll be able to launch something soon.