An Honest Pursuit

For the multi-hyphenate Celine Ng, collaboration and sustainability are the core focus of her studio’s compelling and honest designs. Celine Ng recalls her early years of her career with earnestness that can be seen in many of her innovative and purposeful works. The founder of the Fraction Design Studio reminisces that there were no stones unturned in her search for further education, as she attended many open house tours and hopped around different schools to check out the programmes that they had to offer before settling on a career in the arts discipline.

I soon discovered that NAFA (Nanyang Academy of - Fine Arts) was the place where I belonged," recalls Celine. "I loved that it was an institution where creativity is unbounded, and there can be multiple answers to a single question. This formed the foundation of my career, as I was greatly inspired by my lecturers who wore multiple hats, be it adjunct lecturing, starting their own design studios and also serving as design consultants for various companies."

Setting up the Studio

A fresh graduate right out of school, she joined the Singapore Furniture Industry Council that opened the doors to her first commercial opportunity – to design an exhibition booth for the premium design store XTRA for one of the landmark events during Singapore Design Week, Singaplural. The opportunity became a stepping stone to other projects which allowed Celine to quickly build up her track record and open her own studio just two years after graduating from the NAFA.

The drive behind setting up her own company was underpinned by Celine’s urge to work and collaborate with other creatives. Influenced by various multi-disciplinary design studios, such as Form Us with Love, a Stockholm-based multidisciplinary design and interior and architecture studio, she describes that collaboration is at the centre of what those firms do, formulating unconventional yet practical design ideas to solve challenges and improving lives.