HOW Hi! I am Lynda Lye, a Singapore designer. I started my company Forestprints Design in Aug 2004, and launched this website in Oct 2004, followed by my indie lifestyle label, littleoddforest, affectionately known as LOF by friends and fans. I LOVE design, and wanted to do something on my own that i could take pride in and truly love, but got no such satisfaction slaving away in design firms. Many things in the world today tend to be too de rigueur, slick and cold, and I was looking for more things quirky, odd and colorful with more personality. So I embarked on this journey, born from daydreams of escaping monotony and constraints, to bring my imagination and creations to life. My main aim is, among others, to help make the world a more beautiful place to live in! With 4 mini collections yearly, LOF aims to be a lifestyle embraced by many, especially handmade lovers and craft connoisseurs from all over the world who appreciate a little dose of fun in their everyday life!
WHY Since a child, I have been influenced by childhood fantasies of bizarre fairytale adventures, set in magical enchanted forests, filled with imagery of talking animals, imaginary creatures and trees, creating this strange little world of colors and endless possibilities in my head. Thanks to my artist-painter dad, who began reading loads of incredible tales to me when I was still in my mother's womb.
WHO Preferring to draw and cut freehand, I have always been an artsy-craftsy kid, doodling cutting and gluing away as early as when I was just a wee 4 year-old, scaring adults by snipping away with scissors and knives, even my own nails and hair! A Science major throughout my school years and one-time Economics degree dropout, I finally flew off alone to college in Chicago for 4 awesome years and got my Bachelors in Fine Arts degree (BFA) from the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago, after much bumming around and feeling lost. I majored in Visual Communications, but got to dabble in a little bit of almost everything 'artistic', including painting and fashion, all thanks to a flexible curriculum, an experience I will truly treasure all my life.
GOODS I make only what I like! We are the anti-orthodoxy of big brands, shiny leather bags and all things flashy. Everything is produced in limited numbers, with many one-of-a-kind creations, made with lots of love and sweatshop-labor free. I strongly believe in good quality and usable hand made goods, and am annoyed when handmade is associated with flimsy arty impractical items that will not last. I love using vintage/out-of-production materials, and playing with various combinations to make each piece unique. Besides being a staunch supporter of indie designers, artists and small businesses, my unbridled passion is in pervasive creativity. Not wanting to be tied down by mere labels or be dictated by my degree/training, I hope to fuse my love for all things design, be it product design, the graphic arts, packaging or fashion, with my own sense of style. I will lay my hands on everything if I could!
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PROCESS I do not have any fixed creative regime. It is simply a free-flow process of sketching and doodling of ideas and inspiration, looking at materials, browsing through my past sketches, making changes, finalising drafts on my computer, doing up prototypes, using it for myself, more changes if needed, and voila! I do not purposely seek out inspiration. I am subconciously inspired by everything and anything i am and have been exposed to. My ideas and mood for creating can pop up randomly from nowwhere in particular. I could be sleeping this minute and waking up the next to scribble down something I have dreamt of. I am generally attracted to colors, oddities, great product designs, all things quirky and cute, and love flipping through colorful, exciting design books. Flexibility is crucial in my work process. I do not like to meet a headblock and mull over it. I love to improvise. On the rare occasion that I do get a creative block, just by going out and about would do.
WORK This is a one-woman business. I do it all, from managing the website to eeky paperwork. Creatively, it is just me, myself and I. I design everything, from the products to graphics and marketing peripherals including the entire website which was coded from scratch by my coding genius, Brandon. As things grew, I have managed to hire a precious little crew of both full and part-time worker faires and gnomes, without whom all of these would not have been possible! All the plushies and brooches are sewn only by me, and my dearest mom, whom i managed to hire part-time after much persuasion! I also founded CRAFThings in 2006, an online handcrafted craft supplies store to help support craftsmen of SE Asia, but have sinced trimmed it down here as a handcrafted craft supplies category. I also started a mini label or creative-distraction outlet, if you may, in 2008 - PeppyWanders, just so I can refresh my creative juices for all things forest-ty!
MOTIVATION When people tell me how much they genuinely love and understand what I do, and when they keep buying and even help to spread the word to others to prove their point! And not forgetting the friends I have made from some of my customers. You have to really love and have a strong passion for what you do, have a clear idea what your goal is, and be realistic. Starting something you love on you own is not going to be a bed of roses for a long while, lots of obstacles will be met, and lots of sacrifices will have to be made. I constantly remind myself that from time to time. My mom's strength and belief in my has definitely played a huge part.
PLANS Expansion of product range, new labels in different styles, more stockists worldwide, and my very own showroom/studio/retail loft. I hope to see more people being educated about independently-run labels and handmade goods, and appreciating and respecting their worth, whereby nothing is quickly and cheaply mass factory produced on a large scale, and the designers and makers are paid what they deserve, for the amount of work, care and love put into a product. $30 for a pretty decent purse? I say you have just paid a very rich corporation and/or factory owener and not their poor robotic workers. The usual response of "Why should I care?" depresses me so. On a lighter note, I am always up to something and have a few surprises up my sleeves, so do stay tuned!
Click on to find out more! If you aren't bored already *wink |