SFi by Me and
Mister Jones
Vita *
Name: Fanny Khoo
Profession: Strategy / Creative Director
Did you know?
I fall in love every single day.
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As a child I loved making stories. My ideas literally live outside my head. I was always idealistic and naïve enough to think that I could change the world. All this happily allows me to do what I do, so I try not to complain too much!
I attended LaSalle in Singapore and upon graduation, became an in-house designer for a cruise ship company. I met Mr Jones (aka Tom Merckx) in 1997 and moved to Belgium. I then joined 2 design firms before eventually working together at then Bizart which we revamped as Flink in Antwerp. 4 years later, I was asked to head Equus in Singapore - where I'm from originally. Equus is an award-winning agency with a strong corporate communications background. And our job was to accelerate its repositioning from a 15 year-old design agency to a multi-faceted brand consultancy.
We spent 3.5 years making that happen before returning 6 months ago to Antwerp where we finally established Me and Mister Jones. It's slowly taking off but the cultural climate is vastly different from Asia's ambition and drive. This takes a lot of getting used to... I probably won't have to because the world is so much more bigger than where we're based. And I don't plan on being stationary anyway.
I started doing strategy at Equus 2 years ago due to practical reasons. Brand strategists cost way too much to outsource. They also wield a lot of influence without being able to lend any creative firepower. I've always thought that both are equally important. If you arrive to a logical solution, it must always be able to translate to the best creative in all different medium. Oh and I've never met a brand strategist with excellent taste. And unfortunately no, taste is not subjective.
I write copy professionally but strategy work can be very taxing. It only starts to pay off when you're able to form that cross-over between strategy and creative. It's very challenging (but hugely exciting) each time when you're tasked to learn about a completely new industry or subject (depending on client type). You have to be prepared mentally to make these leaps back and forth, filling up gaps and then dividing them. Doing that again and again until you make perfect sense. New yet relevant. Simplified but not simplistic.
At the end of the day, your creative product must be able to go through fire - unscathed.
I absolutely love what I do because I've never been bored with dealing with complexity or design. Making everything come alive with a special soul, whether it's a logo, website or a shop interior - it's such a rare privilege to have the opportunity to create. That said, I do spend as much time working on convincing people - they need attention in order to change things. You can only bring real change through people. So that's very important.
Like Steve Jobs say, "We don't get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. And we've all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it. And to me, it really is.
10 Works / projects
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3 questions
Biggest hurdle overcomed?
Changing agencies, changing people's minds. Nurturing creative people which can be a real bitch because I am totally not easy. Haha
But I would say the biggest hurdle is always myself. I'm never satisfied to be just good. How can I say this? It's just never enough. Not for me, anyway.
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Greatest moment?
Being part of Equus's (occasionally painful) transition from a design to brand consultancy. But the greatest moment is always looking at what's next instead of actually 'achieving' it.
I used to say I'd like to 'die trying to make it, rather than having made it.' To me, there's nothing more boring than 'being there'.
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What next?
Making Me and Mister Jones work in both local and international context - being the next ACNE whom I admire greatly. Jonny Johansson can't be pinned down to being one thing and that's such a fantastic place to be at.
Why join the navy when you can be a pirate?
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Search for inspiration and/or talent in Netdiver Mag.
pinterest / medium / linkedin / X / rss
/ Tools we use
Affinity Suite
Our little studio owned Adobe Master Suites—invoking security issues our perpetual licenses were nulled. Undone? No!
I can open all .pdf, .psd or .ai files in the Affinity apps and the UI/UX is so gorgeous!
See for yourself: test the Affinity suite. Works on all platforms + iPad for—6 MONTHS FREE!
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Proton Mail
Connected to the internet's origins, building the internet of the future. We’re building ways to help everyone fight for privacy online. I am a big fan of their services.
Try a month free!
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DuckDuckGo?
What a strange name for an independent Internet privacy company. Contrary to G/ who records every instance of their services useage with DDG, no recording of your data, EVER!!!
We use it everyday.
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Obsidian
This private (free) app I use daily for taking notes or writing. Back up to the cloud for multi-devices access. Runs locally.
Deep and complex.
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I paint abstract with pretty colours ~ I play with mobile apps to create unique generative art.
Look 'Ma no AI.
feed your eyes
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Communication Arts 24-25—calls for entries.
Interactive — October 25/24
Illustration — Jan 10/25
Photography — March 7/25
Design — May 2/25
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The Smashing Conferences explore real-life projects, workflows and hands-on insights.
SmashingConf - Antwerp
Upcoming: Oct 28-31/24
SmashingConf - Workshops
Online: check dates.
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AIGA call for submissions
AIGA’s competitions celebrate exemplary design and demonstrate the power of effective design.
50 Books | 50 Covers: February 26 / 24
365: AIGA Year in Design February 26 / 24
Alt Summit 2024.
It is a conference and a community of thousands of women influencers and entrepreneurs in creative fields.
Upcoming: March 17-20 / 24
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YouWorkForThem — Good design needs good fonts! YWFT is privately owned and run by designers.
Rocking it since 2001.
/ Highlighted talents
They LUV design! #13
Mind-blowing visual feats and original designs I recently discovered.
Previously: #12 - #11 - #10 - #9 - #8 - #7 - #6 - #5 - #4 - #3 - #2 - #1
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They LUV drawing! #3
Illustration is probably the largest creative area to express (mostly without words) a message.
Previously: #1 - #2
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A type of Show #5 – I love typography - these projects caught my eye.
Previously: #4 - #3 - #2 - #1
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Moodboards #1 – Branding collaterals staged and served with conceptual brilliance.
/ About us?
A little (www) Story. In 1995, JF and I started a little project — Netdiver mag.
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Editorials. Design topics or issues that have impacted me and/or our creative industry. .
Over 50 articles.
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Kuvva interview
A short interview on how to build a strong portfolio + self-promotion.
/ Special Feature issues
SFi is a self-curation experiment coupled with a minimalist interview by people in the design industry I admire.
By invitation only
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Netdiver Mag
#ISSN 1911-866X
Carole Guevin is a founder + editor + design curator ∞ culture creator + online pioneer ∞ featuring the creative culture since '98.
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No hype — just beautiful
Reach my inbox °
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Netdiver long-standing mini visuals (200 x 115 px) galleries. Each lead to its review. Happy talent discovery!
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/ Illustration
Vast array of drawing styles
404 reviews
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/ Imaginative
Conceptual designs standing out
358 reviews
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/ Industrial
Products / packaging design / spaces +
333 reviews
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/ Motion
Brilliant storyboards / motion / vfx
286 reviews
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/ Photography
Some of the sharpest eyes shooting today
210 reviews
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/ Portfolios
New wave of design / interactive / mobile stars
552 reviews
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/ Powagirrrls
Women who rock the design scene with _more_ than pink design
391 reviews
/ Insider info
Visual Brain Gravity is a producer and developer of concepts, products and brand experiences.
Driven by vision.
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Special Feature issues
Self-curation experiment coupled with minimalist interviews with people in the design industry I admire.
By invitation only
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Terrific product or service or event and wanna reach a fabulous international audience?
Advertise with us
Coming soon
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Best Of The Year (BOTY)
Netdiver Best of the Year is a yearly compilation of projects / talents who made a lasting impression the previous year.
/ 2016 edition
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Netdiver Vintage edition
What was new in design worldwide—sort of a very unofficial record of web history as captured from {1998 - 2007}.
Over 2.3k+ projects.
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Netdiver static
Walk down memory lane: hand-coded news in design from 1998-2008.
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Terrific product or service or event and wanna reach a fabulous international audience?
Advertise with us
Dates soon.
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Check what inspires me? Follow my Pinterest.
