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Science werk: Exploring different styles of design
The Indonesian creative industry has seen a significant rise in the past few years as local companies begin to establish â or reestablish â themselves with increasing brand awareness
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The Indonesian creative industry has seen a significant rise in the past few years as local companies begin to establish ' or reestablish ' themselves with increasing brand awareness.
Simply put, the next generation of businesses takes into account the great importance of putting forth an identifiable identity in order to stand out among competitors and peers.
This is certainly why consultancies that specialize in, or are related to, project branding are becoming increasingly prevalent.
Design agencies like Science Werk are a part of this trend ' providing services that aim to shape both the aesthetic and marketing approach of companies.
With a healthy amount of competition, studios that stand out do so in a swift manner and, for the most part, stay there for a long while.
Formed merely four years ago by designer Danis Sie, Science Werk has grown to be one of the country's most recognized design studios, with an impressive resume that boasts major businesses, including Ciputra, Zuri Hospitality Management, Wong Coco, Gunas Land, Asia-Europe Foundation and Singapore River Cruise.
While there are numerous design studios around the country popping up, Science Werk's ability to build its portfolio with big names at such short notice has kept the ball rolling, as businesses rarely take chances with new studios with small portfolios.
Since 2011, Science Werk has worked on brand identity, print and web design, illustration, packaging and environmental graphics.
'Basically, whatever needs some creative input,' Danis said.
The studio's name came from an impromptu moniker Danis thought up for an online project which focused on art and science and the topic of cloning.
'It was a fun experimental project for an illustration community that formed around [art-based social-media website] Deviant Art ' a totally random project,' he explained.
In 2011, Science Werk was established as a studio, which would start tackling commercial projects and briefs.
Danis came upon the almost comical realization of 'The hell with it, I have no other skills than design', and decided to bank what savings he had into what he knew was an emerging yet relatively untapped market ' at least back then ' in Surabaya, East Java.
Science Werk began running haphazardly, with Danis outsourcing freelancers for a variety of duties, including design, programming and copywriting work.
But the method proved to be unreliable as the 'partners', as Danis refers to them, could not be tied down to specific responsibilities and would often leave for better paid gigs ' which Danis understood.
'We were just not generating much income in the beginning, as we started off with no network.'
The realization led Danis to reexamine his approach, which meant hiring full-timers that would dedicate themselves to branding Science Werk as the premiere design studio in Surabaya, and eventually the rest of the country.
Since 2014, the company has employed four people, including its founder ' two designers, one illustrator and one 'Jill of all trades', as Danis said.
The studio's approach has grown into recognizing the strengths of individual clients, developing each project without considering the size of the company, Danis said.
'We approach each project differently as they all have different requirements. In general, we like exploring different styles for every design concept; sometimes we do it in-house, sometimes [these include] collaborations.'
That means being able to jump between styles daily.
'Day one, working with cheeky eye-candy artwork; day two with a science fiction theme; day three with a minimal-contemporary-ish style; day four with a hipster looking design; day five, Swiss-style, and so on,' explained Danis, visibly amused.
With Science Werk, Danis hopes to be part of a movement ' spearheaded by the Indonesia Graphic Design Association (ADGI) ' which aims to continue and regenerate design talent in the country.
Danis himself sees the current crop of designers as being categorized into 'talented-privileged, privileged-no-talent and talented-no-privilege'. He considered the first group to be those who will become design icons in the country; the second, those who are likely to eventually 'just run their family business'; and the third the ones that more people need to pay attention to.
As for Science Werk, Danis' aims are humble yet creatively ambitious. 'We don't have any out-of-this-world mission to save the design scene or anything. Simply put, we might not be able to stop the wave but we can learn to surf.'
