SINGAPORE — If you have ever thought men are the forerunners in the field of design, think again. Earlier this month on Aug 4 at the National Design Centre, the DesignSingapore Council awarded scholarships to an all-female cohort primed to be the next generation of design leaders in Singapore.

In fact, one of the young designers, Joyce Lu Ruizhi, will be the first DesignSingapore scholar to be awarded a double masters scholarship since the prize was introduced in 2005. Lu will be embarking on the postgraduate course in Design and Design Strategy at the California College of the Arts in USA, where she will learn about creating innovative products, services and design policies, as well as helping organisations develop new business models.

Lu, 30, shared how, following her graduation with a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2009, she had the opportunity to join the User Experience (UX) team of Dell Experience Design Group in 2010. “Fast forward to 2016, my experience has shaped what design means to me, where starting from understanding people in their context, on one hand, allows us to improve the current way of offering something, say a product or service; on the other, can support strategic initiative, driving innovation and transformation, at more macro, organisational and societal levels.”

Lu is currently a User Experience (UX) Lead for Dell Projectors and credited as one of the designers of the Dell All-in-One Desktop PC Family design project which received the President’s Design Award Design of the Year in 2012.

Like Lu, the other two scholars Lim Qi Xuan and Judea Cheong Xiao Si possess strong hands-on experience in the design sector.

Lim worked on the rebranding of OH! Open House and also designed the brand identity of OH! Joo Chiat and OH! Potong Pasir, among other editorial, branding and information visualisation projects for both local and international clients.

“I started out interested in pursuing illustration, but grew to love design gradually through my course,” shared Lim, 25, who majored in Visual Communications at the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University and graduated in 2014.

The Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medallist and Koh Boon Hwee Scholars Award winner would be reading the Master of Arts (Information Design) at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands, and she explained her interest “in how the course examines the way people experience information in spaces; museums, retail spaces, places of transit (airports, interchanges) and how these experiences can be better improved with new design methods and digital technology”.

The youngest scholarship recipient, Cheong, 21, is a Temasek Polytechnic Visual Communications graduate who pursued a graphic design internship at ROHEI, a corporate training company, and also developed the Design District Mobile App at the Red Dot Design Museum. Regarding these opportunities, Cheong observed: “Being exposed to both national and international projects allowed me to witness the activation of design as platform to better lives on a micro and macro level.”

Having been acknowledged and awarded for their talents and experience, how do these inspired young powerhouse designers hope to grow the design scene in Singapore upon their return from their overseas studies?

“Singapore is very IT-savvy, which gives digital design a strong platform with great potential. I am interested in exploring new ways of publishing and presenting information in spaces, to make it more efficient, engaging and meaningful for users. I would like to become a catalyst for exciting collaborations that will push design to be better recognised and appreciated in our society,” Lim shared.

As for Lu, she is motivated by how human-centred design can help improve lives. “I would like to help businesses be more innovative by making greater impact through human-centred design and I hope to keep developing my skills, share my knowledge with my peers and guide younger designers,” she added.