Last week, in the middle of such a busy season in Shanghai, our last Thought Activator of 2020, “Creativity Booster: Become an Original” was really well-attended.

And we were very pleased to have with us such an inspirational speaker, whose love and passion for arts drives his life – Siu Tang, Founder and Creative Director of The Orangeblowfish, an award winning independent creative agency.

Presently, The Orangeblowfish is a company with a global team of brand strategists, storytellers and artists serving both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, across F&B, beauty, retail, luxury and B2B sectors, with well-known names in their portfolio (for example, Liquid Laundry, the Broken Dagger, Budweiser, Google and LinkedIn). However, the road to where the company is now wasn’t easy.

“If we do something, we go all in and we must do it well. Otherwise what’s the point? Don’t you agree?”

Siu had a conservative and traditional Hong Kong upbringing, and his passion for art was not encouraged. After graduating with a Business Degree, Siu entered the corporate world. He spent almost 10 years in the same company, climbing the career ladder to a senior position.

In 2011, at the age of 34, he came to the biggest turning point in his life. With the encouragements and support from his wife, he quit his corporate job, and started pursuing his passion – art. And never looked back!

“What I love about art and what inspires me, is to do things that are different, innovative and fun.”

 Our creativity can be blocked by social limits or, so called, norms. But it can also be fueled and enhanced, you only need to allow it come to the surface. So how to increase your creativity level?

Have a look below on some of the points that have allowed Siu to boost his creativity in his professional life:

• Always say yes
• Be professional in whatever you do, but most of all be yourself
• Render time – research and prep before letting your brain do its thing of developing and enhancing ideas
• Ask questions

“I always test my projects on my kids. Their reactions are unbiased, and emotions are so real.” 

Do sculpture, paint, write for 30 minutes first thing in the morning about whatever comes to your mind or try something that you have never done before – it will help your imagination to work and get beyond the obvious.

It was wonderful to see so many new and familiar faces. Thank you to all those who attended this event, and we are looking forward to seeing you at our IPWS events in 2021!

Big thanks to Funkadeli, Yangping Road, for hosting our event.