Paul Watmough-Halim is the co-founder of Hyperfocus, a design studio sitting at the intersection of brand & product design. Self-proclaimed "design romantics", Hyperfocus boasts an international team that values fostering a diverse mix of perspectives, ideas, and cultures to build a better branding future.
Throughout his career, Paul has been a speaker at events like D&AD and ADC, alongside being featured in publications such as Visuelle, Brand Identity, Bounty Hunter, and Visual Journal. As part of our 5 Questions series, I caught up with Paul to discuss pet peeves, staying relevant and the uncertain advent of AI.
What’s the ugliest design trend you secretly love?
Gotta be disposable photography. The trashiness of it makes it so wonderful. I know it’s not for everyone, but as a vinyl lover and retro file, I just love old things, tapes, cassettes, books, magazines, etc. There’s something beautiful about the permanence of things, especially when it’s considered and contextualised through beautiful design.
Even though this is a trend that comes and goes, I’ll always love and lean into this aesthetic. For me, it all began when I discovered Japanese photographer Hiromix in the ’90s. Go Konica Pop. Pixels are so over.
What’s your creative pet peeve?
My biggest pet peeve is when design is not considered. The function of design is as important, if not more important, than how it looks.
How do you use it? Where does it go? Who can use it, who is it for, and who is it not for? Design without intent, in my opinion, is useless. Unthought-through creative is a big old peeve of mine.
Oh yeah, also mockup devices at an angle. Man, they annoy me!
What does staying relevant mean to you?
Staying relevant, for me, is showing up, sharing ideas, listening to others, supporting the design community where I can, and celebrating others. Anyone who has the opportunity to help and contribute to the design industry should. We need it more than ever after taking a beating over the last few years.
This is the best and most meaningful type of relevance, IMO.
What will the design industry look like in 10 years?
is alreadyIf current advancements in tech truly adopt into the mainstream, we’re going to see technology leaving screens and becoming far more conversational, integrated into almost everything around us. This has huge implications for design. Our industry won’t look anything like it does today.
We’re already seeing this reinvention happening with the advent of AI. Our idea of interface design will be something else altogether. Experiences with tech and brands will be far more personalised. UX, as it already is becoming, will be predictive and will do most of the work for you through AI.
brands have the power to do good and even to help change the world
We’ll build much stronger relationships with brands and technology because of this. It could either be an amazing thing or a very bad moment. The jury’s out on that one for now. I hope we find a safe place where new tech and brands play a wonderful, meaningful role in society.
I’ve always believed that brands have the power to do good and even to help change the world. I hope that proves true here, and that brand plays a pivotal role in shaping what’s next for humanity.
A few personal wishes: craft becomes king, self-expression remains paramount, and we learn to live side by side with new ways and ideas, without them destroying us.
What’s one thing you wish more people understood about your role or industry?
James Greenfield from Koto once said, “Everyone still thinks the washing-up fairy comes and loads the dishwasher at the end of every day.” I think that says it all, to be honest.
My role certainly isn’t glamorous. It takes a lot of grounding, patience, and trust that what you’re doing is the right thing. The things I’ve learned about running a design studio, if I’d known them beforehand, I probably would never have started.
That said, the naivety you have when setting off on journeys like this is the rocket fuel you need to tackle everything that’s thrown in front of you, and everything that will be.
That’s more than one thing, but one thing is true. You’ll still find us loading the dishwasher, quietly hoping that one day, just one day, the dishwasher fairy might come and pay us a visit.
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