From fashion-editorial red packets to scratch-off fortunes and spring-loaded packaging, the Kuala Lumpur studio reimagines familiar rituals as immersive design experiences.
Fictionist Studio’s founder, Joanne Chew, grew up in Kuala Lumpur, studied in New York City, worked there for a few years, then did a stint in Singapore. The plan to return to Malaysia crystallised during the 2013 general elections – her first time voting. “The act of voting for the first time triggered a deep desire to contribute to my own country,” she says. “At the time, I felt that contribution could be as simple as a beautifully designed business card.” She moved back, set up a makeshift studio in her bedroom and started from scratch. 12 years later, Fictionist is a D&AD, Type Directors Club, Art Directors Club, Dieline, Golden Pin and Dezeen Award-recognised studio with a small team working out of a light-filled space in Kuala Lumpur.
The studio’s work ranges widely from identities and packaging to print, art direction and self-initiated projects – held together by an appetite for what its founder describes as “unconventional forms of expression”. She adds, “It can be as simple as a slight tweak in a typical dieline for a packaging project.” But when the brief allows for something bolder, it’s safe to say she’s excited – “I would smack my hands with glee.” The process always begins with a concept, and the visual execution follows naturally from there. Fine art, fashion, architecture and literature are the key reference points for building ideas.
The Lunar New Year has become a recurring platform for the studio’s most inventive self-initiated work. For the Year of the Horse, Joanne made Mane Character Energy – a reimagining of the traditional ang pow, the red packet gifted as a token of luck during the festive period. The concept pivoted from the predictable charging-horse iconography to a single evocative detail: the mane. “We used a play on words to shift the narrative from collective luck to personal identity,” she explains, turning the mane into a metaphor for being the main character of your own story.
To achieve the texture and depth they wanted, the studio collaborated with a professional hairstylist to custom-style physical hairpieces, which were photographed and digitally composed onto horse imagery. The result looks like a fashion editorial for its saturated, strange aesthetic, which is unlike anything else produced for the season. We particularly love the mirror-metallic packaging, which means that whoever gets their hands on one can see their own reflection beside the mane. “It was an exercise in world-building that proved a cultural ritual could be transformed into a provocative, permanent design object.”
The Year of the Snake brought Shed Off Yesteryear: Shades of Brighter Cheer, a more contemplative project centred on the snake’s ability to shed its skin as a symbol of renewal. Fictionist designed a four-stack packaging system that guided the recipient through a ritual of releasing incense and striking a match – then arriving at red packets with a silver scratch-off foil.
As the foil is scratched away, mimicking the shedding process, a fortune is revealed beneath. The Year of the Snake also inspired Spring Has Arrived, a promotional kit for atmos Malaysia, the local outpost of the Japanese streetwear boutique. The title was inspired by a physical red coil spring nestled in a vibrant orange tray that greeted recipients when they lifted the lid. Beneath it, Luck Absorber cookies – a wordplay on automotive shock absorbers – and red packets are physically extendable like the coil. “It symbolises resilience,” she explains, “suggesting that while the road ahead may be bumpy, we have the inner spring to bounce back.”
What ties all of this together is a goal to uncover what design can actually do. “I want the work we produce to be more than just a piece of design,” Joanne says. “I want it to be a physical object or a narrative that people feel is worth keeping.” She says there is an obligation to bring that same richness to every project the studio works on – to let the vibrancy of Malaysia shape the visual language, wherever possible. “My hope is that we’ve woven ourselves into the ever-evolving creative fabric of Malaysia.” Based on what they’ve made so far, it would be hard to argue otherwise.
