Who the hell is Allan Yeung?

Get to know some of the brilliant minds behind our work. We’re chatting with members of the DixonBaxi studio about what makes them who they are. From the professional to the personal, nothing is off limits here. Introducing: Allan, our junior brand writer who grew up in Hong Kong and conditioned himself into liking low-budget horror movies.

Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Allan, a junior brand writer at DixonBaxi, and I predict that, sometime in the near future, I will be responsible for an office-wide coffee shortage crisis.

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What’s your story?
The year was 2001. Sometime between the first spacecraft landing on an asteroid and the release of Spirited Away, one of my favourite animated films of all time, I was born in a little big city called Hong Kong. Growing up, I had a lofty and romantic ambition to reach the stars – until I realised how much maths I would have to master in order to make that dream come true. Thus, Plan B was activated: I decided to become a storyteller. I was too slow at drawing to become an illustrator, and too technologically inept to be a filmmaker, so writing became my avenue.

While studying English Literature at university, I landed a strategy internship at a creative marketing agency, and that’s when I fell in love with the spirit and rhythm of the branding industry. When DixonBaxi offered me the internship opportunity, I scrambled to accept it. And I can’t wait to see where this journey will take me.

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What are you working on right now?
Right now, I’m cooking up a few articles for the DixonBaxi Newsroom.

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"Good writing demands your time and attention. All good creatives should be a little bit selfish, I think."‍‍

Describe your working style in 3 words.
Maximum effort. (Hopefully.)

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Tell us about some of your interests. What are you into?
Anyone who has known me for more than ten minutes will be able to tell you that I’m the type of Dungeons and Dragons player who has to let everyone and their moms know that I play Dungeons and Dragons. I love world-building, character designing, and mashing together the most nonsensical plot lines in my little fantasy sandbox. Yes, I even do the illustrations myself.

I’ve also been playing the piano for 15 years now, and I’m a campfire guitarist who learnt just enough chords to not embarrass myself when asked if I’m a guitarist (and so I can finally declare victory over my brother as the musician of the household that knows the most instruments).

Horror movies – both the ones filled with cheap jump scares and the genuine masterpieces that creep inside your brain for weeks – are my guilty pleasure; I say ‘guilty’ because I have a tendency of telling myself I won’t get scared shitless, but I’ll inevitably be kept awake that very night and make it everyone else’s problem.

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Do you think design can change the world? How?
Short answer - yes. Cop-out elaboration - I think that depends on the scope of how you define ‘change’. If a design inspires even just one person for the day, then you can argue that it’s left its footprint somewhere in the world. The wider that its effects ripple, the better, but sometimes the biggest changes only have to start with the first domino being knocked over.

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If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
I fundamentally believe that not all human beings are built to wake up and go to bed at the same time, and that we would collectively be more productive if society was more accommodating to people with sleep chronotypes that deviate from the accepted 7am wake-up time. That, however, may just be my excuse to have a lie-in.

What’s the last song you listened to?
No Blueberries - DPR IAN.

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Why do you do what you do? What motivates you?
As a writer, words are my greatest asset, so it’s really gratifying when my words make people pause to read them, rather than being lost to the aether in today’s world of ‘too much’ and ‘too fast’. Good writing demands your time and attention. All good creatives should be a little bit selfish, I think.

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What’s your definition of good design?
Something that, when you look at it, will compel you to say ‘ah, that’s clever’ out loud. Something that sticks with you. Something that inspires your next piece of work.