In MyTona, we have in-house blogspot on events and updates. One of the updates is an interview on each mytonian to write about their life journey! I had gotten permission to repost to my blog. So here's mine! Hi! First, please tell us about yourself. Who is Meijin Tan? Heya! I am Meijin, an UI Designer from Singapore! I love collecting japanese plush toys and miss traveling to Japan ever since the lockdown. Time really flies and I have been working in MYTONA for almost 4 years! Looking back at how much MYTONA had advanced each year, I felt content to be able to work with amazing mytonians across the country! Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like? What kind of child were you? I was born in 1990 in Singapore, a small country located in South-East Asia. During my childhood, my family moved from place to place frequently, staying in our relative’s house. As a kid, I found it adventurous to stay at different places, cramping in a small room and play pillow fights together. But little do I know the reason behind all these. It was till my age 10, I was mature enough to realise that my family had been going through financial problems. At some point we were able to get a house in the Woodlands area, but both of my parents needed to work to pay off the house loan. I handled most of the housework (except cooking, just in case I might burn the house down XD) while taking care of my younger brother. To lessen their burden, I took part time and freelance jobs from the age of 16 until I graduated from DigiPen Institute of Technology in 2013. It was a challenging start, balancing between studies and work, but it is manageable when I am determined to do it. Overall, this childhood journey was a blessing as it shaped me to be a down to earth and responsible person. I learnt to appreciate little things and willing to contribute to people around me. And most importantly, through years of hard work and dedication, my family is finally financially free now! How did you choose your profession? What did you want to become when you were a child? At age 7, my first exposure to console games was when I received ‘Sega Genesis’ for my birthday. My favourite games were Super Mario, Sonic, Bomberman and Metal Slug! They are very much like interactive cartoon movies, hyping me up to be a hero to save the world. It was my first spark of passion in gaming. I spent my free time drawing game fanarts and made my board game using cardboard and other recycled materials. Games create fun and enjoyable experiences to people, and this is something I wanted to do when I grew up. During my teens, I would visit my friends’ house to play the latest games. At home, I would go for free-to-play MMORPG like RuneScape, MapleStory, CABAL and many more. I was such a gamer nerd back then, being active in game events and online forums. Gaming allows me to relieve stress and refresh my mind from both studies and work. Like other typical Asian parents and teachers would react, they are concerned about my interest. My study grade was good enough to take Triple Science subjects, but I wanted to drop off a Science subject in order to take Art. Back then, “Triple Sciences” were known to be subjects given for top students who can advance to the best education route, while “Art” was known the opposite. To be honest, I disagree with this kind of society’s mindset. Being a doctor or scientist is not a route I wanted, so I do not see the point of studying those subjects. My parents and I made a deal that I would choose my desired path if I were to get 1st in Art among the cohort. Thinking back, I am not sure how I managed to pull that off. I am well-aware that I am neither a talented nor a street-smart person. But I believe anyone can achieve anything if they willingly put in all the hard work and dedication. In overall, it takes years of persuasion, actions and results to be able to be what I am now. My parents have only recently accepted and are supportive of my passion. That was one of the biggest relief of my life. In 2009, my first job in the game industry was an art generalist. I worked on projects that require a bit of everything: pixel art, digital painting, storyboarding, 3d modelling, texturing, rigging, animation, commercial art, etc. A year later, my Art Lead discussed with me that I had potential to further my career as an UI Designer. Back then, I took aback from her words immaturely. “What?! Isn’t UI just boxes and texts?! Any novice could do that!” was my first thought. As time went by, I worked with different studios and different people, yet most of them have similar conversations about my UI skills. That was when I started to treat those words seriously and look deeper into the reasons. My senior colleagues seem to share these same opinions: I am a person with a balance of creative and analytical thinking skills, and have a decent level of empathy to understand different players’ perspectives, able to adapt and flexible to changes in fast paced situations, and many more. It seems that those skills are essential for being an UI Designer. With years of trial and errors, experimentation, and feedback, I got enlightened by how little I knew about the UI. To think that I used to dismiss UI as “just boxes and texts”, this is to show how much my ego had clouded my judgement back then, and even lose interest to further analyse it. I reminded myself that in future, if at any point I find any particular role is easy, I might consider that I only know 1% of it. Stay humble and stay curious. Technology is always growing and knowledge is always endless. I will always be a Lv.1 adventurer who has traveled a small portion of the UI world. How and when did you join the company? Why did you choose MYTONA? After I graduated from DigiPen in 2013, I aimed to work in a startup studio. The main reason is to experiment different skills for a couple of years before deciding my specialisation. I like working in a small team without supervision; everyone takes ownership, gives their input in every role possible and motivates one another to perform well. We get to present our pitch decks to business people from Sony and Apple. I think it is good to know a bit of everything and understand how each role works before specialising. The down side about Startup Studios is the stability. Every move and day counts. We either make it a hit, or we close down the studio. The biggest experience I had in the game industry was learning this hard way from startups. I can bring over this valuable knowledge to my next career; to be able to identify and understand the problems beforehand. When I reached my mid 20s, I told myself that it is the time to decide my specialisation. Working in a startup is fun, but I need to move on to the next stage, have a stable job and have a career growth. I had a flashback of my teammates saying that I am the fewest artists who are able to understand and do UI. Even till now, I have my doubts on my ability and how long I will stay in the game industry. But since I had made this far, I would rather take actions and play full out than to do half-heartedly and regret it. I sent resumes to many companies that need people with UI/UX skills; be it game companies, commercial companies or app companies. If possible, I would love to work in an overseas company to get more exposure to different people and culture. That is where MYTONA comes in. Being able to experience working in Russian-based company and the culture of Yakutia excites me. You have been to Yakutsk a couple of times at MYTONA Con. What surprised you most about Yakutia? The people were extremely friendly and welcoming. They made me realise that language barrier is just an excuse for not communicating with people. With good intention and mindset, we would find various ways to communicate and have fun together. I am an introvert, so having them to speak up first gave a good start. One thing I felt guilty about was having a hard time remembering all these wonderful people’s faces and names. So for future MYTONA Con, please bear with me if I asked for your names again! >o<’’’ Photo credit (on the left) to Elmi for his amazing photography skill! How can we not mention the breathtaking scenery and the beautiful culture of Yakutsk! I am able to see wild animals, walk on frozen lakes, have fun rides on wooden bus with engines of a racing car, drink kumis, wear their traditional clothes and dance around the campfire with the locals. It is as if I get to experience an open game world simulation! Words cannot express how beautiful the place is, so let me share some photos instead!
The Singapore office has recently undergone major renovations. Tell our guys what has changed and what the office looks like now. I am still working at home and not yet to see our new office! But I had seen some photos taken from my colleagues. From the photos, it looks a lot more spacious and comfortable than our previous office! And here is my workspace at home! What do you like doing in your free time? 1) Play games, of course! Work Hard, and Play Harder! (P.S. Anyone playing Genshin Impact? Let’s exchange IDs and Co-op together!) 2) Learning new skills Every day is an opportunity to be the better version of myself! I would go for books, audio books, videos, short courses or practical exercises. 3) Create personal projects Personal projects allow me to display my passion, room for experimental and full creative control. So far, I have tried selling various works online, making casual games and teaching. All projects are small and unfruitful yet, but it helps me to grow as an artist and connect my audience through shared passion. Where do you get your inspiration? 1) Play as many games as possible One must experience gaming in order to create great games. When creating new UI concepts, I would start with base sketches. My first inspiration will be based on my past experiences on games. This allows me to see things as a player and have more rooms for creativity. I would recommend using this method and only look for art references at a later stage. Exposed to art references at the start will limit creativity options and you might even unconsciously copy too much of it. 2) Surrounded by people with a rich mindset There is a saying, “You are the average of the five friends you spend the most time with” Similar to developing skills, mindset needs to be trained and grow constantly. Your actions determine how you view and interpret things. There has been a popular discussion about why the rich are getting richer, and poor people are getting poorer. I believe the answer lies in between having a rich or poor mindset. 3) Read books Study shows that the successful people had a habit of reading books. They credit reading as a factor for their success. After all, it is a waste not to read books written by successful people. I tried reading a few books and I realised my concentration and analytical thinking skill has improved. I highly recommend reading “Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days” by Jake Knapp, the inventor of Design Sprint. A group of UI Designers from King recommend this book to me and said their team is using this method effectively. So why not we read and try it together too! Your top 3 favorite quotes: 1) ‘3 Rules of Life: Be Passionate, Consistent and Persistent!’ There is no shortcut to success. There may be an effective and smarter option, but it still all comes to hard work and dedication. You either choose to become a victor or a victim. Do not wait for opportunity, just focus on creating it. And there is a saying that “Luck is a multiplier of Effort!” 2) ‘Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change’ This may sound a bit cheesy, but I think kindness and sincerity is the biggest contribution to both people and myself. The world is cruel enough and everyone has something difficult to deal with. Act of kindness is choosing love over hate, forgiveness over revenge, compassion over judgement. It does not seek to be right but to preserve the peace of mind. 3) ‘Focus on the Problem, not the person’ When it comes to teamwork, you either support the vision or supporting division. To Agree or to Disagree. To share or to debate. There is no tolerance for argument about who is right or wrong, or who is better and worthy. I believe that as a teammate, we need to learn to clarify, understand and respect other people’s differences. On the other hand, avoid assuming, comparing and blaming. If you can’t even respect your teammate, how can we unify and be there for our players? Continue the phrase: “Being a mytonian is cool because…” 1) I can get to work with amazing mytonians across the country! I love working with different teams; to see how they uniquely function, their working culture, the way the team communicates, the different approaches and methodology used. What I admired is, not only are they talented in their own way, they are also humble and open-minded people. I learn so much from them about what it is to be as a teammate and as a person. 2) Lots of fun and meaningful Activities! My favourite activity was MYTONA Heroes. it gives me the access to challenge myself in achieving my goal in a short span of time. There are so many things I like to try and improve myself, but I tend to either be lazy or do it slowly. Overall, it is really fun and motivating to see everyone working hard together. 3) Generous mytonians Benefits To the best of my knowledge, I do not see any game company that can outwin MYTONA in terms of employee’s benefit. Most people are going through hard times during Covid situation, and here we are getting extra benefits like gaming chairs and udemy subscriptions. It motivated me to up my gear and contribute more to the company. And finally, name your three favorite games you would recommend to your fellow mytonians. 1) Genshin Impact Initially, I want to play this game to get some inspiration, since there was a sudden hype about it. Before I knew it, I got addicted and lured my friends to join in the fun. Putting my bias inside, as an UI Designer, I got inspired by how versatile their UI is. The game is able to create similar experience in a wide range of platforms: Iphone, pc and ps4 and nintendo switch. This is something I would want to achieve in my UI career. And hey, this game won many awards, including the best of the year award on Google Play. So why not try it and get inspiration from them! 2) Nintendo games My 3 main rules for UI Designs are, “making things simple, understandable and memorable”, and Nintendo games in general have surpassed these 3 rules. Not only they created solidarity and simplicity of the game core experiences, their iconic characters such as Mario are able to retain its popularity for more than 30 years. I love Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda for the longest time because of its unique game experience and artstyle at its simplest. If you haven’t played any Nintendo games, it is a great time to play and learn from the masters of video games! 3) Persona game (series) One thing being an UI Designer is that, you have to be ready to be under-appreciated among the players and even teammates. It is a common trait since players focus on the beauty of characters, environment and story design. Most people do not understand the importance of UI, and that one UI mistake can lead to pushing new players away. However, when Persona 5’s trailer was released, one of the top topics was how stylish UI was presented. It was a rare situation where the public spoke of the UI more than anything else in the game. I tried the game and have been a fan of their series. From what I see in Persona 1 to 4, they follow the UI principles, and in Persona 5, they break those rules and create a new rule of their own. This enlightens me on how much UI can immerse into the game universe, how it can stand out to players without overshadowing other aspects of the game. Persona series taught me indirectly how to learn the rules like a pro, so I can break them like an artist. If you had reached to this point, I would like to give my biggest thanks to you for reading till the end!
Stay Safe and wish you all Merry Christmas!
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