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We recently welcomed a new hugely talented Head of Creative, Yan Yeh Ying. She now leads admiral’s creative team with the primary objective of nurturing and maintaining a culture of creativity and innovation to drive results. We sat down with her to talk about her role, creativity, personal management style, and more!
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role!
A: I’m Yan — I’m here at admiral leading the Creative Department which includes both designers and copywriters. In my role, it’s my responsibility to foster creativity and innovation in the team – not only so that the outputs we deliver to clients meet their expectations, but also to ensure they actually drive results.
As creators of assets, it’s important that we know how to fulfil the different needs of clients, and at the same time meet channel requirements for visual communications. This is where I’ll play my part to make sure the design and copy are delivered with the highest quality to get desirable results. Above all, I feel it’s definitely my responsibility to empower the team to do their best and produce the best outcomes. For me, it’s always quality over quantity.
Q: What brought you to admiral.digital?
A: For one, I’m definitely ready for new challenges, especially in pursuing a leadership role in the creative industry. I’ve had a taste of both agency and in-house, and to me the agency experience tops. I wanted to keep experiencing and learning new things, and I’m excited to be involved in decision-making processes from the initial stages to meet businesses’ needs and perspectives – beyond just making decisions around creative execution.
I also strive to build a team with a strong dynamic and connection, as well as foster a more shoulder-to-shoulder work environment.
Also at the risk of sounding almost creepy, I definitely looked up the team beforehand and impressive is an understatement! I saw not just the opportunity to lead and make use of my skills and experience, but also the opportunity to lead a very talented team.
Q: How do you get your creative juices flowing and overcome creative blocks?
A: Creativity comes naturally to me. I’m usually very observant with my surroundings both online and offline, and sometimes the things I see turn into inspiration. I also always have my tablet with me to constantly jot down notes and personal thoughts.
Before starting any work or projects I often do a lot of research, not only around the brand but also current creative trends/standards. On top of that, movies and books certainly help with creative visualisations!
Q: What’s your management style?
A: I’m a huge believer in being a leader over being a boss; where a lead should be leading the team side by side rather than instructing and demanding for work to be done. I always, always welcome and encourage discussions. We can’t know everything about everyone so I feel it’s vital to hear from others and regularly check in on them.
For any issues that arise or a creative decision to be made, I would get input from the relevant team members. Then from there, I’ll make decisions on the next actions based on their insights and perspectives. So on top of just my learning and experience, I also guide team members based on their circumstances – while making sure we can still meet business needs.
Q: A quote you live by?
A: “Stay curious, thrive on learning, and embrace the power of new knowledge.”
Q: What’s your best advice to aspiring designers out there?
A: 3 pieces of advice I have for them would be:
- Strive to be the best at what you do. Practice makes perfect.
- Be the one who ideates. This will channel your creativity to your design outcome.
- Learn from the experts in the creative industry that you look up to – they become or are experts for a reason.
Ready to step up your brand’s game with a fresh image, story, and creativity? Speak to our creative team today at hello@admiral.digital.
