The Creative Issue Vol. 7 (Feb 2022/July 2022)

THE

CREATIVE ISSUE

Vol 7 (Feb 2022 - July 2022)
Design and Creative Industries

EDITORS’ NOTE

Hello and welcome to another release of The Creative Issue, Volume Seven!

To start off the volume, the TCI committee hoped everyone had a wonderful and
safe Eid celebration with their loved ones. Second of all, we would like to thank everyone
for their immense support for our ‘Spectrum: Infinite Exhibition’ thus far. We are very
grateful and appreciate the number of positive feedbacks we have received.

In this latest edition, we will be covering topics of art, business and eco-business
in three dedicated articles as many must be wondering how one can earn some side
incomes from our artworks aside from doing commissions and freelancing. In our ‘The
Pop-Up Sale: A Super Guide’, we want to share the experience of participating in creative
pop-up sales and guide you in preparing for your own pop-up for when you join the next
art event. We also try to help answer popular questions such as “how can I sell my art?”,
“how can I market myself as a creative?”, “what steps should I take to sell my art?”, “how
should I price my work?” and “where can I find information about these events?”. As for
when you start prepping yourself for your first vending event, you must be wondering
what do you need to prepare for your booth and where can you find your essentials
from basic art supplies to printing your materials. Well, you can have a read through our
article ’Recommendations: Booth Essentials’ where we have compiled a list of basic ‘must-
have’ for when you do your pop-up sale.

With climate change hanging over our heads as the days go by, the world now is
encouraged to be more eco-friendly to minimise our own impacts towards the escalating
changes especially towards the growth of landfills. When it comes to balancing creativity,
business and reducing waste production, we interviewed some friends of ours in Spectrum
Infinite on what it means to be sustainable and eco-friendly through design in ‘Designing
an Eco-friendly Business Environment’.

To close this note, the TCI committee of 2021/2022 would like to extend words
of appreciation and gratitude for the amount of support we had receive from the release
of the previous two volumes of The Creative Issue. Volume Seven will be the last release
from the current Publication and Editorial committee. We hope you all continue to support
The Creative Issue with future ventures and releases as we pass the baton to the new
committee members. Once again, thank you and until next time! 

Editors,
Fatin A. & Ezah I.

CONTENT

Designing an Eco-friendly Business Environment 1
Word Search: Spectrum Merch 3
The Pop-Up Sale: A Super Guide 4
Recommendations: Booth Essentials 7
Where is Sir Rahiman? 9

CONTRIBUTORS

WRITERS Batrisyia Sofery | Fatin Ahmad | Ezah Ibrahim | Nisa Hashim

ILLUSTRATORS Adilah Mahadi | Batrisyia Sofery | Fatin Ahmad | Ezah Ibrahim | Iman Sham

| Nisa Hashim | Syazwani Wasli

EDITORS Ezah Ibrahim | Fatin Ahmad Illustrated by Ezah Ibrahim

Cover by Nisa Hashim

Designing an Eco-friendly Business Environment

Designing an Eco-friendly
Business Environment

Written by Ezah Ibrahim
Illustrated by Iman Sham

“As designers, we need to see ourselves as gatekeepers of what we are bringing into the

world” Mike Monteiro, Ruined by Design

Since the turn of the century, climate change has taken to a worsening turn with every decade passed.
It has become a major contemporary concern for the world as we rely on mother nature’s resources
and ecology in order to survive. Waste production alone is one of the contributors to the global plight
due to the number of plastics and other unrecyclable materials that overflows the earth’s landfills. There
is no doubt that due to the changes we are facing, the modern business environment is forced to make
various compromises with mother nature while also still choosing to accommodate the wider population
as most of the world’s waste production is streamed from businesses and industries. Various designers as
creatives and entrepreneurs should therefore consider eco-friendliness as a principle towards reshaping
how we trade. From packaging to marketing, there are limitless possibilities that creatives are able to
take into account towards achieving sustainability and achieving zero waste.

In recent years, businesses in Brunei - both big and small - have chosen to be more eco-friendly and
make efforts towards practicing minimising waste by choosing to use recyclable packaging and
materials for their brandings. There are also a growing number of local creatives who
are trying to create awareness while also contributing to the reduction of waste
production through their designs and creative portfolios. Two of these creatives,
Aida H. and Q Suhaimi had recently showcased their works at Universiti
Brunei Darussalam’s Spectrum 2022: Infinite exhibition from May
23rd (Monday) to June 23rd (Thursday) 2022. We had recently
interviewed them on sustainability through design and their
works in relation to minimising the environmental issues we
are facing today. It can be noted that Aida H.’s ‘Kollekt’
and Q Suhaimi’s ‘I’ are different in terms of mediums
where Aida had created a geometric chair using
interlocking recycled cardboard boxes while Q
had created a clothing line made from plant
fibres and upcycled discarded fabrics. Even
though they are different, both works
synonymously help to promote the use of
upcycled materials with the intention of
encouraging sustainability and eco-
friendly practices through the magic of
design and creativity. 

1

Designing an Eco-friendly Business Environment

Introduce yourself and tell us what are Other than your exhibited works, do you Intricate patterns in Q Suhaimi’s ‘I’ (2022)
your aims in your field as an eco-friendly have other works that aims to tackle our
designer. current environmental issue? If yes, tell
us about them.
Aida: Hello! My name is Aida, a former
interior designer, and now focusing more Aida: Recently, I started a mini-project
towards product and graphic designing. called ‘Tiny Living’ where I designed
As an eco-friendly designer, my goal is to eco-friendly spaces for clients with set
create an environmental awareness across budgets by providing them spaces that
the community through the process of incorporates recyclable materials and
reducing waste by recycling and upcycling energy-saving solutions. ‘Tiny Living’ aims
industrial materials. I aim to produce a to provide homes for families who intend
perfectly sustainable green design and to save costs without getting overwhelmed
manufacturing process for a better and by the demands of larger homes. Thus,
cleaner environment. the project gives them the spaces they
only need while being fully functional
Q: I’m Q Suhaimi, also known as and energy-efficient.
@thc17thlcttcr on social media, and
I like to think of myself as an advocate Q: I do plan to create a business based
for sustainable fashion. During my self- around the idea of upcycling or Circular
exploration in the creative world, I’ve Fashion where I would reuse discarded
came across a lot of issues related to and recycled fabric and materials to
extreme consumerism within the fashion make new clothing.
industry alone and one of them being one
of the top most polluted industries in the Do you think that the creative community
world. It often causes many environmental still has a big step to take in terms of
and humanitarian issues. So as a designer sustainability?
and an advocate of sustainability, I
believe that we have the power to create Aida: Yes! Most people are still unaware
various solutions to overcome these issues of the environmental effects of certain
in hopes to restore the earth to a cleaner, materials. Even I myself tend to forget as
eco-friendly state. well (HA!).

Q: I do believe that it is a challenge to
tackle these issues as it is easy to say than
done with the existence of fast fashion
industries around the globe. However, I
do believe that creatives and designers
do have responsibilities to contribute

in solving these issues (or in this case,
climate change) in some way to make
our way of life much better and more
efficient.

Are there anything else you would like
to raise as an eco-friendly designer?

Aida: Being an eco-friendly designer
is never easy, especially living in a
developing country. However, with much
practice and with the right mindset, you
can really see the beauty of the concept
– where humanity and nature can live
synonymously. 

2

SPECTRUM MERCH Word Search

Illustrated by Adilah Mahadi

Stickers Keychain
Notebook Tote Bag
Postcard Sticky Note
Washi Tape Pencil
Art Print Envelope

3

The Pop-Up Sale: A Super Guide

The Pop-Up Sale:
A Super Guide

Written by Nisa Hashim & Ezah Ibrahim
Illustrated by Nisa Hashim & Fatin Ahmad

Whether it be because of the deprivation of social events during the pandemic or
another, pop-up sale events are pretty much looked forward to now as the world is
returning to the somewhat old norm. In fact, being a vendor in one of these events
might be in your bucket list! Well, you’ve flipped to the right page as a seasoned
vendor in creative events, I have prepared a SUPER GUIDE in order to help you get
started on your first pop-up event!

4

The Pop-Up Sale: A Super Guide

Study the ropes: Come to a
pop-up event as visitors

While you always have the choice of jumping straight into vending, it is
advisable to pace yourself and observe an event first.
Take this visit as a chance to learn the ropes on the basics of vending from the
venue to the crowds and organisers in order to familiarise yourself with the real
deal. Take note of how vendors market products that’s similar to yours so you may
have an idea on what the reception for your items will be like. Most importantly,
eye the way each vendor interacts with their customers. You may even take this
chance to converse with the vendors on their tips and pointers on vending that
could be helpful to you on your future pop-up event.

Stocks, stacks & stonks!

From your field trip, you might now have an idea what you’d like
to sell. Do note if it’s a themed event, try your best to match the
set theme so you wouldn’t look out of place.

Think really hard on the quantity you’d sell and try not to overestimate.
A good number to start on if you’re very new with no interested
buyers, start with ten piece per item.

I advise you to also price your products with the costs of raw materials,
production and time poured in in mind. While it is good to cross-check
prices with other vendors, their costs might be different than yours due
to varying factors. Don’t sell yourself short so get that profit and treat
yourself!

Speedrun Bookkeeping 101

Recording purchases and leftover stocks is important as
not only to detect theft but if you format your recording
table the way I do like in the illustration, you’d even be
able to know your peak times. This way you’d have a
personal reference for future events so having a book (A5
or smaller) comes in handy in such situations.

When accepting an online bank transfer with a personal account, be sure to take a photo
of the transfer receipt with its transaction number visible or have the customer send you a
screenshot as proof. Be sure to write the transaction number down in the CASH/BANK
TRANSFER table for good measure in case the banks open a query.

5

The Pop-Up Sale: A Super Guide

Run up that hill:
Be a vendor for a

day!

Some event organisers have their own Terms and
Conditions (T&C) for vendors along with set rules
and regulations you need to take note of. For
example, there are organisers that doesn’t allow vendors from selling certain items.
With costs in mind, there are also organisers that prepare the space for free but most are
likely paid. As it’s (likely) your first time, I recommend you to look for events with vendor
fees of BND30 and below. The lower the better as you don’t know your final sales. If
allowed, try to find another vendor to split the fee with you to lessen your burden.

You may be here
for business but don’t
forget to enjoy the day and

reflect!

Don’t ever take pop-up sales as a competition with the
vendor next door. Rezeki is everywhere and sometimes,
making friends in the same gig opens up those
opportunities. At the end of the day, do your count and
then reflect on what could be improved in the next pop-up
events. Remember, there’ll always be a next one you can
enjoy! 

6

Recommendations: Booth Essentials

Recommendations:
Booth Essentials

Written and illustrated by Batrisyia Sofery

Office Supplies

Always write down orders whilst handling customers that stop by.
It can be quite busy during peak hours so having a notepad around (if you’re
tech-savvy, you might be incline to use an Excel sheet or other similar platforms)
to help keep the process organised. You will thank yourself at the end of
the day when you record your customer transactions and calculate your
inventory.

Artwork Displays

To stand out amongst all other booths at an event, displays are effective tactics
to attract more attendees. Although your branding is a major selling point, your
arrangement of items also helps to showcase your work ethics and organisation
skills which establishes your business as a trustworthy brand.

Cash Box

Events are often immensely hectic in nature so you will need a place to
keep your money safe. While it is not a requirement to obtain a
cash box, the added security is definitely a bonus. Depending
on your budget, you may even opt for other alternatives such as
an envelope or a simple zip-lock bag/case.

Marketing Materials

In order to establish your brand, you
may consider making marketing materials such as packaging,
posters, and business cards. Unique graphic designs will surely
help gain recognition amongst your fellow competitors and aid
customers in familiarising themselves with your creative work.

7

Recommendations: Booth Essentials

Extension Cords

At events that features many vendors in a public space, you are likely to
remain at your booth throughout the day. To prevent your phone
and other devices from losing power, having a extensions
can be pretty handy. The extra sockets may also help
in lighting up your displays and powering appliances
like printers.

First Aid Kits

Regardless of the location where an event is held, it is pertinent
that all vendors must conduct risk assessments and update
themselves on the appropriate SOPs in case of any emergency.
Depending on the equipment that you are working with at your
booth, you must be aware of any potential accidents that may
occur.

Food and Water

Amidst the hustle and bustle, do not forget that you also need
sustenance! You will surely require the energy to push through the
day especially if the event lasts till night time. So, remember to
pack water and light food that you can easily munch on whilst
handling your booth. 

So where can you get these items? Well, you can consider checking
oBuSota:omki/mAar,tBSistamtii,oAnectriyveSAtortreasn:d Stationery,
The Tool Box, Pustaka Remaja

OPennldinideeSetoArretssu:pplies on Instagram Print Plus Snd Bhd
PZreinntiitnhgPrHinotiungse, sP:rintmartz, Juta Jaya,

8

Where is Sir Rahiman?

Illustrated by Fatin Ahmad &
Syazwani Wasli
Hey, on this night of Hari Raya
Aidilfitri, we wanted to visit Sir
Rahiman for his open house but
we can’t seem to find him. Can
you help us look? He looks like
this! 

9

Where is Sir Rahiman?
10