Nicharee Phatitit

Saran Yen Panya ponders what the future holds in store for him at the beginning of the new decade. We sit down with the founder of creative agency 56th Studio and talk disruption, transformation and evolution. People often think of your furniture and iconic chair designs when they think of you. However, you don’t limit yourself as a designer. Instead, you define yourself as a storyteller. Tell us more about this.The clients, if they don’t sit down and talk to me, then they would think that Saran is someone who works on eccentric, colorful furniture. But once we talk, I don’t think they go for my style, but they buy into the way I tackle a brief and my thought process. I think these clients look for a collaboration that’s long-term rather than one based on superficial reasons such as “Oh, let’s go for him because he's an up and coming artist." Eventually, it’s about finding the right match. On my side, it’s my job to be genuine about my client’s brand, whether the decisions are profitable or not, as well as the marketing strategy. I think a good designer has to look at things from a 360-degree perspective, and not just whether the work is chic or beautiful. How has your work evolved over the years?I’ve started looking for something more meaningful to my life and my practice. I now have a team that I want to develop. I think about how I can help them improve and grow with me, how to nurture them so that they can eventually work on conceptual designs even when I’m not around. Th