By Ryan Tan | Founder & Executive Creative Director, OuterEdit
Part 1: Make Work Matter
Fifteen years of making things, figuring things out, getting things wrong and finding our way forward.
To mark 15 years of OuterEdit, we've gathered 15 notes to self shaped by the work we've done, the people we've met, the challenges we've faced and the beliefs we still hold close.
This is OuterEdit, in our own words, fifteen years into our journey.
#1 Start before you feel ready.
Fifteen years ago, OuterEdit began with a slightly improbable idea: a global platform where five creators at a time could exchange artworks and make something none of them could have created alone.
We thought we were starting a graphic T-shirt brand. Instead, we discovered how to bring people, perspectives and ideas together. When businesses began asking us to do the same for their brands, OuterEdit gradually grew into a creative agency.
We hadn't quite realised what we were building until we were already building it.
We were brave, probably a little naïve and occasionally delusional. We certainly didn't have a blueprint.
There's nothing wrong with waiting until you're ready, but our experience taught us the value of learning by doing: researching, experimenting, questioning assumptions and adapting along the way. Not rushing blindly, but giving an idea enough care and attention to discover where it might lead.
Fifteen years later, we're still figuring things out. But we've learnt that some possibilities only reveal themselves once you begin.
Sometimes, the best way to start is simply to start.
#2 A prettier problem is still a problem.
I will never forget this brutal quote that was once shared with - Charles Eames once said, "The extent to which you have a design style is the extent to which you have not solved the design problem."
It's wonderfully savage, but it keeps us honest. Making something look good doesn't necessarily mean we've made it better.
We believe good design does good. For us, creative strategy begins with understanding what actually needs to change, whether that's a business challenge, a human need or how people relate to a place, culture or community.
We've never been interested in having a fixed house style. We'd rather stay consistent in our principles and let each challenge lead us somewhere different.
For Christmas with Our Trees at Millenia Walk, we asked whether Christmas trees could be made from Singapore's own trees. That question led us to explore local ecology, the timber industry and material reuse, with wooden components eventually finding new homes after the installation.
Street of Clans asked how we could reconnect communities with Singapore's clan associations and their stories. The festival brought people into clan houses and onto Bukit Pasoh Road, creating opportunities to connect across generations.
The projects looked nothing alike because they began with different questions, not a predetermined aesthetic.
Working this way often takes more time and effort, but the outcomes make it worthwhile. We hope people recognise OuterEdit for the care behind our work and what it makes possible.
#3 Design is not just what we make. It's what we make happen.
A portfolio shows the finished work. What it rarely captures is everything it took to get there: the conversations, negotiations, budget constraints, reworked concepts, prototypes and ideas we had to let go of.
We believe the less visible work deserves recognition too.
It's why we call our project leaders waymakers. They bring people together, navigate uncertainty, align expectations and work out what an idea needs to become possible.
Over the years, we've brought together 100 local collaborators for hospitality-suite projects, taken our Pocket-Sized Design Festival publication from research to print in under two months, and worked with Millenia Walk across nearly a decade of branding and experience projects.
Each came with different challenges, and none happened through our efforts alone.
Behind every project are clients, collaborators, makers and communities who contributed their knowledge, time and trust.
Fifteen years on, we care as much about how we make things happen, who we make them with and what they make possible as we do about the finished work.
#4 Stand out by standing for something.
"Make Meaningful Matter" is easy to print. The harder question is whether it changes the decisions we make.
Building OuterEdit has meant learning to balance profit with purpose. We need to sustain the business and the people connected to it while staying true to what makes the work worth doing.
We believe the two can strengthen each other.
Beyond aesthetics or spectacle, we want to address real challenges through thoughtful, inclusive, story-led and people-centred design. How we frame a challenge, build trust and bring people together matters as much as the outcome.
Becoming a certified B Corp in December 2025 was an important milestone after years of working towards it. Not as an award or an endpoint, but as a public commitment to caring for people, the planet and the kind of company we want to build.
As creative tools become more accessible, we believe what distinguishes creative companies will increasingly be their beliefs, judgement and ways of working.
Standing for something gives people a reason to believe in a business. It also gives them permission to hold it accountable.
5. If it matters to you, let it move you to act.
There's a lot we care about at OuterEdit: the future of creativity, Singapore's culture and communities, our environment and the next generation of designers.
But caring is only the beginning. We've learnt to ask ourselves what we're willing to do about it.
We mentor young creatives, review portfolios, attend graduation shows, support student prizes and contribute to education through initiatives including Temasek Polytechnic, WorldSkills Singapore and Ryan's teaching at RMIT-SIM.
That commitment also shapes our projects.
Pocket-Sized Design Festival celebrated Singapore's creative community. Don’t Mind If I Ask and Making VisComm Matter, developed with industry partners, helped surface conversations about the design profession. Our Girl's Brigade Singapore handbook redesign, Christmas with Our Trees and Design Futures Forum each offered different ways to support people, culture and the environment.
These initiatives take time and energy alongside running the studio, but they're commitments we believe are worth making.
Design thinking needs design doing. We listen, question, make, test and learn. Sometimes our ideas meet resistance or don't work as expected, and we have to adapt.
We don't always have the answers or resources to address everything we care about. Sometimes, the most useful contribution is simply sharing a skill or supporting work already underway.
Concern starts the conversation. Action gives it somewhere to go.
#6 Make your own magic.
People often come to OuterEdit because they're drawn to the work. Then they discover what goes into making it.
"Agency on hard mode," as we sometimes call it. Only half joking.
There are easier ways to run a creative agency: answer the brief, deliver the work, get paid and move on.
But we often find ourselves asking more questions, challenging assumptions and exploring what else could be possible.
That can mean resistance, difficult conversations and setbacks. Some of our most rewarding projects began with having to earn trust and make a case for a different approach.
We've learnt to work closely with clients to understand their business needs, navigate uncertainty and shape solutions that create meaningful value for people and communities. Sometimes, the final outcome looks nothing like the original brief.
It's not about making things unnecessarily complicated or imposing our ideas. It's about finding better ways forward.
We've also learnt that what makes us different can be precisely what allows us to offer something others cannot.
The magic doesn't happen by default. We have to look for it, put in the work and make it happen together.
P.S. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading, for being part of the journey and for believing in what we do. There's still so much more to figure out, build and make possible together.
Have a thought, an idea or something you'd like to make happen?
