Jann Choy
Profession
BA Graphic Communication Design alum
College
Central Saint Martins
Person Type
Alumni
Biography
Jann is an experimental designer from Malaysia now working at FIELD.IO. She studied BA Graphic Communication Design at Central Saint Martins and won the 2021 MullenLowe NOVA Award.
Jann's projects have been featured in Dezeen, Creative Boom, itsnicethat and Eye Magazine.
Interview
Why did you choose to study BA Graphic Communication Design at Central Saint Martins (CSM)?
I always knew I was drawn to the creative world, but wasn’t really sure which specific path to take. What I loved most about this course is how open and conceptual it is—you could do anything from designing brand guidelines to documenting yourself being isolated from human society for a week. It was so fun! There were no limits to medium or discipline. At a time when creative coding was becoming increasingly integrated into design, the opportunity to dive deeper into computational thinking and develop that skill—even just to understand it—really excited me. The course shaped me into a multidisciplinary designer, which is exactly what I love—moving between different design disciplines in search for a meaningful outcome.
What have you been working on since graduating?
Since graduating, I have been building my career at Field.io – a global innovation and design studio. There, I’ve been developing immersive experiences, crafting brand identities, and experimenting with a range of real-time, 3D, and most recently, AI tools to explore and shape brand experiences.
What was the most interesting project you worked on during your time on the course?
It would be Liǎn—an inflatable mask that transforms its shape in response to your online motions, and explores the relationship between your physical and virtual self. This project was deeply personal, as it drew from my cultural heritage and my fascination with online avatars. It is inspired by Biàn liǎn, which translates as "face changing", a subgenre of Chinese opera where performers change their masks seemingly instantaneously.
As a child, I was both mesmerized and terrified by Biàn liǎn performances, so revisiting that memory through this work, —and merging a traditional art form with modern technology like soft robotics and discourse around virtual identities—felt especially meaningful. I enjoyed combining physical elements like fabrication techniques, hardware, silicone casting, with digital elements like AI and other sentiment analysis tools. Also, it’s always fun to make something inflate— like a doctor’s glove.
What important piece of advice would you give to students thinking of studying this course?
If you enjoy working across disciplines and conceptual thinking, do it and be open! Try everything, be ambitious, and have fun! Be open to learning. Be curious, let it inspire you.
What was the highlight of your Central Saint Martins experience?
Is it cheesy to say – making beautiful friendships along the way… because it is true! There I found a community who supported all my silly ideas and helped them come to fruition, and some of them are still my closest friends to date. They inspire my work and life daily.
Links
Connect with Jann on LinkedIn
Follow Jann on Instagram
Watch Jann's Tedx on speculative futures