Scott Lee Hon See
Diploma in Experience & Product Design (DXPD)


Awards:
Tan Kay Yong Gold Medal
IMDA Gold Medal


From Crafting For Fun To Designing For The Greater Good

The arid country of Bahrain was where Scott Lee Hon See started his journey as a designer, after his father was posted there for work.

At the tender age of 10, Scott’s artistic flair was already apparent when he won his first graphic design competition. Combining art with what he learnt in the design and technology classes at school, Scott would build various items including treehouses and fishponds in his backyard. What started out as fun quickly turned into a burning passion to harness design as the solution for real-world problems. 

Wanting to assimilate into life in Singapore, Scott decided to further his education here after completing the international General Certificate of Secondary Education. Inspired by many of his extended family members who were Singapore Polytechnic (SP) alumni, he decided to enrol in the Diploma in Experience & Product Design. 

It was the natural and right decision for Scott. Over the years, Scott excelled tremendously in his studies and has been described by his lecturers as a ‘rare breed of designer’ who excelled in both physical and digital designs.

This was apparent during his three-month internship at local design agency, Chemistry. Even though he spent most of his time working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Scott was actively involved in developing and designing the ‘Home-Based Learning (HBL) Table’- an adjustable cardboard table that aims to assist children during HBL. The table comes with a laptop stand that can be quickly modified to work with tablets as well.

His efforts saw his agency being nominated for the prestigious President's Volunteerism & Philanthropy Award. More importantly, it exposed him to the positive impact of design.

Back in SP, Scott honed his design skills further through a couple of final year projects. Taking inspiration from Greek philosophers, Scott designed and produced elegant glass markers for chilled beverages. Scott launched his project on Kickstarter, which was successfully backed by an international audience. His product raised $11,000, exceeding his original goal of $7,000.

Showing his talent for digital designs, Scott worked with Wildlife Reserves Singapore to convert an online kids’ outreach programme, My Animal Buddy, into an app that included cheerful and interesting animals that engages and educate children about nature.

While Scott seems cheerful today, he has come a long way after a difficult past. Having overcome depression and anxiety when he was in Bahrain, Scott worked hard and rose against the odds to prove that he could excel at his passion.

Scott credits his lecturers and friends at SP for helping him further manage his anxiety. With their support, Scott's confidence grew as he pitched his ideas and designs during his class presentations. This served him well when he had to present to his clients. The SP Outstanding Talent also developed leadership skills and put it to good use on a Learning Express trip to Vietnam. There, he led a team to improve the safety and efficiency of a slate production factory.

Scott is motivated to pursue design and use it to better the world. He aims to further his design education in the United Kingdom and aspires to run his own business. We look forward to more innovative designs and solutions from Scott!