One’s interest is immediately piqued when encountering Ando and Fizah from Machineast. Having seen their insane and incredibly mind boggling art fronting global campaigns of the biggest brands in the world — Nike, Heineken, IBM — it’s hard to comprehend how down to earth the both of them are, especially after just participating in several design conferences around Europe.
“You get to know a country through its food,” says Fizah, slouching over the table with her head in one hand. “Berlin has the best coffee. Coffee’s really important.” She smiles knowingly to herself, and gazes into the space above me. “Tapas. Tapas is the solution for everything,” she says, stretching out a reassuring hand towards me.
“Being able to travel. Being flexible with my time. Speaking at design conferences. This is all a dream come true for us.” Ando leans forward excitedly, unable to contain his grin.
Before working on Machineast, both of them have known each other since college and worked together in companies spanning Singapore and Malaysia.
Collaboration comes easy for them — having done so for years — and their familiarity with each other is evident in the way they describe the other’s work habits. Fizah goes on to convince me that Ando is a bigger geek than her, and it isn’t until he mentions that they used to play in a band together, that she stops to contain herself. She mutes her lips with embarrassment.
“I had to play guitar, because no one else wanted to,” she says finally, with a thin smile across her face.
Machineast was always a weekend thing for both of them. But what made them take the bold step of working on it together full time, was the first call they got for a huge project that would get them known internationally. They never expected it, and they recall it fondly with genuine excitement, like the call took place just minutes ago.
“We were at a new year’s eve party. At a friend’s place,” says Ando. “I got an email on my phone. It was from Nike. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know it was real. And they wanted to get on a call with us at 3am!” His eyes light up with excitement. “So we left the party, freshened up, did our call with them. And that’s how it all started.”
“It was for air max day, and they wanted us to launch key visuals for some of our favourite air max shoes. Of course we said yes. We worked on it for three whole months. They were very reasonable and the end result was so satisfying. It really showed in the work,” says Fizah.
“We’ve been really lucky to work with great clients who give us creative freedom,” says Ando. “Maybe the only thing that’s frustrating is having to do paperwork, but that’s all part of having our own business now.”
When asked what their favourite travel location has been so far, both agree on Kyoto, citing its seamless blend of tradition and technology, where shrines sit harmoniously next to buildings. The preference points to their roots, having coming from small towns in Southeast Asia — Fizah is from Borneo (Malaysia), and Ando is from Pekanbaru (Indonesia) — and also reveals the portmanteau behind their company’s name.
“What’s next? For me, I really want to grow a design community in Southeast Asia. There are so many talented people here. If everyone gets together, we can help everyone appreciate good design, and build the next generation of creative people.”
“Doing good work is important. Maybe also bringing overseas studios to this region to grow the creative industry. Working on creative projects beyond print. Maybe designing shoes? Maybe a solo exhibition,” says Fizah, exploring her own ideas. “Let’s see what comes.”
The both of them take their leave and collect their Amazon parcels from the reception — the latest of many purchases that they’ve made — and get right back to work in their private office for two.
