IMPACT 0321: NATIONAL ATHLETE WITH A KICK OF CREATIVITY

Hello! I’m Dylan Chia, an 18-year-old national taekwondo athlete and co-founder of Jaw Droppers Creative, a design and photography freelance business that believes in the power of stunning visuals.

Jaw Droppers Creative was founded in 2021 when I decided to work together with my brother, Daryl Chia, and my trusty photographer, Joel Chin, to help businesses grow.

In 2011, my brother introduced me to taekwando, which ignited my passion for the sport. This led me to join the National Taekwondo Team in 2018, which opened up opportunities for me to experience the sport internationally. Currently, I have taekwondo training six days a week, so time management is of great importance to me. Some of my business responsibilities include speaking to clients and completing design projects, which I would usually try to do during my school breaks, after school, during train rides or after my training sessions. Being on a tight schedule definitely builds up stress, so listening to music is my favourite way to relieve it!

My graphic design journey began when my brother introduced me to Adobe Photoshop in 2020, which led me to experiment with the different tools. I soon developed a deep interest in graphic design and decided to study it through online courses and lots of practice. I have been a freelance graphic designer for over a year now and have designed logos, posters, flyers and more, for local businesses from various industries.

In 2021, I designed signage for a restaurant to attract more customers by highlighting their star dish. Seeing a client satisfied and my design work coming to life was an incredibly enriching experience. I look forward to working with more businesses to achieve their goals and learning new skills to hone my craft. To anyone who is still waiting to take that step – it’s time for you to do it!

This article was published on Jan 17, 2022