Olivia Lee (b. 1985) graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2008 with First Class Honours and soon established herself on the international scene. During her time in London, Olivia worked in multiple areas of design under the mentorship of Sebastian Bergne. In the two years spent working for the award-winning designer, she honed her skillsthrough client projects from P&G, Group SEB and Swarovski.
Independently, she has designed for Mathmos, Aquascutum, PI Global and was involved in a branding workshop conducted at LVMH House. She has been a featured illustrator for ICON Magazine and has been published in other leading international design journals such as Wallpaper, Nylon and Dezeen. Also collaborated with Industry + for table Float.
In addition to developing her personal projects and engaging in commercial design work, she has collaborated with scientists under the NOBELINI Scheme pioneered by the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre (UK), worked as a studio coordinator for the ICSID World Design Congress with the New York ARUP Foresight team and was invited by the British Council (UK) to participate in their Milan Sketchbook project.
Returning to Singapore in 2011, Olivia transited from industrial design to the intricacies of designing industries at the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). She managed two portfolios, developing the consumer insights and design sectors in Singapore, with a focus in consumer-facing businesses. During this tenure, she developed a deep appreciation for the socioeconomic and corporate context with which design, creativity and innovation sits.
In this time, Olivia was also selected to show at the iLight Marina Bay Festival as an artist and was involved in the Singapore Souvenirs collective for the National Heritage Board’s Museum Label. Under ‘The Centipede Collective’, she co-developed and illustrated a speculative fiction piece on Singapore that was published in an anthology ‘Fish Eats Lion‘ by Math Paper Press.
Passionate about education, Olivia has previously guest tutored at the National University of Singapore’s Division of Industrial Design, served as a workshop facilitator at Singapore Polytechnic on social entrepreneurship and was most recently invited to speak at Raffles Institution and Victoria Junior College on creativity and leadership.
