Faris Hanapiah is the Young Creative Entrepreneur Media Award winner of 2012.
By KEVIN TAN
PASSIONATE and driven are just two words one can use to describe Fariz Hanapiah.
At 28, Fariz is the co-founder and executive creative director of Motiofixo, a motion graphics studio and most recently, he emerged as the winner of the Young Creative Entrepreneur Media (YCEM) Award 2012.
The competition organised by The British Council Malaysia aims to identify and recognise young Malaysians for their innovative entrepreneurial skills. The winner’s awarded with the grand opportunity to travel to London and connect with some of the region’s top creative minds.
Fariz basically stood out from other finalists when he presented his own company, Motiofixo as a case study at the YCEM awards. Co-founded by Fariz, Idril Mihat, and Shamsul Nashriq, Motiofixo consists a team of 16 young and talented individuals that distinguishes itself as one of the new generation of daring motion graphics studios.
“I basically showcased Motiofixo; how the operation works and highlighted the importance of getting the best talents. It is crucial for a company to be passion-driven and creatively motivated by it’s own people,” said Fariz during an interview at Motiofixo in Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur.
Fariz showing us around Motiofixo while working with his teammates.
Founded in 2007 with relatively low budget, Motiofixo started out by making music videos for indie bands in Kuala Lumpur. Now, the motion graphics studio boast a list of notable clientele that includes Honda, Samsung, Mastercard, Hugo Boss and Volkswagen.
“I never thought that I would win, I was very surprised. I also personally knew the other finalists, and it was a tough challenge,” he said.
Grey Yeoh, British Council Arts and Programmes manager said the enthusiasm and energy in Fariz’s presentation was “very impressive”.
“There are a lot of young creative people who are very aspirational and they are constantly trying to push their own ideas through. The award is about being entrepreneurial and Fariz’s presentation stood out because he highlighted the reality of the business,” said Yeoh.
Fariz (third from left) along with Young Creative Media Award 2012 finalists from other countries during the London trip.
British Council programmes deputy director, and one of the competition’s judges, Clare Walker, added that Fariz would benefit from the award the most, considering he works specifically in the digital creative media field.
Fariz pointed out that although Motiofixo has its own trademark in doing motion design, it is always are open to introducing new ideas and solutions to meet their clients’ needs.
“One thing I learned is that you cannot really determine yourself as a particular professional; instead you should position yourself as a solutions provider in terms of creativity. So this has been the way we’ve been working,” Fariz explained.
During his recent trip to London, Fariz was inspired to depend more on his own thinking and wits, as opposed to being too reliant on technology to come up with all the design solutions.
“Ironically, the more traditional the people are, the more open they are towards technology. They just try not to rely on it too much as they prefer to have the human element in their work,” he said.
He noticed that computers were the last thing people would use, as they only serve as a tool to help implement the ideas.
It appeared to him that Malaysian youth are too dependent on computers to the point it limits their creative thinking skills. With that, Fariz sees the need for a shift of mindset among makers and thinkers in Malaysia.
Fariz also had the opportunity to meet the brains behind some of Britain’s most critically acclaimed creative works. He even got to experience the working environment of their creative agency.
“The trip really inspired me to look farther – not just Malaysia – but globally. So my goal is to have clients outside of the country.”To be successful, Fariz encouraged young people to first find their niche, and try make a living out of it.
“That is the biggest challenge, to be smart and transform the things that you love into something that you can make money out of.”
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