Fa & Fon on creative kinship and journeying from stills to motion, “the natural progression most designers take”
To begin, we welcomed creative duo Fa & Fon Watkins to the stage. The twins work across art direction, graphic design and more, and the pair energetically ran us through their journey to where they are today – “we will ramble on”, they warned the audience in jest. Born in Thailand, they moved to the UK aged seven and both studied at Central Saint Martins; one failed while the other knuckled down. What was similar, though, was their fashion sense and approach to the world of creativity: “We were dressed in all black, super CSM, but the work we were churning out was the complete opposite.”
Influenced by their heritage, the duo continued to make work that referenced all sorts from Akira to Fast & Furious, in turn producing numerous campaigns that compile motifs from these sources – like one for Fila that features a bunch of motorbikes, “we had the budget”. They continued to show us how they developed as creatives, wherein the pair started out in stills and later delved more into music videos and short films – “the natural progression most designers take,” they said. More recently, they explained how they joined production company Riff Raff and have shot the likes of Maya Jama, “she’s so fit”. The key learning throughout their talk was that, if you have the budget, then you should definitely take this as an opportunity to try out something new and experiment. And last but not least, you should always incorporate your interests, just like Fa & Fon did with their latest campaign inspired by Lord of the Rings. Initially briefed as a superhero film, the pair then asked to switch it up and make it more fantasy-themed: “I’m really obsessed with swords.”