Still running: The many lives of Larry Peh

Larry Peh, a two-time President’s Design Award winner, has had a life filled with numerous experiences and challenges. He was born as the younger of two boys to a sales engineer father and a housewife mother who cherished "useless but beautiful" clutter. Growing up, Peh was a "weird child" who was happiest drawing on the floor or disassembling and reassembling teddy bears.

In secondary school, Peh struggled with mathematics and science and had difficulty with English. After facing ridicule from a teacher, Peh sought help from the teacher, who eventually became a mentor and helped him excel in English. Peh's talent for art was evident at an early age, winning school competitions with his watercolor of a rocket.

However, his artistic skills were not always appreciated by peers, as depicted by one teacher's dismissive comment that he was "wasting his time" on him. Peh's passion for typography began in his youth, inspired by the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar and its creative director, Fabien Baron. After graduating from Temasek Polytechnic, Peh clashed with his final-year mentor, Lim Chong Jin, who rejected his final-year project ideas.

Undeterred, Peh stripped his project back to its essence, leading to critical acclaim. While Peh found success early in his career, he struggled with depression and felt abandoned by clients and former colleagues. Despite these setbacks, Peh persevered, often finding support from small acts of kindness, like a generous landlord who lowered his rent. His journey is a testament to resilience, simplicity, and the transformative power of design.