Industrial designer Nathan Yong is a trail blazer in the Singapore contemporary design scene, having studied at the Temasek Polytechnic and co-founded retail emporium, Air Division in 1999, selling contemporary designs including his own. 

Folks is his latest collective of designers and craftsmen creating and selling high-end furniture brands worldwide.

His work is inspired by simple visual memories from everyday life, pared back and made gorgeously practical with restraint and a lightness of touch. No superfluous details, just poetic products in fresh styles that fit effortlessly into everyday life.

Yong started as a buyer, and used his travel to Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia order to build his ‘book’ of  factories and craftsmen to develop furniture and home accessories ranges, learning about manufacture on the job. Air Division was hugely successful and Yong went on to complete his Masters in Design at UNSW, Australia, graduating with distinction.

With a string of prestigious International design awards gathered early in his career, (including the Red Dot Concept Design Award two years running), being named Designer of the Year by Singapore’s President, and promising International designer at the Salone del Mobile’s INTERNI (2011) Yong has matured into an in-demand design powerhouse. 

Currently based in Singapore, Yong runs a multidisciplinary design consultancy practice working across industrial design, graphics, interior design, architectural design, strategic planning in product development and manufacturing processes, as well as branding. His clients include Design Within Reach (USA), Ligne Roset (France), Living Divani (Italy), Opinion Ciatti (Italy), Sphaus (Italy), Domicil (Germany), Ethnicraft (Belgium), Grafunkt (Singapore), FOLKS furniture (Singapore) and many others.