Omens

Reading up this interesting book titled "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho has heightened my senses toward unusual things and happenings around me. I fancied myself 'reading' these omens, and predicting the future. Are these for real? Who knows, but it's something to ponder nevertheless.

The First Omen

The train I took today was hampered by various mishaps and delays. Quite unusually, the mishaps were plenty and the delays numerous. It's not a single delay where the train stops for a minute or two and proceeded smoothly. Instead, it labored on and stopped at least four times during the journey.

Perhaps this symbolizes the journey ahead for myself? Both in love and in career? I mentioned love because I was thinking of a particular someone, but there was another omen that strengthened my 'ponderings' – which I will reveal in due course.

The journey ahead in which I will often be stagnant, and make no proper advances/improvements – is this what lies ahead for me? Just the previous night I was wondering about the various local artists that had went ahead in pursuit of their dreams. And as I thought about them, a lingering doubt crept upon me. Surely it is too late for me to take off in pursuit of that dream?

Or perhaps it is merely a warning, for when you aspire for something with passion, all the universe conspires to make it happen, and this is merely an encouragement to keep advancing myself, and not be at rest?

Or perhaps it is a forewarning about the other matter? An encouragement to spur me on, and that the events of this coming Friday are merely one of those state of rest and delays but which I would eventually tide over and proceed?

The Second Omen

On one of those various stops during the train's journey, I noticed also a gentleman reading up on a book with great interest. What intrigued me greatly however, was how he took his highlighter and marked out important words (one can only guess) on the page. I was amused to note how he marked out practically 80% of the passage he was reading up on. Here is an example:

"The First Spirit is Love, which is manifested in:"

I felt this to be quite useless, because he is basically highlighting the whole passage instead of marking out important points here and there. Curiously, he lingered upon that passage quite a while, and I couldn't help but read through the first line of the page. It is shown above, and this I took to be another omen.

And then I realized that it was Thursday, and I made up my mind then and there to attend the night's gathering.

Gearing Up, Slowly and Steadily

Yeah, I'm getting ready for St James! Really really had to rush these two graphics, but all in all I'm pretty stoked up and raring to go. The sampler I'm doing for them are almost ready to go.

On another note, a reminder to self to take things easy, let things happens the way its supposed to be. Which is why I'm sleeping earlier than usual (it's still 1am but better than the few days before!) Which is why I'm not caring much about how I 'sort of' screwed up at work - ha~! Which is why I'm taking things easy on all fronts.

The deadline for St James application is very much nearing. But the way I see it, I'm going to just do my best, and if I can't finish it on time, I'm not going to force it. I'll just save it for others later on. But I do want to make sure I am happy with the sampler.

Ah well, here are two more graphics for the sampler.

Personal Goal

Why is it that every single design that I did for my own promotional purposes has always proven unsatisfactory upon closer personal review? I am slightly ashamed at the new site, build only recently. It speaks not of the passion I feel inside, of the height I aimed myself to achieve, nor the creative sparks and influences that has shaped me as a whole. Perhaps it is my personal quest for perfection, a never ending one. Perhaps it is simply the matter of me being picky. Perhaps it is my own conscience pointing out how I could have done better, and harder still I must labor. Nevertheless, the site is down, indeterminately.

Why this sudden, seemingly rash act?

Steve Pavlina

Steve Pavlina started it all. His e-Zine on Personal Development has got me hooked, and I've been rediscovering his excellent articles over the past few weeks, bit by bit. Overflow of information is as bad as lack of information, as you run the very real risk of simply forgetting various important points, nor do you give enough weight and justifiable thought to each piece of information. For that reason, I have waded slowly through this sea of insights, contently sipping a bit here and there. My thirst was great, but even greater was my fear of bloating.

One of his article on The Meaning of Life truly struck a chord with me. Even as I dove into the first parts of this series of six articles, I stopped myself and forced a look back and review of the actions I have taken so far. I am but 24, but already I have made several life-changing decision, if you may say so.

It occurred to me now that I have been often held back by a fear of failure, more particularly, public failure. It's something that's kept me in check often: is my drawing good? is my design exemplary? is my writing a load of bullshit? This is especially true I feel, as more and more of personal information, thoughts and whatnots are readily accessible. I have to thank Steve for pointing out this general fear.

I no longer cared.

I'm writing my thoughts so I can come back to them. A sort of personal diary and convenient log of thoughts upon which I can readily come back whenever I need to. And my drawings, along with my designs, are there for me to keep track of my work. A collection of good and bad, upon which I would one day collate and select only the best fews. A convenient portfolio.

As I look again on the new site and compared it with the greats like Joshua Davis, Mike Young, Cina, and the likes, I felt a deep sense of envy. Why do they get all the fun, exciting, interesting projects? Why do they get paid enough to travel the world, take part in interesting projects, and the likes? Why do they seem to get all the cool clients, those open to creative design works, showing depths and understanding of design?

Is this the path I must tread? If I follow these gigantic steps laid out before me, will I have the strength and qualities to reach the destination? As I look around, there are those within the local context already treading this path. Do I really want to join them in this quest for personal satisfaction?

Why is my site so .. bland?

Part of me wanted to go out there and explore deep into the depths of my graphic capabilities and churn them out one after another. But another part of me leers into the increasingly juicy pot that my freelance activities has afforded me with, and I can't help but not commit to any in particular.

But surely this is a decision I must make, sooner rather than later.

p/s: alas, even as I post this up, a client requested to see a web portfolio. I am forced to post my site back up, at least for the time being.

News, Or More Appropriately ... Juice!

My new site is up! At www.tjhinn.com! I know I have wanted to update my site for the longest time. Well, recent developments have practically forced me to do it, or else. I actually wanted to have it done by last Thursday, which was the start of the publicity event for
www.nationalkarting.org. Unfortunately, I did not get it done.

By the way, if any of you guys had the chance to, do take a pose with the poster if you seen any and send to me! Thank you so much! This new site was done in record speed of less than half a day. So any mistakes and whatnots, do let me know.

A Firefox Convert is Born

In the speedy process of production, I was dreadfully exposed to Safari's various deficiencies. It seemed like everything went wrong with this used-to-be favorite browser of mine. After spending more than 3 hours mucking around to no avail (and great distress), I decided to simply switch my choice of weaponry, and converted to the great Firefox. I'm glad to announce myself a full-blown convert to this new technology and my brothers-in-arms accepted me warmly into this small but growing congregation of Firefox preachers. It turned out that there was nothing wrong whatsoever with my coding and the likes. Safari was just being pouty and decided to spit out old versions of my sites. Firefox, on the other hand, was more than happy to put out and send me off to 7th heaven. I like.

Mike Ringo

Last week also saw the world lose one its most talented artist, Mike Wieringo. While I can't say I know Mike personally, I have been a fan of his work and his constantly updated blog posts. His sole dedication and love to his craft is just extremely infatuating and refreshing to see. While those who have known him personally takes time to mourn this sudden, shocking blow, my thoughts go with them along with a personal condolence. Mike died far far too young.

Tora Torres!

I should have known it was going to be that kind of day for us Liverpool supporters yesterday. Mike's news was big. Safari was being a bitch. Rain kept us trapped and unable to do work – time wasted. All this resulted in an unplanned over time last night. I'm amazed I woke up in time for work, but tonight I reckon I will be able to have a good long rest.

I do feel we had the match within our grasps. Our new boy Torres did well to score the way he did, and his movement and touches throughout the first half was very encouraging. The second half is something else, but I do feel his fitness has not reached its peak just yet.

Referee Rob Styles, however, gifted the point to Chelsea, and followed his unexplainable penalty call with even more questionable bookings here and there. Funny stuff, but I was unable to laugh much. Opportunity lost. But still, cheers to our new boy Torres, along with Babel who was looking very lively down the flanks. I must now see Voronin and compare for myself Benitez's attacking options.

Finally, Juice!

Before I got on to The Juice, I'd like to make two shout-outs. One is to a Mr Scholar, who came down to our place Saturday morning only to find out that I was unable to do work. For not remembering to update him, I am truly sorry, and I'd like to apologize once again.

Another shout-out is to a Mr Talk C**k (as his blog implies). Here's to hoping (against all odds, I know) that your 'future-planning' went well and off and truly does. See, Mr C**k here received some sagely advice from one of his friends from the opposite sex in regards to 'planning for the future'. This is something that all of us have constantly talked to him about, I believe. But naturally, when someone from the opposite sex brings it up, it adds that much more weight. Wakey wakey.

Juice, At Last!

All right! Time for The Juice at last!

StupidB*** (smiling): Nik,

*long pause to add impact*

StupidB*** (smiling even wider): I found something,

*even longer pause for even more impact*

/me gives a bewildered, quizzical, confused and interested look

StupidB*** (grinning now, from ear to ear): It's something called,

*the longest possible pause, for the largest possible impact*

StupidB***: a girlfriend

*cue in fireworks and flashbulbs blaring*

Little wonder Manchester United lost.

That's All Folks

Well folks, that's all for the day. Just remember, this Juice is brought to you by The Art of Pea. Fuck You Safari! Hurray Firefox! Rest in Peace Mike! Great Goal Torres! Eat Shit Rob Styles! Truly Sorry Teh! Wake Up Mom!

Congrats Bear!

As you can see, I'm fed up with work and have decided to stick it back to them by doing stuff at work yet still getting paid *grins*

VivoCity

I suggested going to Vivocity for dinner yesterday, a sort of relaxation from the usual hustle and bustle at work. Surprisingly, almost all agreed, and we had a great dinner at Modesto's. We had the pleasure of trying out a wide array of food, from pizza to lasagnas, to pastas and even this unique Italian appetizer in the form of raw thinly sliced beef. Sashimi style! My lasagna was very fulfilling, and I also tried bits and pieces from others. Highlights include this spaghetti pasta marinated in squid ink – totally black. Combined with a generous dose of seafood medley, it's truly a fare that brings you closer to the sea. Another is the pizza topped with a special Italian Ham (or was it Bacon?). Deceivingly simple, yet surprisingly tasty. Definitely a restaurant worth going back for, if only for the unique appetizer!

After dinner walk-around revealed many hidden gems of unique restaurants in Vivocity. Some I have tried, some others not, but it's becoming more and more apparent to me that Vivocity is quickly turning into one of my favorite places. It's got a great and complete bookstore (Page One) when I need instant inspiration. It's got a great atmosphere to bring your date along. It's got a quick getaway towards which you can bring your group of friends (St James). And most importantly (for me at least), it's got a great selection of good food.

Here are several of the restaurants I have had the pleasure to visit recently:

Sushi Tei

Sushi Tei in Vivocity does not offer much surprises. It's standard Japanese fare are one I have grown accustomed with, and with prices that doesn't break the bank, there is really nothing to complain about. Unfortunately, I do not have anything to rave about either. The sea view is definitely a plus point, but in Vivocity it becomes the standard by which all restaurants are judged on, and here it does not offer any better view than the other restaurants I tried.

Aji by Hanabi

Excellent, excellent sashimi fare – but beware of your budget, my last visit here came up to $100 for two! Considering what we had however, it's probably only fair. We had a sumptuous spread consisting of 1 plate of Sashimi (3 different types of fishes), 3 rolls of Premium Sushi (Dragon Roll, Soft-Shell Crab, and another), and 1 standard California roll. What really clinced it for me however, was the outside seats, located near the yatch harbor instead of the ferry terminal – much better view.

HK Kim Gary Restaurant

Not unlike other Hong Kong Cafes, Kim Gary offers a good selection of Contemporary HK Dishes. These modern interpretation of traditional Cantonese fares – often combined with Western influences – are very tasty. My favorites are the Baked Rices, tho it's really nothing special considering the many HK Style Bistro cum Resto that has cropped up all around Singapore now. The interesting drinks also on offers makes this a good spot to relax and source for inspirations, and the prices are also decent for the pocket.

Shin Kushiya

Another Japanese restaurant, but this time specializing in grilled Japanese cuisine. My personal favorite however, is the Raw Salmon with Roe on top of Japanese Rice – fresh thinly sliced Salmon pieces on top of Japanese rice with a generous side addition of large salmon roes. For a restaurant whose name implies expertise in grilling, the two BBQ pieces we did order were not one to crave for. In fact one was truly inedible, an over-cooked piece of chicken skin that was too tough to chew and enjoy. Surprisingly dinner for two came up to about less than $50, but that's probably only because we saved space and didn't order dessert

Carnivore

An interesting Brazilian concept restaurant whose main attraction are meat – of various flavors, kind and tastes. It's a buffet to a certain extent, but instead of going towards the food line to grab your choice of eats, the waiters would bring a selection of meat around the restaurant. Naturally, he comes back right away after than, with a different type of meat. Extremely fullfilling, and only for the meat lovers! Approximately $40 per person.

Terra Cafe

Located right next to Page One, this mid-range restaurant offers standard Italian fare. Perfect for a quick and simple lunch, and the milkshakes is one of my favorites. One good reason for me to eat here is 10% discount from the Terra card given free some time ago.

If all else fails, the Food Republic at the top floor offers a wide variety of successful food elsewhere in Singapore. Just be sure to take a walk by level 3 and enjoy the refreshing rush of sea breezes!

p/s: I wish I have a better camera phone. *sigh*

One Last Breath

Hold me now, I'm six feet from the edge, and I'm thinking, maybe six feet, ain't so far down...


Most probably still a work-in-progress, unless the following week caught me overburden and unable to focus on it some more. Definitely possible. I wanted to capture the feeling of Death, of that last few minutes of peace that came upon one as he transcends this mortal life. It's a romantic notion at best, knowing how easily and stealthily Death creeps upon us, but I'd like to believe that even as He inevitably cometh and claims His bounty, He'd allow me that few seconds of peace. Perhaps He will look upon this offering of mine, be pleased and grant me this little joy.

There will be more, as promised.

Red Bull Experimentation

As I sign off, I'd like to share a recent experimentation I did concerning Red Bull and Grass Jelly. Taken separately, one is a potent energy booster, while the other a soothing herbal concoction. Combined together, they make an inconceivable mixture of sweetness and caffeine. Side effects include a constant feeling of nausea and sudden urges to puke. Intense bloating and a general eeriness of uneasiness follows. I felt unhealthy, sick as a drenched child on a wet rainy day. There was also the constant taste of bitterness on my tongue, a sort of overloading of flavors, pushing the taste buds to its limit. It felt numb beyond words, and everything else I swallowed thereafter tasted painfully plain and bland.

The flip side though is that it works. As I walked through the MRT Tunnel, I noticed mere human lagging down behind me at half the pace I went through, and I wasn't even trying. I actually had to force myself to slowdown as I bumped into a colleague and walked alongside her. Most importantly, my eyes felt this sudden urge to simply stop closing. Blinking was painful. Sleeping was unimaginable. Staying awake was curiously effortless.

You have been warned, try it on your own risk.

John Maxwell & Page One

One of the best things about working in my current place is the peculiar collection on books that we have amassed throughout the years. Fortunately for me, most staffs decided to leave their treasures behind as they move on (hopefully to bigger and better things), and I have located many books belonging to no one in particular –  just sitting on the shelf waiting for a curious cat to pick it up and devour its content.

That I did.

John C. Maxwell

The book I'm currently 'borrowing' is titled 'The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership' by John Maxwell, which has proved to be quite an interesting read. My initial attraction was two-fold: the topic of the book (leadership) is one that I felt a strong attraction towards, and the name Maxwell was one that I distinctly remembered as one with a reputation.

As I perused a random chapter from the book I was amused by his thoughts on Apple's very own Steve Jobs, and how his intuitive leadership turned Apple around and "gave them a fighting chance":

"Prior to Job's return, the company had posted net quarterly losses the previous year totaling more than $1 billion. However, in the first fiscal quarter of 1998, Apple finally recorded a net profit of $47 million. In the long run, it's hard to know whether the company will ever recapture its former success. But at least it now has a fighting chance"

And then it hit me – this book is old! A flip through revealed it's published (or written) in 1998, about 10 years back. And then I realized that Maxwell is writing good things and applauding Steve's leadership qualities even before it was evident. Even before the iPod. Even before the conversion into Intel-based Macs. Even before many others talked about Steve's charismatic presentational skills – interestingly, there's even a 'name' for this particular skill of Steve, it's called the 'reality distortion field', how cool is that? That's when I really wanted to bring this book home and read through this. If the guy could speak (or perhaps predict is the right word?) good things about Steve and Apple at a time where PC's were so totally dominating the market (97% market share). I really wanted to see what else he's got to say!

Page One

On the more 'legal' side, I have been buying books left and right recently. It's the newer influences that keeps pumping me up to create visuals, a lot of very inspiring new artists out there, and thanks to Page One in Vivo City, I was exposed to all this wealth of talents. A recent outing there saw me forking out SGD50 for this design book by :phunk studio.



Pimping hot local artist! Blind UV Spot, Black on Black! Unique binding! How could I resist? They had me at "Japanese Binding with 5mm Cardboard Box"!


And not long after that, even after spending hard-earned money in Batam, I saw myself forking out another SGD60 for two books (which I felt was, like, damn totally worth it. Totally) – one by the always amusing Monster Children, and another by Pie Books, a compilation of who's who of Japan's illustrators.



One hundred and fifty of the hottest illustrators in Japan today. Need I say more?



I've always loved this Australian Streetmag. Plenty to admire – the photography, the lifestyle, the stunts. It's basically the Australian version of Juice, with the addition of Extreme Sports and directed by a Kick-Arse Art Director. The result of this blatantly unholy union of perversion and psychotic sensibilities is a Child that is so Monstrous, he embodies the word itself. Thus the name Monster Children!

I've been drawing too, and was very lucky to find this 12 pieces of COPIC markers. These babies are high-grade markers, each costing up to SGD8, and once again, I was fortunate to have neglectful ex-colleagues. And luckily, I am the 'Designated Illustrator' in the office, so naturally these delightful resources were mine by right of heredity. Watch this space tomorrow, I'm going to post another piece. This time done along to the tunes of Creed's One Last Breath, definitely one of my all time favorites!

The Importance of Being – True to Yourself

Freelance & Work

These past few weeks have seen me devote ridiculous amount of time towards the coming National Karting Challenge – a fact that has not gone unnoticed by my mates. In fact, even several colleagues at work should have noticed me working on this project during off-peak hours. Not good, but I do believe this will all be worth it, and especially so since I'm basically the solo designer responsible for every single visuals. I'm not one to quit halfway, so even tho these guys are asking for more than they deserve (or mentioned towards the beginning of the project) I'm really quite relishing the coming week. By then all this crazy deadlines will be over, and the posters will start cropping up. I look forward to sneaking around trying to catch a glimpse or two of them!

On another front, our team has dwindled even further at work, with one of the Senior Account Executive leaving the team (4 years worth of experience – or should it be considered a waste of time?) and another new face leaving (Indonesian girl – a shame she's gone). While this pose no surprise to me, I'd be amazed if that stuck up boss of mine doesn't feel even a slight suspicion towards the general feeling at work. More and more talents leaving and surely he must know that something is wrong with the procedures and structure he had implemented at work.

St James Power Station

Alas, I myself have had my efforts diverted elsewhere – towards the karting event, and towards another, more intriguing development:

St James Power Station is looking for a Graphic Designer. Application deadline: 30 August 2007.

Holy smokes!

Unfortunately, my portfolio isn't exactly tailored to appeal the aesthetic style of St James – I doubt they'll be interested at all in Annual Reports nor Newsletter. The good news however, is that I'm very psyched about this particular design style – and I've been doing a ton of digging up old works, along with new works that I feel would appeal to them. I really just have to keep focused and get this month over and done with!

Iris Judotter & 33third

One of those newer projects is one that I will be featuring in a short while. It all started with an innocent conversation I had with a colleague of mine. She owns a small local record label – started with her friends. One thing led to another and I find myself volunteering my services to help her "star" artist with a small job – a brochure/flyer to promote her new album. Her name is Iris Judotter, and she is really quite talented – do check her music out at www.myspace.com/judotter. Solid local talent, and I was very psyched to help her out.

While I look around for inspiration and the likes, I stumbled upon this interesting music-related series of books called 33 1/3 (33third.blogspot.com). Each book in the series is titled upon an album of consequence throughout music history, and are authored by different writers. The style of writing and what the book is all about, are all totally up to the writers' imagination – and amazing imaginations they are! Some talked about the album's significance towards the generation, or about the story behind the making. Some talked about the style and essence of the album itself, or about the lyrics of each songs. Some pushed the boundaries of music literature even further, like what Kate Schatz did with "Rid of Me". Here's an excerpt about that particularly intriguing book:

"Rid of Me" is both romance and psychological horror, its chapters shifting perspective between Mary and Kathleen. Both are escapees from oppressive men and a small town. At the opening, Mary kidnaps a willing and complicit Kathleen -- blindfolding her, binding her wrists and leading her to their new home in the woods -- woods that women are told never to enter.

Instead of talking about the album, or the music, or the band behind the album (PJ Harvey), Schatz chose to 'collaborate' and alternated herself between the music and the writing process, letting the album take her away and writing along an excellent thriller as she rubs the music into her brains. Take a peek into the story here: http://www.amazon.com/PJ-Harveys-Rid-Me-Story/dp/0826427782 and enjoy the amazingly creative style of writing!

I wanted to do the same with Iris, and as I perused through her album, I found that one song which I really fell in love with – Four Leaf Clover. Her honest soothing guitar melted beautifully with her subtlety angst-ridden and heartbreaking lyrics. And then she hit me again with a distinctly evolved remix of the same song, showcasing her versatility and evolution.

I listened, I drew, and I produced:



I do hope she enjoyed my visuals as much as I enjoyed working on it with having her catchy tune play over and over again as I labored. I wanted to visualize her emotional lyrics, depicting her as a silhouette melting into swirling waves of ecstasy and beauty. This is very selfish of me, but I care not if she likes this or not – I will be putting this up in my portfolio. And should she ask for another, I don't think I would mind working on a different concept – but naturally I'll have to break away from this image first. In either case, I'll have to work much harder and produce more posters for my St James application!

15% Profit Margin

My boss has a tendency to 'preach'. Admittedly, he is successful and charming – definitely a negotiator that can tackle hard agreements, spout influential bull crap and yet still come out looking fresh and good. He talked to our now isolated team – 1 Art Director, 2 Designers, 1 Account Exec and 1 Editor – about the story of L*****, about how he wants us to grow, and of course about his promise of abundance and profit sharing. In the process he managed to somehow make it look like the company is not doing well at all.

His lecture today was based on calculations made on the spot that I do not feel justified. This calculation is made to compute approximately how much sales is needed to justify hiring an extra person.

Average Salary = $2000 x 12 = $24000 /annum
13th month = $2000
Costs = $500 x 12 = 6000
Leave + MC = $1000

Totaling to $33000 – add CPF to that and it's roughly $37500.

Now comes the shocker – which should not come as a surprise to those actually reading – 15% profit margin!!

Judging from that, it means that one extra head would need to raise the sales target by $250000!!

He then went on to show how the company is doing fine ($1.6 mill last year in sales), and with us 6 people ( = $1.5 mill) so its quite right there – he's earning a mere $100k. But now that one has left and another two is coming in, we will have to work harder and try to raise the bar further.

$250000 per person per annum = our compact team (lets count it at 7) will need to raise $1.75 mill in sales, amounting to $145k per month in total sales. So his proposal was that we set the benchmark at $140k, and there will be another benchmark every $20k onwards. Every extra $20k that's earned will be divided by 2 (zipper through this, not explained why) and then the profit (15% of that) will be divided equally amongst everybody. If we reach $160k for the month, we'll get $1500 divided equally. At $180k, we'll get $3000 divided equally, and on and on. Nothing is concrete of course, as he himself mentioned how this is the way it'll be done if he's "generous".

I can't help but feel a need to correct him, even in the blogosphere – even as I know with certainty that he won't care, don't care. Surprisingly, when he was talking, I actually felt myself admiring him – his style, his confidence – the marks of a successful man. And I can feel the audience – my colleagues – being captivated by his intentions, and I know for certain that they feel not what I feel, or perhaps they do so too, but those feelings of injustice and unfairness are buried deep deep down, so deep inside them it'll take a real hard slap to wake them up from slumber.

Allow me to at least try it, or at least reveal my version of the calculation.

My initial reaction when he mentioned that 15% was one of outrage and disbelief. I cannot believe that the company is charging a mere 15% profit margin to cover costs, design services, expenses and what not and still be profitable. Obviously I was wrong, as even that small profit margin is enough to cover all of the above and more – earning our director the minimum 6 figure sum yearly, with little to no effort.

Nevertheless, I was sure that the profit margin charged by my company is way more than 15% – at least double that. A quick browse through past quotations and proposals proofed my suspicion right. The company charges between 50% to 20% on design charges alone and not including markups earned from printing and the likes, our profit margin should average around 30% to 40%. For the purpose of this calculation, I think its prudent to assume the worst – 30% profit margin.

First off, I'd like to calculate the amount needed to sustain an extra person. I also felt $2000 average is a bit low, so I raised it to $2500.

Average Salary = $2500 x 12 = $30000 /annum
13th month = $2000
Costs = $500 x 12 = 6000
Leave + MC = $1000

Totaling to $39000 – add CPF to that and it's roughly $45000.

That's quite a lot more than the initial $37500, but lets proceed and calculate the sales required to necessitate having that extra employee. $45000 / 30% = $150000.

That's a stark contrast to his lecture. One employee can easily earn $2500 and yet will only need to raise the sales by $150. In fact, lets even add to that and give everybody $3000.

Average Salary = $3000 x 12 = $36000 /annum
13th month = $2000
Costs = $500 x 12 = 6000
Leave + MC = $1000

Totaling to $45000 – add CPF to that and it's roughly $50000.

$50000 / 30% = $166666 – rounding up to $170000.

Still reasonable and achievable, considering his calculation of needing $250000 per extra head.

Based on that, the company is doing exceptionally well with $1.6 mill last year. $170000 per head amounts to $1.02 mill (6 people), lets even add additional costs here and there, rounding it up to $1.1 mill. The company is in the black, by $500k! Pah! What crisis!

There is a gem of a lesson behind all this however. 15 is the magic number. I can easily imagine him justifying that 15% profit margin, because that is most probably the profit margin that he started with, when the company was brand new. As we plow through our 18th years however, that 15% is obviously no longer appropriate, and we charge a premium for our margin –  sometimes as high as 50%. This 15% profit margin would serve a good benchmark for me to gauge my design fees in the future.