| In Creative Minds, we ask APAC creatives a long list of questions, from serious to silly, and ask them to pick 11 to answer. (Why 11? Just because.) Want to be featured? |
Name: Marcus Quek
Places lived/worked: Singapore
Pronouns: He/him
CV:
- Art Director, Zoo Group Singapore (2025-Present)
- Art Director, Havas Singapore (2023-2025)
- Junior Art Director, DDB Singapore (2021-2023)
1. How did you end up being a creative?
I was allergic to studying and accidentally fell in love with Adobe Illustrator. I’ve always been that kid. The one who couldn’t sit still, didn’t take school seriously, and somehow turned every exam paper into an art canvas—writing novels, drawing comics, creating characters with entire backstories and personalities. Grades? Terrible. Beatdowns from parents when results came out? Deserved. But somewhere between all that rule-breaking doodling, I found my calling.
Despite my grades, they saw the spark. My parents, bless them, backed me all the way. That changed everything. I started in UI and UX, branding, and illustration. But something still felt too neat. Too polished. I wanted emotion. Noise. Cultural impact. That gut-punch moment when an ad hits you right in the feels. So here I am. A former exam-doodler turned full-time feelings-hacker. And I’ve never looked back.
2. What's your favourite piece of work in your portfolio?
‘She’s Still Out There’: a speculative print campaign for Singapore’s National Environment Agency. Singaporeans are obsessed with true crime, so the concept reimagines the Aedes mosquito as a serial killer hiding in plain sight. Each image is simple, eerie, and deliberate. Each line of copy builds her profile. She injects her victims with a deadly virus. She drinks their blood. She even bites babies. And the final line leaves a chill. She’s still out there.
What makes this a favourite is how it flips public health messaging into something cinematic and emotionally provocative. It trades fear-mongering for tension and intrigue. The idea feels familiar but fresh. Crafted but not over-designed. Culturally specific but universally human.
3. What's your favourite piece of work created by someone else?
‘Highlight the Remarkable’ by DDB Group Germany for Stabilo. It takes historic black-and-white photos where men dominate the scene and uses a simple yellow highlight to draw your attention to the woman in the background, like Katherine Johnson, Edith Wilson, and Lise Meitner. What I love most is how minimal it is. No headlines shouting for attention. No gimmicks. Just a streak of yellow from a Stabilo highlighter doing all the storytelling. It proves that a brilliant insight, executed with restraint, can move people more than any over-the-top spectacle ever could.
4. What/who are your key creative influences?
Steve Jobs. He never believed in making something slightly better. He pushed for ideas that broke the mould completely. His standard was never just “good enough.” It was always "insanely great." That approach has shaped how I think about creative work. It is not just about how something looks. It is about why it exists. Why are we saying this? Why should anyone care? Why does this matter now? Jobs championed simplicity with soul. Clarity with an obsession for craft. That balance between idea and execution, form and function, still sets the benchmark for how I want to create.
5. What kind of student were you?
I was the naughty kid. The one who teachers kept an eye on, not because I was disruptive, but because I was always up to something creative that had nothing to do with the syllabus. My school confiscated so many of my toys, games, and comic books, they could have opened a fully stocked shop by the end of the year. In class, I wasn’t exactly focused. While others were solving equations, I was sketching superheroes, writing stories, and dreaming up movie scenes in the back of my notebook. I failed most subjects—except the ones that let me be expressive: English, Chinese, Literature. If it involved emotion, storytelling, or imagination, I was all in. Everything else? A bit of a disaster.
6. What's the craziest thing you've ever done?
Probably drawing all over my final year exam paper. I walked into the exam, flipped through the questions, and realised I didn’t know a single answer. I finished whatever I could attempt in about ten minutes. With almost two hours left on the clock, I decided to put the paper to good use as a sketchpad.
So, I started drawing. Characters, comics, random weird creatures. By the end, my exam script looked more like a graphic novel than a test paper. When the invigilator collected it, they were speechless. My parents were not. They had plenty to say. Not my best academic moment, but definitely one of the most on-brand things I have ever done.
7. What's on your bucket list?
To create an ad that is more than just memorable. Something that actually changes how people see the world, shifts perspectives, starts real conversations, or helps solve a meaningful problem. An ad that does good, not just looks good. One that challenges how we think about an issue, a product, or a way of life, and leaves people feeling changed for the better. If one idea can improve lives or spark positive change through creativity, that is the kind of legacy I want to build.
8. What career did you think you'd have when you were a kid?
I wanted to be an astronaut. Not just because of the stars, but because I was fascinated by the unknown. I loved the idea of not knowing what was out there, and the thrill of being the first to see something for the very first time. I wanted to explore, to discover, to step into places no one had ever been. Maybe build something new on another planet. Or just wander around the moon. That would have been enough too.
9. Do you work best under pressure, or when things are calm?
I think I work well in both. I naturally have a calm, low-energy personality, which helps me stay steady even when things get stressful. I don’t get overwhelmed easily, so I tend to stay focused and take things one step at a time, whether the situation is intense or relaxed. That energy helps the team too. When things start to feel chaotic or people begin to panic, I try to keep the mood grounded and steady. At the end of the day, staying calm helps me think clearer, support others better, and keep the work moving forward without letting stress take over.
10. Tell us about the worst job you ever had.
I wouldn’t call it the worst, because every experience teaches you something. But one of my earliest jobs as a junior graphic designer was definitely one of the hardest. I was in a design studio where junior creatives were often dismissed or talked down to. The environment was filled with pressure, but not much support. Eventually, they let me go. Before I left, they told me I should consider giving up on the creative path and look into logistics or admin work instead. It didn’t discourage me but actually made me even more determined to grow. More importantly, it made me realise how much good mentorship matters.
11. What advice would you give to 10-year-old you, if you could?
Keep drawing. Keep dreaming. And take school a little more seriously, even the subjects that feel boring or unrelated. Creative thinking does not exist in a bubble. Every bit of knowledge adds depth to it. Even understanding how atoms work or why equations matter can help build a better sense of how the world functions. Stay curious. Learn widely. It all connects in the end. And maybe hide the comic books a little better, just in case.
