Creative Minds: 'Carry that childlike wonder and curiosity through adulthood'

Name: Hatim Azizan 

Place of origin: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 

Places where you've lived/worked: Melbourne, Australia; Reading, UK; Jyllinge, Denmark 

Pronouns: He/him 

CV:

• Creative Director, Dentsu Creative, Malaysia (2022–present) 
• Associate Creative Director, Dentsu Creative, Malaysia (2020–2022) 
• Lead Creative Hybrid, Dentsu LHS, Malaysia (2017–2020) 
• Sr Art Director, Dentsu Malaysia, Malaysia (2015–2017) 
• Sr Art Director, Lucideas, Malaysia (2013—2015) 
• Sr Art Director, Leo Burnett, Malaysia (2011–2013) 
• Sr Art Director, Arachnid, Malaysia (2009–2011) 
• Art Director, Ogilvy One, Malaysia (2007–2009) 
• Junior Art Director, Paragon Dentsu Young & Rubicam, Malaysia (2004–2006) 
• Designer, McCann Erickson, Malaysia (2003–2004) 

1. How did you end up being a creative?

I actually wanted to be a vet when I was a kid. I really wanted to work with animals but then a horse bit my nose. 

On the other hand, I’ve always liked storytelling. In school, I’d pass the time in class just daydreaming. I really couldn’t help it. Cikgu (teacher in Malay) had the most monotonous, droning voice ever (something like a cross between white static and a flat trumpet) and that made class feel like it went on forever. I’d drift off and think up stories about her and the people around me. My active imagination made me realise I wanted to become a creative instead. 

2. What's your favourite piece of work in your portfolio?

The problem we wanted to solve was simple. In this age of shortcuts, emojis, and copy-pasted greetings, a Hari Raya message had become impersonal. Gone were the days of heartfelt, personalised notes where you thanked each person for their presence in your life. Instead, greetings had turned into copy-paste spam or generic posts plastered for everyone to see. And let’s be honest, writing something personal for everyone felt boring, tedious, and, sadly, just too much effort. 
 
So we decided to make meaningful, personalised greetings easy again in a campaign for Axiata. With the help of generative AI, we built a program that could write and sing Raya songs. All a user had to do was input who the song was for and why that person was special, and voilà! A completely unique Raya song, with lyrics meant only for that person.
 
People were genuinely moved by these songs. Knowing that more than 1,000 songs were created, I can only imagine the unique bonds that were strengthened through them. 

3. What's your favourite piece of work created by someone else?

I really love the 'VS' campaign for SK-II created by SK Studios and WPP, under the creative helm of Leo Savage. It reframed the perspective of the mental challenges women athletes go through during the Olympics. Strong storytelling, striking visuals, and a unique symbolic context that’s meant to entertain, inspire and send a strong message to all women. 

4. What's on your bucket list?

I would love to try skydiving at least once. I have a fear of heights, but I think that moment of seeing the world from above, in the grand scheme of things, could give me a whole new perspective on what life means. I would also love to go to a music festival that's in a language or culture I know nothing about. 

5. What career did you think you'd have when you were a kid?

From fighter pilot to fireman, and from astronaut to submariner, I was following a different career in my head every day as a kid and really living it up in daydream land. 

… As I said earlier, the classes were really long. 

6. Do you work best under pressure or when things are calm?

I work best when things are calm, but not to the point where there is no urgency. Of course, you can still come up with answers to a brief and meet objectives under pressure, but truly connecting with an audience requires craft and thought, and those take time. It is important to be able to take a step back and look at the work with fresh eyes, because that often reveals perspectives you may not have realised before. 

7. What advice would you give to a 10-year-old you, if you could?

I would want that 10-year-old me to experience as much of his childhood as possible and carry that childlike wonder and curiosity throughout adulthood, too. 

8. What really motivates you?

Money. Haha! No lah. While that is a big motivator, the truth is I would rather do something that brings meaning to others. Whether it's creating a story that makes people smile, using technology in a new way, or coming up with a meme or gif that’s shared with friends, these are the things that make me work hard and think, “Hell yeah. Worth it.” 

9. How would your co-workers describe you?

I’m very close to my workmates, so I guess they would describe me in the weirdest ways possible. They are creative, unfiltered, and love roasting me. Here are the best ones so far: 
 
“Wears pants too low for his age.” 
“Weird old uncle trying to be cool with the teenagers.” 
“Someone who is always out of pocket.” 
 
I promise you, they do love me too and like what I bring to the table… I hope. T_T 

10. Tell us about an artist (any medium) that we've probably never heard of.

Richard D. James (also known as DJ Aphex Twin). I really admire him because he experiments far beyond audio and music. He ventures into art by trying to visualise the non-visual. From creating a distinct parodic style with his iconic Rictus Grin (the horror) to experimenting with mediums, his work always pushes boundaries. For example, he once composed sounds that would form an image when run through a spectrogram. Truly avant-garde. 

11. What makes you really happy?

Connecting with others and learning something new all the time.