Human Touch

Started as a project in 1998 by some advertising copywriters, Human Touch quickly grew into producing easily recognisable products due to their clever wordplay and good design. This led to them expanding their market to become popular in both Hong Kong and Japan and they’ve since developed a strong export presence. Director talked the the two founding members, Zwani Chaviwan, brand manager, and Attadech Lowaphap, design director, to discover what makes them tick.

Zwani Chaviwan, brand manager

We met at the advertising agency where we both worked. At that time, Human Touch was like a hobby because we both were just copywriters.

As a copywriter, sometimes we had time to think, chat and share ideas that we had with clients. But these were ideas applicable to clients, and that they were willing to apply and pay for.

We went to lots of merchandisers in department stores to present them our concepts and ideas. We were taking chances by working outside the company and not just sitting in the office. The merchandisers said that our ideas were good and they wanted to stock our products. Then we started production.

It wasn’t our intention to leave the company but when once we started, we couldn’t drop it.
We had to go without holidays and spend lots of our free time attending classes in export promotion. Our first year was like this; it was like raising a child only we didn’t really know what we were doing.

We usually skipped lunch to see our first products on the shelves and saw people picking up them up, reading what was written and understanding our ideas. Attadech adapted the English language and ‘played’ with it a little bit. Since we are not so fluent in the language, we decided to treat it like ‘art’. For example, it’s strange that some words can have two meanings by just flipping them backwards, so live can be read as evil. You have to look at it in a different way. A word like giant which consists of a word ‘ant’ in it. It’s very strange.

I take care of finance, marketing, management, and sales but I think the most important thing is to keep customers informed of what are we offering, what we can promise them. I promise them that if they have our gifts, they will understand our feelings and what we are trying say.
I think people that have known Human Touch from the beginning know us, understand us. They remember our products no matter how much time has passed. There are even some people who call me and ask me for products we don’t produce anymore.

We employ around 20 people including warehouse and QC people. Half of the staff have been with us for a while; some have worked from the beginning while some have been with us for 5 or 6 years. This has helped make Human Touch the way it is now. It’s all because of the team.
Our slogan at the company is ‘our product is made out of love, out of passion’. We just want people to take our products home and keep them near and even represent their feelings. I want our products to be accessible to everyone, no matter who they are or what they do.

Attadech always takes such a long time to consider things but I think sometimes it’s cool.
Sometimes, I lean on him because he teaches me and forces me to accept that any job can be done without using too much unnecessary energy. Things can be done smoothly without being too fast or too furious.

At this stage, we make gifts, but in the future we will be looking at more lifestyle projects. We just want our products to relate to people.

Next, I want to expand the market more in Japan and Hong Kong.

Attadech Lowaphap, design director

When I began, I worked at an advertising agency where I designed, created and served clients. But when I began my own business, I served myself and I wanted to explore my ideas without limit.

At first, I had lots of freedom in exploring my ideas but it was just like a hobby. But then it developed into something more serious, more business like and I couldn’t escape taking responsibility as I created it all in the first place.

For me, the business at the beginning was not supposed to grow fast or have such a big network. I just wanted it to do a good job doing what I loved to do.

Being a copywriter is like an being an ingredient in a big creative work mixture; if creative work is a big spider, a copywriter is one of its legs. Creativity can be split into many areas. My role is still under the same umbrella as other creatives its just the details that are different.

Even now, I think my business and my products has this core design which comes from our creativity, while the beauty of it is just on the surface.

My responsibility is to take care of creative process and the concept as a whole, as well as to coach the team and look at the big picture. I decide what way the design should develop and also find what is wrong with it. I give the team suggestions. I look at the management a little but I don’t focus on details.

Our products represent simplicity and emotion and that means anyone can perceive our ideas and concepts. I think that humans cannot live without love. There are people who might not be perfect in some way but they cannot live without love. Love is every human’s foundation and inspiration.

Each product I make comes out of a personal view and idea such as ‘when we are in love’ collection which shows how a man and a woman fall in love with each other.

I think the best thing about working for Human Touch is the freedom we allow.

I have some beliefs in common with those of Steve Jobs, who is also my idol.

The thing that makes me happy is when I see our products sitting in people’s houses. When I was working at the advertising agency, media products such as the ads or short movies I made were just presented to the customers and then the job was done, but here I’ve seen differences. Especially, when I see people buying, using or experiencing our products; it makes me feel very special and happy. It’s a kind of passion I guess.

Zwani is a hyperactive kind of person while I’m the opposite. She’s hard-working but I’m lazy.
I just want our products to blend into people’s lifestyles, to be universal, to some extent, in any country that we are distribute to.

I want my products to be daily used, be part of a person’s everyday need. That’s why I also plan to make and produce lively furniture.