Campaign Brief Asia and ONE Asia “Young Guns Spotlight”: Poe Cheung

Campaign Brief Asia continues its exclusive partnership with ONE Asia Creative Awards, part of The One Club for Creativity to offer readers the “Young Guns Spotlight” series, featuring interviews with past winners from Asia in the club’s global Young Guns competition.

Young Guns is the industry’s only global, cross-disciplinary, portfolio-based awards competition that identifies and celebrates today’s vanguard of creatives ages 30 and under. Entries for YG23 are now being accepted. Entrants can submit a combination of professional and personal work.

The series this month features an interview with Poe Cheung (YG22), co-founder, creative director, and graphic designer at Studio Nous in Hong Kong.

After graduating with honors with a BA in Communication Design from School of Design at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2017, she was later granted the Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award, and joined TypeParis, a typeface design program in Paris. In 2021, she co-founded the design studio Nous with her partner Allan Fan.

Cheung is passionate about printed materials and enjoys researching different printing processes and techniques, with emphasis on the tactile quality, experimentation, and the reading experience for the audience. She also likes to experiment with various paper and material substrates. Cheung welcomes new ideas, and is always in search of her next breakthrough, not limiting herself to a particular design style or methodology.

How did you first become interested in a creative career?
In primary school, sticker photo booths were very popular. I loved how you could add fun graphics to photos, which sparked my curiosity. Later, I started using computer software to edit images into my own photographs.

I also began collecting interesting visuals from magazines and newspapers, collaging them onto my notebook covers. That’s when I realized how deeply I was drawn to beautiful visuals. Naturally, I pursued design studies, eventually majoring in Communication Design at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

What are some of the interesting opportunities that have come your way?
At one point, I interned at a studio in Berlin and had the chance to contribute to the visual design for artist Ai Weiwei’s movie poster and exhibition—an incredibly rare experience for me. Later, I was involved in a large-scale exhibition in China for Hong Kong’s legendary graphic designer Henry Steiner. I even got to visit his studio. It felt surreal to hold his iconic works in my hands—pieces I’d only seen in design textbooks before.

What are some of the key challenges you’ve faced?
One of the biggest challenges is bridging the gap between abstract creative concepts and a client’s vision. As designers, we often translate intangible ideas—like emotions, cultural nuances, or brand identities—into visual language. But helping clients understand this process requires patience, clear communication, and sometimes even educating them on how design solves problems beyond aesthetics.

It’s a balancing act between staying true to our creative instincts and ensuring the client feels heard and confident in the outcome.

Tell us about one or two projects or campaigns you’ve worked on that were the most interesting or rewarding.
“Radiant Eateries: Hong Kong Restaurant Neon Sign Drawings” was Studio Nous’s first independent publishing project. We wanted to preserve these precious remnants of Hong Kong’s historic streetscapes and share them with readers who cherish the city’s culture and the craftsmanship of neon signs.

The entire book features eight-color printing and comes with a UV flashlight. When used in dim lighting, the flashlight reveals fluorescent ink on the hand-drawn illustrations, simulating the glow of neon tubes at night.

The project won the DFA Design for Asia Grand Award, Taiwan’s Golden Pin Design Award, and the ADC Annual Awards Silver Cube. We were truly humbled by the recognition and hope this book continues to make an impact while preserving history.

How did winning Young Guns impact your professional development and career path?
Winning Young Guns was a turning point—it validated my creative direction and gave me the confidence to trust my instincts. Before, I sometimes second-guessed whether my work resonated with others. But the recognition reassured me that originality and passion do matter. It also opened doors to a global network of creatives, pushing me to think bigger and bolder with projects.

Do you have any advice for people out there who are considering entering Young Guns 23 this year?
Be confident! Don’t overthink whether your work is “worthy”—Young Guns celebrates fresh perspectives, not perfection. Focus on showcasing projects that truly represent you: your unique voice, your creative risks, and even the messy process behind them. And remember, rejection (or success) isn’t a measure of talent; it’s about timing and fit.

The call for entries is now open for Young Guns 23. Regular deadline for entry is August 28, 2025, and the final deadline is September 18, 2025. More information about the ONE Asia Creative Awards, which is also now open for entries, can be found here.