Naiise Conversations With Seriously Sarah

Skip the diamonds and chocolate and get creative with gifts that won't mean taking a second mortgage this Valentine's Day. Looking for some geeky but sweet ideas for that special fanboy / music geek / gamer / hacker / gadget guy or girl in your life? Look no further than Seriously Sarah's curation of gift ideas for your geeky other half. An accomplished writer, designer and ukelele player in her own right, she's certainly got some geek chic cred.

Here's what Sarah has to say about herself, her thoughts on Vday and design.

 1. Who is Seriously Sarah, and how did the website come about?

I'm just a normal girl who lives in Singapore that happens to hang around when fun stuff happens. I think a lot of people are snorting in disbelief once they just read that somehow. Seriously Sarah actually came about when I wanted a place to put my own design portfolio on it but now transformed into my own blog for adventures around Singapore and geeky events. So now it DOES have some of my design portfolio projects but people come to read more about how Singapore can be pretty interesting. It's not about being SERIOUS, it's about being seriously SARAH.

2. Thank you for curating our Valentines' Day collection. How do your picks reflect your personal style?

My style consists of useful things that have very good design for daily life. You can also see that the items are not gender specific since I believe that anyone can like whatever stuff they like. Plus, even with all the usefulness they have hints of geekiness referring to fandoms of comics, anime, mangas, movies, books and etc. I think useful Valentines' day gifts are cool because you'd always remember the person who gave it to you when you use the item.

3. Top picks from the collection?

Perfect Sound S102 In Ear Headphones, useful when wanting to share music. You could possibly get big headphones for yourself but you can't 'share' it as easily by holding one ear piece to your friend/partner and then listening at the same time. Best when you have some epic soundtrack and pretend you're the stars of a movie or story. LEXON Mini Hook Umbrella, it rains and wow, what a convenient but stylish umbrella you have, saving the both of you from being wet. Plus, you probably can fight off spies or ninjas with an umbrella if you're cool enough. Paul Frank Picnic Lunch Box because you both can sit under trees and eat lunch like a typical anime. Cute bento lunches not included in the lunch box so you've got to cook your own things. If your food isn't pretty... Well, at least the lunch box is. 3D printed Mini-Me Figurines because seriously. SERIOUSLY. You can make a figurine of yourself in 3d. Give it to your partner. He/She might ask why and you can just say, "Just because" or that it's a limited edition action figure of yourself. Have a partner or friend who likes funny stuff? This is the THING to get. Bonus points to you if you get another of your friend/partner and call it a pairing or take pictures of your mini-mes in odd locations and make an album of it.

4. Why is design important to you in all the different creative avenues you pursue?

Good design appeals to people. I don't like frivolous designs that are just for prettiness. I like those that are both aesthetically pleasing and user friendly. People stick around more when it is pleasing to the senses.

5. Favourite creators and designers that inspire you?

Cartoon creators like Pendleton Ward and animators like Natasha Allegri inspire since they work hard and also keep imagining weird things or the what if.

6. What can we look forward to from Seriously Sarah in the year ahead?

More ridiculous adventures, more videos and perhaps previews of projects I am working on!