Larry Peh, the man behind the red carp motif on the white plastic bags used in Singapore

You may not know Larry Peh, but surely you would have encountered his work. Through his branding agency &Larry, he created the brand identity for Bynd Artisan, a Singapore-based brand that specialises in premium paper and leather, and refreshed four-generation-old pastry company Tong Heng’s branding, as well as designed the punchy ‘X’ in the logo of Singaporean furniture company Xtra.
Peh is also behind the sleek visual identity of high-end condominiums Petit Jervois and Cuscaden Reserve by boutique developer SC Global, 32 Gilstead and 21 Anderson by Kheng Leong, as well as the colourful logo of Singapore’s largest preschool operator PCF Sparkletots. The client list goes on: The now-defunct Restaurant Andre, Herman Miller, Google, Supermama, Louis Vuitton, Direct Funeral, Economic Development Board (EDB), Takashimaya and Sincere Fine Watches.
But the most ubiquitous of his design is probably the most unexpected – the red carp monogram on disposable white plastic bags used by just about every hawker stall in Singapore. Peh had designed it when he was a Visual Communications student in Temasek Polytechnic and continues to be tickled when he is handed one at the wet market or mama shop.
A DESIGN JOURNEY
At 48, the bespectacled Peh still exudes boyish charm. He is chatty but not overly loquacious; amiable but assertive and straight talking on his beliefs. He has amassed multifarious accolades, including the prestigious Designer of the Year at the President’s Design Award in 2014, but is void of any ego. This has been so since I met him more than 12 years ago when he collaborated with Xtra on an exhibition.
Peh’s exposure to design came about in the most unlikely of places – the Popular bookstore in Hougang near his house. “I had the luxury of being exposed to Harper’s Bazaar magazines during my teenage years there, where I learned about its late-legendary editor-in-chief Liz Tilberis and art director Fabien Baron. I didn’t know jobs like theirs existed. I wanted to create a magazine just like that, which led me down the path of typography, art direction, photography and fashion,” Peh recalled on his creative influences.
As a young boy, he had always been artistic; a bad skin allergy had him spending much time indoors as a child, which he made the most of by indulging in art and craft activities. After finding out about Baron, he visited libraries to satiate his curiosity (it was the pre-Internet era). Eventually, he enrolled in Temasek Polytechnic, as it was the only place in Singapore then with a graphic design course.
Peh’s first job was at creative agency Asylum. He became bored after the company was acquired by an American agency and started focusing on corporate work. Peh left to co-found design company Neighbour Studio, before branching out on his own in 2005 with &Larry.
TEETHING PAINS
&Larry is now a reputable branding consultancy firm, but it actually started out as a design house. “I was forced to learn about branding out of frustration. Working at the lower end of the design food chain, we designers had to struggle with half-baked brand assets or ambiguous corporate guidelines, and always ended up with a shorter timeline to complete our work due to the branding agency taking up more time for their work,” Peh shared.
As global clients pressed the team to refine or localise brand guides to better suit Asian markets, he made the switch. It was a good thing. “Along the way, I figured out that my true strength lies beyond having a knack for timeless and well-considered design, and that is telling a good story,” Peh explained.
One of &Larry’s earliest works was a poster design for Peh’s good friend and filmmaker Royston Tan who was launching the film 4:30 in Berlin. The poster turned out to be so popular that they were stolen from light boxes and bus stops. Peh eventually went on to design the marketing collaterals for 7 Letters, another film project Tan was involved in, together with six other Singaporean film writers.
Telling stories through branding is not a walk in the park – even more so for decades-old brands such as Tong Heng that sought new customers but whose very essence lies in their heritage. “I think the kneejerk approach is always to modernise, to make the old hip again in the most cliched sense. But what is cool and hip change all the time. I believe in getting to the heart of the brand – or people – and to go beyond the purpose to seek out the soul deep within,” said Peh. Only after this can the client identify its true audience and continue to evolve with them.
SEEKING THE SOUL
In terms of the means, new technologies have changed how people perceive and interact with brands, and Peh has had to adapt to stand out. “When I first started, the market was a lot smaller and less differentiated. It’s like practicing kungfu; you can spot the difference between various styles like Jeet Kune Do or karate.”
He continued: “Perhaps it’s due to the absence of social media back then that we were forced to discover things and develop ourselves naturally and more deeply into the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ you wanted your studio to be like.” The existing industry is now what he calls a “’big flat’, filled with birds of a feather. “But on a brighter side, you see trends come and go, as if Gen Z is feeling burned out so they seek more authentic experiences over owning material things. As a result, our brand of quality narratives and deeper connections has found its way to a wider audience of ‘tribes’,” Peh expounded.
Beyond having a purpose, brands also need to have heart to win customer loyalty. To help them do that, he conceived a tried-and-tested framework that he terms ‘Soul Purpose’ to simplify the process using seven points: Passion, uniqueness, relevance, people, ‘ownability’, sustainability and ethics.
THE NORMAT SAKE STORY
Having been in the industry for over 20 years, Peh continues to pursue ‘soul’ in other ways. His newest project is one close to his heart. It is the creation of a new brand called Normat, developed under Archivist – a company he established with two like-minded partners Craig Neo and Keith Ong. The brand aims to work with time-honoured traditions and makers to create soulful products that can become a part of contemporary life.
It was borne from Peh’s years of travels to Japan, where he made friends with many centuries-old artisans working in declining industries. The first product is a sake called Against the Grain – a product with a compelling story that started way back.
Fifteen years ago, while he was on a work trip in Japan, Peh found himself still sober enough to make a client presentation the next day even after a night of drinking sake heavily. “That became my poison, my go-to drink,” he mused. During the pandemic, Peh started trying different sakes, while he was stuck at home. “I was serious enough about the drink to even study it. I was one of the top students,” he laughed. Peh became a certified sake sommelier with UK SSA (Sake Sommelier Association) with distinction.
However, Peh still could not find one that could hold its weight when paired with local dishes. He decided to create his own. He also thought about simplifying the process of choosing sake for those who could not read Kanji labels or were confused over technicalities like polishing ratio grain type.  
SAKE AND SPICEKnocking on the doors of countless Japanese brewers over many years led to naught. But through a chanced connection with mutual acquaintances, he finally found a willing partner in Kubiki Sake Brewing Co Ltd – an18th-generation sake brewery from Kakizaki Joetsu in Japan’s Niigata Prefecture. The result? Two different sake: Tokubetsu Junmai in a translucent bottle, and Junmai Daiginjo in a black bottle.
“It’s a very simple and elegant proposition: Both sake had to be rich with a certain percentage of alcohol to harmonise with myriad Singaporean, Asian and international dishes. One version – Junmai Daiginjo – had to be smooth and elegant, yet able to hold its weight; the other had to be slightly more robust, with higher acidity and dryness,” Peh explained.
He has paired it with Thai and Indian food, and the drinks enhance the dishes. Currently, Normat sake can be found from the website Pivene.com, as well as some of the restaurants and bars the wine merchant supplies to. Peh aims to distribute the sake both regionally and globally.
The development of the sake embodies his renegade mindset of seeking originality by going “against the grain”. For example, Peh decided to use Kubiki’s proprietary yeast instead of yeast produced by the Brewing Society of Japan that would make the taste results more reliable. “However, this uncertainty also meant that the result would be fairly unusual, even one-of-a-kind,” he commented.
Another unconventional decision was to brew the Tokubetsu Junmai with the unusual blend of Gohyakumangoku (premium rice made for sake) and Tsukiakari rice (used by top sushi chefs), giving the drink its prominent umami.
In telling any story, there is the introduction, climax and ending. For Normat Against the Grain sake, the introduction is the backstory and the climax, the taste. What about the ending?
Well, a surprise ending lies in store for those eagle-eyed enough to peel away the label. Here, a doodle of a Ryuchi Sakamoto look alike character (Peh is a fan of the late-Japanese composer) is enjoying a cup of sake in two stages in life: One with a cap and the other with white hair.
This is Normat’s mascot, Mr N, which the press release portrays to be “an everyday man who continues to stay curious about the world around him, so that his life continues to be relevant and meaningful, regardless of age.” This might perhaps be the best way to describe Peh.