A conversation with Siam Attariya, partner at Pink Blue Black & Orange in Bangkok, about blending storytelling, cultural authenticity, and creativity to create impactful work that resonates across platforms and audiences.
Next in our Thai Design in Focus series is Siam Attariya, one of Thailand’s most distinguished graphic designers and a founding member of the Thai Graphic Designers Association (ThaiGa). As a partner and design director at Pink Blue Black & Orange, he has been a key figure in shaping Thailand’s design industry for decades, earning recognition for his innovative and culturally inspired work.
Siam has dedicated his career to redefining Thai design with bold ideas and cultural authenticity, crafting narratives that surprise and engage audiences.
Pink Blue Black & Orange projects, like the 47th National Book Fair campaign, SCB Bank’s Sustainability Campaign, and others showcase an ability to transform creative challenges into opportunities for meaningful engagement. Known for blending bold storytelling with intricate detail, Siam’s designs reflect the spirit of Thai creativity—fearless, playful, and deeply resonant.
In our interview, he discusses a range of topics including how traditional Thai design influences his approach, how collaboration fosters bold ideas, how the industry has evolved from hand-drawn sketches to the dynamic, technology-driven landscape it is today, and more.
Colors are a perfect metaphor for what we do in communication design. Each color has its own unique identity, meaning, and emotional resonance. Colors convey meaning visually, but they also hold deeper significance in verbal communication.
“Pink Blue Black & Orange” was founded by four partners, each embodying a color that reflects their unique personality and working style. Through our combination and collaboration, we have been able to create designs that intrigue, raise questions, and spark a unique emotional connection.
Traditional Thai design is incredibly diverse. Designs for religious or royal contexts are intricate and elegant, while everyday folk art is more straightforward, playful, and resourceful. Both styles share a spirit of openness and a willingness to borrow and blend influences from various cultures, resulting in bold, vibrant, and detailed creations that feel fresh and creative.
“The boldness and fearless blending of colors, styles, humor, and storytelling make Thai design truly distinctive.”
At PBBO, we draw inspiration from the ability to seamlessly blend playfulness with intricate details – by mixing elements to communicate effectively with our target audience. We add intentional details to make the experience engaging and memorable, creating something unique and impactful that stands out from the familiar.
The boldness and fearless blending of colors, styles, humor, and storytelling make Thai design truly distinctive. I often hear international designer friends admire these qualities in Thai design with great appreciation.
For us, solving problems is a fundamental role of every designer. What we do beyond that is trying to craft meaningful experiences, create memorable moments, and foster emotional connections that deliver genuine value. By putting ourselves in the users’ minds, we anticipate and exceed the expectations of not just the audience but also the stakeholders.
“For us, solving problems is a fundamental role of every designer. What we do beyond that is trying to craft meaningful experiences, create memorable moments, and foster emotional connections that deliver genuine value.”
It’s almost like planning a three-act structure. First, we plan the opening setup that sparks curiosity, then a confrontation that leads our audience to the reveal, and finally, ends it with an utter surprise. These emotional journeys set us apart from the crowd. Our clients love working with us because they never know how we’ll surprise them next.
We always offer our perspective that suits their goals and target audience – collaborating to develop the best strategy and design solution for each project.
For us, showcasing an innovative design approach means making a real impact and achieving the results our clients seek. The clients we collaborate with view us not as order-takers but as trusted experts in our field. Our role is to collaborate, bringing our design expertise while drawing on their insights and experience in their business. Together, we build something bold and effective.
We started out in the era before computers became essential design tools. Back then, we worked by hand and presented concepts to clients through sketches. Design companies in Thailand were few, clients didn’t yet see the value of design, competition was tough, and design fees were low. Most clients didn’t fully understand the impact of design on their business.
The digital era arrived with the decline in print work and the rise of user-friendly software. Most designers, including us, began offering a wider range of services – such as digital design, website development, branding, exhibition design, interactive experiences, animation, and motion graphics.
“Our role is to collaborate, bringing our design expertise while drawing on their insights and experience in their business. Together, we build something bold and effective.”
Meanwhile, clients have become more aware of the importance of quality design and began investing in high-quality work across different media, which benefit both the design industry and businesses.
Looking ahead, with further advancements in technology, general design tasks may be handled by clients and in-house teams. However, for critical projects like rebranding or launching new products, clients will still need experienced designers.
Many of our projects follow a similar framework: Why are we doing this for the client? How does it benefit them and their target audience? What has already been done by others?
A clear example that reflects our working style is the Key Visual we created for the 47th National Book Fair in 2019. The client approached us with the idea of creating a single image to promote the most anticipated book event of the year, a gathering eagerly awaited by readers, writers, and publishers.
This event features a wide range of books — old, new, rare, and secondhand — across genres from textbooks and novels to cookbooks, history, philosophy, and fantasy.
“Many of our projects follow a similar framework: Why are we doing this for the client? How does it benefit them and their target audience? What has already been done by others?”
Based on research from previous events, we found that diversity is the key reason people come to this fair, choosing it over bookstores or online platforms. So, we asked the client: can a single key visual really convey the diversity that draws people to the event? We proposed reframing the approach — creating multiple key visuals instead of just one, which would allow broader and more targeted promotion to attract as many attendees as possible.
Research showed that the top-selling books at past events fell into 22 categories. So, we created visuals to represent each category, allowing us to speak directly to various reader groups of different ages and interests.
With 22 unique visuals, instead of the typical single repeated image, the client could target specific groups more effectively. For example, when they posted a visual representing romance novels, it attracted likes, comments, and shares from authors, publishers, and fans within that genre, driving organic engagement many times higher than in previous years.
The client saw a significant increase in engagement without needing to spend as much on boosted posts, making the additional design costs worthwhile.
For us, this approach also allowed us to develop a rich visual library for venue decoration, breaking away from the repetitive use of a single image across all materials. The result offered more value for the client and a visually richer experience for attendees.
Something symbolic of Thai design a visitor to Thailand should see:
Siam: Everyday items on the streets, created by non-designers, truly reflect Thai character — creativity, boldness, humor, and problem-solving skills.
Thai people repurpose and modify limited resources, like scrap materials and found objects, turning them into something functional and new. These items, with their raw and unique forms, resemble collage art and offer a fresh, unfiltered look at Thai creativity.
Thai designer or artist you’d love to collaborate with or have been inspired by:
Saran Yen Panya is a Thai designer known for transforming everyday objects into memorable experiences, often blending humor and cultural commentary.
As the founder of 56th Studio, he challenges mainstream perceptions by playing with both mainstream and subcultural aesthetics, making his work both thought-provoking and uniquely Thai.
Your go-to source for creative inspiration in Bangkok:
I enjoy walking through old community neighborhoods, observing how locals live and witnessing their problem-solving skills which have led to their unique everyday “Thai style” innovations.
