WEDA 2023: Crystle Lye’s trailblazing confidence through the design world

by Aisha Capulong

The party kicks off when Crystle Lye of Paperworks Studio enters the room. Join us as we celebrate her incredible WEDA achievement and hear her speak on her inspiring growth as a designer

Crystle brings with her a bright and bubbly demeanour everywhere she goes, and it is incredibly easy to appreciate her for all that she is: a success story for young designers everywhere. Back in the day, Crystle bashfully admits she used to be someone who was unmovable and slightly stubborn. She was the type to take mistakes at work as something personal, but over time, she learnt that approaching things calmly always worked in her favour and helped her solve problems better. Crystle’s grown a long way from her early days as a designer and she looks back on those days fondly, proud of her progress.

Her years in the industry has also exposed her to a fallacy people may have around female designers: that they lack technical knowledge. “[Site work]’s nothing to do about gender! It’s all about personality and how you handle your work. I think that’s the biggest misconception.” Crystle’s advice for other women in the industry is to be confident in their approach. She finds that confidence has pushed her to her limits in the best ways possible and has been an important factor in getting her where she is today.

When asked who her source of inspiration is, Crystle admiringly answers with her mentor from a previous role. She speaks praise of the fact that her mentor figure continuously inspires her to not only excel professionally but also first and foremost, as a person, a human. Crystle mentions how thankful she is that he taught her to look at things through multiple perspectives, because it might just be where the answer lies.