Next, he wanted to create a product to appeal to the younger generation. The Paperpoint lecture pad was born – in this case, it was an amalgamation of “the final point is paper”.
“When the kids carried this to school, they felt proud,” said Mr Lee.
And in 1989, when he finally incorporated his business into a private limited, he similarly had a reason for choosing “A’zone”: “From A to Z, we want to be the top, number one brand.”
Mr Lee’s next creation was the Save the Planet lecture pad, originally made from recycled paper and a response to how “people were concerned with messages” at the time.
“Save the planet, save the earth, save the trees,” he recalled.
Anther popular lecture pad was Scream City. “In the 90s, ‘this was a period when the young were … rebellious; they felt they had to be outspoken,” said Mr Lee, when asked what inspired the design.
“It was a very crazy world … It was a messy world so they ‘screamed’ it out.”
A SUNSET INDUSTRY?
Beyond memorable designs and titles, A’zone’s driving ethos has always been to be “useful to the user”, said Mr Lee.
He recalled how someone once asked him what it was about his products that stood out, given the “thousands” of businesses printing paper products.
“He opened my mind … That is why whatever I do, I focus on consumer, consumer, consumer.”
