New York and Shanghai, September 2026 — The One Club for Creativity’s ONE Asia 2026 closes for entries on September 18. For the first time, ONE Asia judging will take place in Kuala Lumpur, from October 17–19 at The Majestic, with DirectorThinkTank as the exclusive judging sponsor. A student masterclass with Level Up follows on October 20.
Enter ONE Asia 2026: https://oneasiaawards.org/
Final Deadline: September 18, 2026
Creativity is being produced at an unprecedented scale, but more does not mean better. In a world flooded with generated content, taste is what separates the memorable from the forgettable. Built through instinct, experience, and human judgment, it cannot simply be prompted on demand.
That idea sits at the heart of ONE Asia’s “Where Taste Matters” campaign, created by Muma Malaysia. Every piece was handcrafted without AI, preserving the imperfect texture of human making.
In this interview, ONE Asia speaks with Muma Malaysia about how the idea came together, why taste became the central theme, and why the team chose to make the campaign by hand.
ONE Asia: What went on behind the scenes when you first received the brief?
Muma Malaysia:
“When we got the brief, we were super excited (and admittedly a little nervous), but mostly honoured with the immense responsibility to set the theme and voice for ONE Asia 2026 – the very first time in our homeland. What made the brief even juicier was the ask to break away from work that’s safe or templated. To make it feel human and spark conversation.”
ONE Asia: How did you arrive at “Where Taste Matters”?
Muma Malaysia:
“The theme sort of came to us naturally, or rather, was right in front of our eyes. Artificial Intelligence was on every feed, every news platform, and everyone’s mind. In an AI-driven world where creativity is endlessly generated, human taste matters more than ever. ‘Taste’ has become one of the most valuable currencies that AI cannot replicate. As one of the region’s leading creative awards, ONE Asia has always been a platform where creatives come together to debate, recognise, and celebrate great taste. Because craft, instinct, and judgment still matter. This wasn’t a war against AI, but a celebration of human intuition.”
ONE Asia: Why did you feel this idea was particularly relevant to APAC?
Muma Malaysia:
“We felt that this topic would resonate with the creative community across APAC. This is a region where taste runs deep, shaped by different cultures, stories, tension, humour, and flavour.”
ONE Asia: What happened when you first presented the idea to us?
Muma Malaysia:
“When we presented this narrative to the ONE Asia team, all of us felt, almost instinctively, that we were moving in the right direction. Ideas started flowing immediately after. We knew we were onto something. Then the real work began.”
ONE Asia: You made a very deliberate decision not to use AI to create the campaign. Why?
Muma Malaysia:
We made it a point not to use any AI tools to produce the work. Not because we were against AI, but because we wanted to champion the beauty of imperfection in human craft. So, even very little photo retouching was done. This demanded more effort and time from our team, but we believe nothing good ever comes easy.”
ONE Asia: How did that philosophy translate into the visual identity?
Muma Malaysia:
“We wanted to own ‘taste’, so we built a dynamic visual identity where the word itself becomes the hero. Over the course of 2 months, our team experimented with different kinds of handcraft techniques, materials, and organic textures to form TASTE. We bleached cloth, weaved paper strips, and even lit up hundreds of matches (HR didn’t have to know that).”
ONE Asia: Did every experiment make it into the final campaign?
Muma Malaysia:
“Some expressions didn’t make the cut in the end. Ultimately, they all show the raw, human side of creativity – where instinct, craft, and perspective shape what we create.”
ONE Asia: What did you take away from the process?
Muma Malaysia:
“The entire process was meticulous, messy, but a lot of fun. It reminded us that great work doesn’t just come from getting the perfect answer. Sometimes, it comes from experimenting, failing, adjusting, and trusting your gut along the way. And perhaps that’s what ONE Asia is all about: creating a place for the people who still care enough to question, craft, and decide.”
If you have work that deserves to be seen, this is the final opportunity to put it in front of the ONE Asia 2026 jury.
Credits: Muma Malaysia
ECD: Choo Chee Wee
CD: Kong Wei Wen
Art Directors: Liew Su Anne, Angel Lam
Designers: Zoey Hii, Liang Xin Ru, Jeselyn Tan
Copywriter: Kong Wei Wen
Motion Graphic: Jeselyn Tan
The One Club for Creativity – home of The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE) awards, ONE Asia Creative Awards, Type Directors Club TDC competition and scholarships, ADC Young Guns, Young Ones Student Awards, Next Creative Leaders, WAATBP Esseenials career fair, Portfolio Night, Creative Week, and more – is the world’s foremost non-profit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate the success of the global creative community. Revenue generated from entries to its global awards shows goes back into the industry to fund programs that support industry access, creative education, professional development, and enhancement of creative careers around the world.
