Let’s talk CSR.

Just in case, you are not familiar with the term, it means Corporate Social Responsibility. Such as when companies donate to worthy causes or participate in charity events.

Ever since the inception of CDS, even before we professionalized, a form of CSR has been baked into the DNA of the studio. The studio, for all its focus on having fun drawing anime, is also meant to be a vehicle for the promotion of local Singapore art talents.

In our early days, our main CSR has been to work with other organizations to create opportunities for young, aspiring artists. That includes participating in organizing Extravaganza with NUS CAS and NTU VAS. Working closely with the student groups, CDS provides consultation to the student groups organizing the art competition and exhibition. Our artists are regular judges for the art competition. We even provided some funds to purchase the original physical exhibition panels.

Other than just working with student groups to create opportunities for young artists, we were part of the original Doujima committee.

Haru was the original mascot for that convention back in 2014. Designed by Geisterstudden, she will go on to grace the next few editions of the convention before coming back home to CDS as our informal not-mascot.

Along the way, CDS has never shy-ed away from offering our service to worthy causes on a non-profit basis. For example, Anime Expo has asked if we would be willing to offer portfolio reviews to young, aspiring illustrators. And so we did for a couple of hours a day during Anime Expo 2018.

When Anime Expo asked if we would like to contribute an artwork for the #Hateisavirus movement, we did not hesitate to provide an artwork too. Illustrated by Desti, it’s the banner art for this article! You can also view the full artwork below.

The artwork was used for Anime Expo lite 2021 for a giveaway, to drive up support for SPJA’s charity initiative. All proceeds were donated to the #Hateisavirus commUNITY action funds.

As a whole, CDS is open to working with organizations or student bodies for initiatives that supports a worthy cause or offers opportunities to young Singaporean artists to showcase their works. We can either turn up in person or offer our services at a no-profit cost, depending on the requirements.

In fact, we took part in a Make-a-wish Singapore’s initiative to grant a child’s wish recently! It was our first time joining a Make-a-wish initiative and it was quite an experience!

So if you want something interesting in mind and could use our expertise as anime/manga illustrators, feel free to get in touch with us. While we cannot guarantee our commitment to your project, it doesn’t cost you a thing to email us and have a chat. Let’s work together to make the world a better place!