Rissaartt: The UI/UX Designer Behind TikTok’s Viral Sardine Claw Clips And Robert The Corporate Frog
Arissa Rashid’s 9-to-5 is spent designing digital products for an international news network. But during her 5-to-9, she works on her side hustle as an illustrator. One could say she’s a 24/7 creative. Here’s how her experience as a UI/UX Designer inspires her whimsical art, and vice versa.
In the digital age, a social media account is a must-have — especially for small businesses. Whether an indie singer-songwriter, or a digital illustrator turning their creative side-hustle into their job, creatives and entrepreneuers alike know just how important the Internet is for getting them noticed.
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For 26-year-old creative, Arissa Rashid, it’s a paradigm she probably knows best. After all, it’s her job. From 9am to 5pm, she works as a digital product designer with an international news network. After 5pm, though, she’s a social media-approved digital illustrator and designer, Rissaartt, known for her colourful illustrations and quirky creations. Like her viral Sardine Claw Clip, and her extremely relatable Robert the Corporate Frog Telegram sticker pack.
Offline, her designs have also been spotted around the island. So far, she’s designed for Samsung X Casetify’s collaboration campaign, and Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) MoveLite campaign. Her latest creation is another adorable yet useful innovation: a digital task tracker featuring Robert the Corporate Frog, Stick It With Robert. Basically: it seems like she’s cracked the code on the balance between creativity, relatability, and practicality.
She tells us about her journey as a creative, how her day job and side hustle as Rissaartt inspires her creative process, and how she juggles the responsibilities of her 9-5 and 5-9.
Rashid tending to her booth at Public Garden last year.
Hey Arissa! First thing’s first, what encouraged you to get a job as a digital product designer?
“I studied computer science at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and genuinely enjoyed the logical and psychological side of UI/UX design. The whole process of conducting user research, building mockups, and iterating based on feedback felt meaningful and fun. It wasn’t just about making things look good, but also understanding why things work the way they do.”
What exactly is a UI/UX designer?
“UI/UX stands for User Interface and User Experience design. Simply put, it’s the practice of designing digital products (like apps or websites), so that they are intuitive and enjoyable to use. UI focuses on how things look (buttons, colours, layouts), while UX focuses more on how thing feel, such as if an experience is smooth and logical. They usually go hand-in-hand to make your digital experiences as frictionless and enjoyable as possible.”
Offline, her works have also been featured in train cabins around Singapore. Here’s a project she did for a Samsung x Casetify collaboration.
Does this inspire your creative process as the artist, Rissaartt, and vice versa?
“This mindset has definitely carried over into my approach towards Rissaartt. I’m always open to feedback from my customers, and I run polls on Instagram so that they can be involved in decisions, such as voting on which version of a design they prefer, or what they would like to see next.
On the flip side, honing my craft as an illustrator has also refined the visual work I produce at my day job. The two disciplines reinforce each other and I feel really fortunate to be able to do both! At work, I create storytelling websites, which are long-form digital articles that weave together storytelling, interaction design, animation and visual design into a single immersive web experience.”
From your viral Sardine Claw Clip to your adorably relatable character, Robert the Corporate Frog, you’ve become pretty well-known for your colourful and whimsical designs and illustrations. Where do you find creative inspiration?
“Honestly, everywhere! I love borrowing design books from the library and reading about different disciplines outside of my own, such as animation, branding, logo design and typography. It’s always nice to see a different perspective and think about how I can apply them to my own processes and designs. I also draw a lot of inspiration from games, interactive experiences, and cool articles online. Most of my creative work is inspired by my real-life experiences. Robert the corporate frog was inspired by my older sister and eventually my own experience when I entered the work force!”
Rashid’s adorably relatable character, Robert the Corporate Frog. He’s also the star of her latest innovation: a digital task tracker, where users track their tasks with ‘sticky notes,’ accompanied by a cathartically exhausted Robert.
Speaking of Robert the Corporate Frog, how did you come up with the adorable digital task tracker, Stick It With Robert?
“It happened quite naturally! Recently, I made a Robert the Corporate Frog sticky note and started using it everyday to plan my tasks. I started accumulating a pile of sticky notes on my table and didn’t know what to do with all of them, which made me think of making it a digital product. I wanted to keep it simple so that users can truly focus on their top priorities for the day, while Robert accompanies you while you work!
I had a lot of fun playing around with the design of the elements, and planning the interaction flows. I also had the luxury to spice it up with fun animations and sound effects, some of which I recorded myself!.”
Most creatives stick to making physical merchandise like art prints and stationery. What inspired you to include digital products, such as your Telegram sticker pack, in your catalogue?
“Exploring different mediums is something that I genuinely enjoy. It’s a great cure for art blocks, and I love the process of learning something new. I think I’m also less intimidated by designing digital products given that I work with them professionally in my everyday job. If anything, building something like this felt like a natural extension of what I already do, just with my characters at the center of it. Most of my original characters started out as Telegram sticker packs. Creating digital products allow for users to form a connection with the characters and to be able to interact with them freely.”
The full suite of Rashid’s latest creations: spot any of your favourite viral hits?
How do you balance your full-time job with running a creative brand? What keeps you going on the days you’re feeling exhausted?
“I took a while to get the hang of it, but I’ve learned to be honest with myself about my own capacity. I only do two to three booths at Public Garden a year, and I work on building new products and collections around those events rather than trying to launch a new product every month. Having those events as anchor points really helps me a lot.
On the days I’m running low on creative steam, I play football (I’m in the Singapore women’s league!) or go for a run. Getting my body on the move genuinely helps me reset! I also try my best to be organised and manage my time properly. I don’t overcommit to things with tight deadlines and try to give myself ample of leeway before a big product launch.”
If you had to pick, what’s your favourite creation from 2025?
“In 2025, I got really into traditional drawings and picked up a set of acrylic markers. I drew quite a lot, but the highlight was combining all those drawings into a frame-by-frame animation. It’s a style I’d always been interested in, but never made the time to properly try it, so finally doing it felt really satisfying!
I also launched my Sardine Claw Clips last year. I had a lot of fun testing out how I wanted to package them and settled with heat shrinking them in a paper tray, similar to how you would find them in the supermarket. I was super fortunate that it was a big hit and I love spotting sardine claw clips around Singapore!”
The TikTok-viral Sardine Claw Clip.
What about from 2026, so far?
“My favourite this year has to be Stick it With Robert. What I love the most is that it lets users fully interact with Robert – he reacts to what you’re doing and is present with you as you clear your tasks. It’s a completely different connection compared to what a physical product offers, and it felt like uncharted territory for me in the best way. I feel like there is still tons of possibilities for me to explore with this product!”
Catch Rashid boothing at Public Garden this year, on April 25 and 26, 2026.
What’s next for you?
“I have a Public Garden booth coming up on April 25 and 26, which I’m really looking forward to as it’s my first booth of the year! I’ll be launching quite a few new products there, including Robert carabiners, a Work in Frogress shirt, and new journalling materials like washi tapes and sticky notes. I also have some collaborations with other local artists in the works that are up and coming too!”