Interview With Pro-Modder, Paul Tan

Paul Tan is recent winner of the Coolermaster Case Mod Competition 2012 and all-round top modder. We fired him a few questions to ask about himself, his projects and his inspirations.

ROG: Who are you and where are you from?

Paul Tan: I’m paultan, a freelance graphic designer and product photographer here in the Philippines. I love desktop PCs. For me, it’s like a car, only in smaller and cooler form, that’s why I love modding them.

paultan's contest winning Titanium

ROG: How many mods have you made now?

Paul Tan: I started by only doing 1 project per year, but then things changed during 2012 and I did three last year. So all in all I have 5 finished major modding projects, and 1 still being polished.

(1)Lian-li V1000 modded into HP Blackbird.

(2)Lamborghini Reventon PC MKII / MDPC 039

(3)Nike Advance PC

(4)Cosmos2 Batman: Dark Knight Rises PC (WIP)

(5)Asus TUF Armorsuit Z77

(6)Titanium PC

ROG: Which is your favorite mod to date?

Paul Tan: No doubt, the Murderbox MKII limited edition. I really feel I couldn’t get it more perfect! 

ROG: Why ‘Titanium’ for your latest mod?

Paul Tan: After I finished my 2nd project the Lamborghini Reventon PC I  received both overwhelmingly positive feedback, but I also I got lots of negative comments and even suffered from death threats from an unknown person.

The case was inspired from the song by David Guetta titled “Titanium”. After brainstorming for a while I was inspired by the lyrics of the song that I decided to make my very first non-theme PC mod to create the message that, no matter how hard haters attempt to put us down, we will stand proud and strong.

Inspired by Lamborghini, Reventon

ROG: What inspired your design on Titanium PC?

Paul Tan: I was recently studying some gorgeous jet planes, concept robots and concept cars. Then I just applied these thoughts, freestyle, in a new modded PC. It’s my first time not to make a plan on what I should do with the design. I just tried something, and if it suited my tastes to achieve the goal of the case, then I went with it, and if it didn’t,  I tried something else. Unplanned is why I call it freestyle modding!

ROG: What feature of it are you most proud of?

Paul Tan: hmmm… I’m particularly proud of the modded motherboard tray. I rotated it 90-degrees similar to my previous Dark Knight Rises PC. And also the no visible wires mod I designed on my Nike Advance PC. I called this the ‘ghost’ cable management. I think both of these features help me set my work among other talented modders. It’s become almost like my signature. 

 Has paultan inspired you to try freestyle modding, or is there something you would have asked? Let us know in the forums.

Thanks to Paul for his time answering our questions. For more information about his projects and mod designs, go to http://www.paultandesigns.com/pc-designs/