Yanwen Hu

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Yanwen Hu ("YH") for their original perspective and innovative approach to design as well as their creative lifestyle, we are very pleased to share our interview with our distinguished readers.

DL: Could you please tell us a bit about your design background and education?

YH : I studied Visual Communication Design at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Then I got a scholarship to pursue an MFA degree at Pratt Institute in New York, USA.

DL: What motivates you to design in general, why did you become a designer?

YH : I studied painting since I was 6 years old and won several China national painting awards when I was little. From that time, I discovered that art and design are my true passions.

DL: Did you choose to become a designer, or you were forced to become one?

YH : Unlike my parents who both majored in Science and Engineering, I am always interested in visual languages, and eventually, I decided to be a designer.

DL: What do you design, what type of designs do you wish to design more of?

YH : I am interested in User Experience Design, Data Visualization, Infographic, Book Design and Graphic Design.

DL: What should young designers do to become a design legend like you?

YH : Learning from your peers; taking challenges as opportunities; being open-minded.

DL: What distinguishes between a good designer and a great designer?

YH : Whether this designer has a clear long-term career goal and how he/she influences younger designers.

DL: What makes a good design a really good design, how do you evaluate good design?

YH : Good design should receive positive feedbacks from both designers and its audiences.

DL: What is the value of good design? Why should everyone invest in good design?

YH : Design builds the bridges between audiences and brands. Good design can benefit both parties, eventually, affects societies.

DL: What would you design and who would you design for if you had the time?

YH : A series of infographics illustrating the relationship between design, business, and engineering in the technology industry.

DL: What is the dream project you haven’t yet had time to realize?

YH : Research projects focusing on design principles and methodologies.

DL: What is your secret recipe of success in design, what is your secret ingredient?

YH : An organized design process.

DL: Who are some other design masters and legends you get inspired from?

YH : Jingren Lu, Edward Tufte, Donald Norman, John Maeda

DL: What are your favorite designs by other designers, why do you like them?

YH : "We Feel Fine" by Jonathan Harris. His work aims at exploring human emotion from weblogs all over the world. It picks up the emotional words in the phrases “I feel” and “I am feeling,” and expresses them in a visually attractive system.

DL: What is your greatest design, which aspects of that design makes you think it is great?

YH : 5000-Year History of China. It is a big challenge to visualize the huge amount of uncountable historical data.

DL: How could people improve themselves to be better designers, what did you do?

YH : Talking to peers and asking their objective opinions on you.

DL: If you hadn’t become a designer, what would you have done?

YH : Data Scientist or Architect.

DL: How do you define design, what is design for you?

YH : Design is to build the bridges between two separated things.

DL: Who helped you to reach these heights, who was your biggest supporter?

YH : Professor Jingren Lu. He was my college thesis advisor, who encouraged me to study design in the United States.

DL: What helped you to become a great designer?

YH : Always asking myself who I want to be as a designer.

DL: What were the obstacles you faced before becoming a design master?

YH : Trying to find my career path as a designer.

DL: How do you think designers should present their work?

YH : Maintaining the voice of design but speaking from your audiences' perspectives.

DL: What’s your next design project, what should we expect from you in future?

YH : A series of infographics illustrating the relationship between design, business, and engineering in the technology industry.

DL: What’s your ultimate goal as a designer?

YH : A designer who can present the design's value in the technology field.

DL: What people expect from an esteemed designer such as yourself?

YH : Opinions from cross-culture perspectives.

DL: What are you currently working on that you are especially excited about?

YH : I am currently working for Moda Operandi leading the design of their internal systems. It is exciting to see how technology and design are changing the fashion and luxury industry.

DL: What would you like to see changed in design industry in the coming years?

YH : More collaborations and sharings across different countries and cultures.

DL: Where do you think the design field is headed next?

YH : The leadership in technology innovation.

DL: When you have a new design project, where do you start?

YH : Research.

DL: What is your life motto as a designer?

YH : Knowing where you want to go, then you can find how to get there.

DL: What is the role of technology when you design?

YH : Technology makes design come true.

DL: What kind of design software and equipment do you use in your work?

YH : Adobe Creative Cloud, Sketch, and other prototyping tools.

DL: Who is your ideal design partner? Do you believe in co-design?

YH : Respectful.

DL: Which people you interacted had the most influence on your design?

YH : My supervisors. They taught me how to launch a design in the reality.

DL: Which books you read had the most effect on your design?

YH : Donald Norman's Emotional Design.

DL: How did you develop your skills as a master designer?

YH : Doing some side projects to extend my skills.

DL: Irrelative of time and space, who you would want to meet, talk and discuss with?

YH : Design leaders working in different industries. I want to know how they set the position of design in their areas.

DL: What is your favorite color, place, food, season, thing and brand?

YH : Blue and orange, historical towns, hot pot, autumn, reading and collecting books.

DL: Please tell us a little memoir, a funny thing you had experienced as a designer?

YH : My dad, who studied Physics before, still does not understand what my job is.

DL: What makes your day great as a designer, how do you motivate yourself?

YH : When my developers told me that they are so proud of building my design, I felt really honored and motivated.

DL: When you were a little child, was it obvious that you would become a great designer?

YH : I knew I love colors and painting, but I did not the difference between being an artist and a designer.