Min Huei Lu

LEGENDARY INTERVIEW

Design Legends ("DL") had the distinct honour to interview legendary designer Min Huei Lu ("MHL") 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?

MHL : I have more than 5 years of design experience in the industry. I have experience working as a design freelancer, design studio designer, design agency designer, and in-house designer. I participated in some exciting design projects for clients like CVS, Xfinity, Comcast, Aetna, Hippo Insurance, Braid (fintech), Muinin (Tech), Prosim (A.I.), and Gong cha Franchise. In 2019, I received my master of fine arts degree in graphic design from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

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

MHL : I believe that working as a designer is a privilege. As an artist and designer, I am able to offer my unique perspective and creative solutions to make the world a better place and help drive businesses to give my life more meaning and purpose.

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

MHL : One of the reasons why I chose to become a designer was because I had the opportunity to design branding for a local ice cream shop in Taiwan. That was when I learned the value of branding and marketing. I have always wanted to be a designer since I was 12. When I started designing at the age of 18, I loved it ever since.

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

MHL : I have a huge interest in prototyping and interaction design. Seeing people connecting with my designs have always brought me joy. Nowadays, information has become so much easier to access because of ever-advancing technology. Almost every company is using websites, applications, and social media to connect with their audiences and provide their services. Today, more and more consumers prefer to buy online rather than from brick-and-mortar stores. A well-designed digital product offers a great online experience.

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

MHL : It doesn’t matter if you are a new graduate design student or an experienced designer, you should always take control of your career when seeking the next design opportunity. Take the time to get your hands dirty by producing thousands of sketches, building prototypes, and conducting user testing. I received the best advice from my art director when he said: “Don’t be afraid of failure. Learn to be in an uncomfortable situation and lean into it – you’ll never know how good you can be unless you try.” I would like to advise young designers that one of the best ways to gain knowledge and improve their skills is to get a lot of experience doing projects!

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

MHL : Good design is making something intelligible and memorable. Great design is making something memorable and meaningful. Great designers believe in the quality of the product, the quality of the brand, the quality of the experience and never let those standards slip.

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

MHL : I use two design concepts to evaluate a good design: user-centric design and emotional design. I believe a good design should be functional, intuitive, and evoke human emotion.

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

MHL : Good design is not just about the aesthetic improvement of our environment – it is as much about improved quality of life, equality of opportunity, and economic growth.

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

MHL : I want to focus more on emotional design in the future. Design based on emotions can affect the overall user experience deeply, since emotions influence decision making, affect attention, memory, and generate meaning.

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

MHL : My very first freelance design job was designing the user interface for an automatic parking payment kiosk. I had so much fun working on this project, understanding the user pain points by conducting user research such as observation, user interviews, and competitor research. I paid particular attention to detail such as the size and location of the dispenser concerning the users’ perspective and streamlining the step-by-step instructions. The automatic parking payment kiosk was successfully launched in Taiwan in 2016. Nowadays, information has become so much easier to access because of ever-advancing technology. Almost every company uses websites, applications, and social media to connect with their audiences and provide their services. Today, more and more consumers prefer to buy online rather than from brick-and-mortar stores. A well-designed digital product offers a great online experience. I have a considerable interest in prototyping and interaction design. My favorite platform is the application that involves human-computer interaction, psychology, marketing, information architecture, and user experience. The user-centered app design needs to be aligned with the brand’s aesthetics, functionality, intuition, ease of use, and have great features. Seeing people connecting with my designs have always brought me joy. I want to learn more about human-machine interaction and design more digital products such as the web or app.

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

MHL : Empathy is the secret recipe for a successful design project. I see design as a way to communicate with the audience when it comes to communication. First of all, you should know your audience, and know your audiences’ pain points. I then deliver a solution by addressing the users' concerns. For example, whenever I show marketing campaign strategy presentation slides during a presentation, I follow the following structure: what the problem is, what the solution is, and what the impact is. I always make sure the design addresses the users’ needs. I also make sure it provides a unique perspective or solution. Lastly, I make sure the design will always evoke a certain emotional response.

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

MHL : The designer I find cool as an individual is Oliviero Toscani, an Italian photographer, best-known worldwide for designing controversial advertising campaigns for Italian brand Benetton, from 1982 to 2000. I think designer Lindon Leader is super cool because he designed the most recognizable logo in the world – the FedEx logo. Lindon Leader wanted the logo to do more than just say a name. He wanted to give more information about what the company did. This is how he came up with the idea to put an arrow between the E and the X. I think Paul Rand was an American iconic graphic designer of all times, best known for his corporate logo designs, including the logos for IBM, UPS, Enron, Morningstar, Inc., Westinghouse, ABC, and NeXT. He was one of the first American commercial artists to embrace and practice the Swiss Style of graphic design. I always feel inspired by some of my favorite role models in design like Donald Norman. Donald Norman proposes a concept of emotional design which evokes emotion to encourage users to use it and elicit a positive emotional response. The architect I admire the most is Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a German-born American architect whose rectilinear forms, crafted in elegant simplicity, epitomized the International Style and exemplified his famous principle that “less is more.”

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

MHL : My most favorite design is the Juicy Salif Juicer which was designed by Donald Norman. It represents a concept of emotional design which evokes emotion to encourage users to use it and elicit a positive emotional response.

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

MHL : The Artificial Intelligent in Graphic design project is the Academy of Art University of Graphic Design's Master of Fine Art thesis project, which took two years to develop. The thesis project emphasizes the advanced study of the field by conducting quantitative and qualitative research, focus group, inspiration, ideation, prototyping, and user-testing. According to NPR's: Will a machine do your job? According to the report, there's an 8 percent chance that graphic design jobs will become automated within 20 years. So how can we convince current designers that Artificial Intelligence is not a threat and should be embraced to help them solve problems by doing highly repetitive jobs? The MFA thesis, Minarva, is a campaign that aims to create a meaningful human-machine relationship. Instead of eliminating the designer's occupation, Artificial Intelligence will become a design partner and tool that designers can utilize to meet ever-evolving workplace demands. Minarva can help designers understand Artificial Intelligence and the impact it brings to the design field. Minarva campaign aims to encourage designers to take advantage of this technology. With the help of A.I. and technology, I created multiple designs for this project at much faster rates and reduced costs. There are many surprising ways that A.I. can be used in graphic design, such as speedy design prototyping, A/B testing, analyzing vast amounts of data, suggesting design adjustments, resizing, product localization, creating variations, and creating the same graphics in multiple languages. AI/ML transcription dutifully translates a sketch to comp and into markup. Transferring drawings into a working prototype is part of the designer's job, but that is not the actual thinking. Designers have already solved the conceptual part of the problem, and we share these solved problems with machines so we can solve new ones. The clerical aspects of our work perhaps we find painful, the tedious job is the time-consuming, repetitive, detail-oriented, error-prone, joyless job. However, machines are great at those jobs. Human designers and robots should be able to work together side by side and do wonders. The challenge of this project is to understand a complicated subject matter and develop an easy-to-understand infographic with unique visual language. I always try to avoid using robots to represent the images I generate because they are so cliche. I have been exploring many A.I. image generator applications that have already been published online. I tried to understand the level of quality that an A.I. image generator could deliver. I have been testing two different websites. The A.I. Image generators will allow anyone to become digitally creative and get the most out of their images. I was genuinely impressed by these experimental design methods because A.I. generated a new image effectively. It took less than an hour to process a picture, and it allowed me to process an unlimited number of photos, and it was free. I used the images that A.I. has been generated to design posters. I took some photos that have been generated by A.I. and used Adobe Photoshop to split the RGB colors and added some image noise and glitch effects to convey the ideas of creativity and technology. As a result, I created a unique visual language by using the collage technique. It is a great satisfaction that Artificial Intelligence In Design Event Marketing Material has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration, and Visual Communication Design Category by the International Design Academy.

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

MHL : Being a designer means that I have to increase my skill level with design tools, sharpen my domain knowledge by conducting and synthesizing research, and contribute to product and design strategies in everyday life. During my free time, I like watching YouTube videos about design, reading design blogs, browsing design portfolios, and finding inspiration.

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

MHL : Psychologist. Some of the best designers are ones who can identify with their users, customers, and clients and be sensitive to their needs. Too often, designers can get caught up in their own bias or their own desire for what a product should be, and they completely ignore who they are actually designed for. Empathizing with the users and clients ensures I'm creating designs with purpose and with the right intent. My interest in psychology, which has built up since I was a teenager, helped me strongly in developing the aforementioned skills.

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

MHL : Designing allows me to play, create, fashion, execute, or construct according to a plan. Designing is a process of identifying a problem as well as understanding the user's needs, motivation, and requirements. Designers offer well-executed solutions that include functionality and aesthetics that will lead to certain results or provoke certain human emotions. Designing also provides a way to communicate by opening a dialogue between the designer and the user.

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

MHL : I'm grateful to my family, friends, partners, and professor.

DL: What helped you to become a great designer?

MHL : Great designers have an understanding of the world around us. They seek out solutions to real problems and have a desire to make the world a better place. Great designers focus on how and why something might work, not why it won't work. Great designers are opportunists, catalysts of change, and creators of experiences.

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

MHL : I overcame a lot of obstacles when I graduated from design school. By the time I graduated, I did not fully understand the design industry landscape. I wasn't sure what kind of designer I wanted to be. I was also not sure what kind of work environment that I would thrive in so I can grow and be able to contribute my creative talent. I accepted every opportunity that was given to me. There were times I spent too much time on doing unimportant tasks, and there was also a period of time when I got burned out because I did too much work. It was a valuable experience for me to learn how to manage my time productively and meet my client’s expectations to the best of my ability. I’m now better at prioritizing my tasks, as well as understanding my client's business goals so I can be able to present the artwork in a way that will encourage my clients to move the project forward.

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

MHL : When designers are presenting, tell the story about how their design came to be. Walkthrough each section of the design and explain the rationale. Talk about the design, its benefits, and how it solves the project goals.

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

MHL : I'm currently designing a dating app. To design a dating app that will win a broad audience, I should think like an end-user. A well-thought app logic and robust set of features are useless if its interface is cluttered or hard-to-use.

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

MHL : My ultimate goal is to create User-centered design products. User-centered design (UCD) is an iterative design process in which designers focus on the users and their needs in each phase of the design process.

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

MHL : Becoming a great designer is a constant process of self-improvement and education. On top of continuing to master essential design skills, there are lots of other non-design things that designers can learn and improve upon to make me even better at what I do. The skills such as Empathy, Critical thinking, Communication, Coding, Analytics, Business, Finance, Research, Psychology, Marketing, and Networking.

DL: How does design help create a better society?

MHL : As an artist and designer, I see myself as a visual communicator and humanist. Therefore, the designer must have a deep understanding of society's psychological and social impact, such as social justice, EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion), and sustainability.

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

MHL : The project I'm currently working on is to deliver a fully functional user-centric brand website within 12 weeks. The design team decided to rebrand the website for potential franchisees who are interested in owning a franchise in the USA. During the design process, I found it was extremely interesting to talk with potential users about our ideas and to learn about their stories. Team coordination is key. Therefore, I always make sure that I check with my group members to make sure everything goes smoothly.

DL: Which design projects gave you the most satisfaction, why?

MHL : The project, artificial intelligence used in graphic design, is my graphic design's master of fine art (MFA) thesis project that I did while I was studying at the Academy of Art University. The project took two years to develop. The thesis project emphasized the advanced study of the field by conducting quantitative and qualitative research, hosting focus groups, creating inspiration, coming up with ideas, prototyping, and user-testing. The MFA thesis, Minarva, is a campaign that aims to create a meaningful human-machine relationship. Instead of eliminating the designer's occupation, AI can become a design partner and tool that designers can utilize to meet ever-evolving workplace demands. Minarva can help designers understand AI and the impact it brings to the design field. The Minarva campaign aims to encourage designers to take advantage of this technology. The challenge of this project is to understand a complicated subject matter and develop an easy-to-understand infographic with a unique visual language. I always try to avoid using robots to represent the images I generate because they are so cliche. I have been exploring many AI image generator applications that have already been published online. I tried to understand the level of quality that an AI image generator could deliver. I have been testing two different websites. The AI image generators will allow anyone to become digitally creative and get the most out of their images. I was genuinely impressed by these experimental design methods because AI generated a new image effectively. It took less than an hour to process an image, and it allowed me to process an unlimited number of photos, and the best thing about it is that it was free. I used the images that AI has generated to design posters. I took some photos that have been generated by AI and used Adobe Photoshop to split the RGB colors and added some image noise and glitch effects to convey the ideas of creativity and technology. As a result, I created a unique visual language by using the collage technique. It is a great satisfaction that “Artificial intelligence in design event marketing material” has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in graphics, illustration, and visual communication design category by the international design academy.

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

MHL : Design work will keep evolving in several aspects ranging from tangible to digital. In the past, designers made tangible assets by hand. Over time, creating a product and a design has been changing from physical to digital. With today’s tools and platforms, designers can create many visual assets that can only be seen as a creative speed and quantity never seen before. Designers are also becoming more and more specialized in different areas. Thanks to technology, any customization can be achieved, so a designer's role has been changing into someone who can be called in at any time to solve problems in any area.

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

MHL : The design field has entered a new era due to ever-advancing technology. More advanced design tools, platforms and products, and designers’ roles have been constantly changing. Because of the internet, design assets have been getting a lot more views and attracting more audiences worldwide. Design work will keep evolving in several aspects ranging from tangible assets to digital assets. It is an exciting era for designers.

DL: How long does it take you to finalize a design project?

MHL : Normally, designing a poster could have a deadline as short as 3 days. On the other hand, designing a website could have a deadline as long as 8-12 weeks. The most significant advantage of being a designer is that you have the liberty to express your imagination and creativity to the fullest. Many designers can happily say that they love doing their job every single day. The most significant disadvantage of being a designer is that designing can be a very time-consuming process, especially when you try to make things better than they already are. There is no right or wrong answer because designing is a subjective process which means the design can only get better. There is no such thing as a perfect design. A piece of artwork can always be improved. Designers can frequently find themselves in endless meetings discussing revisions and iterations. Managing time and meeting clients' expectations are essential skills needed so designers can do their job well. Managing the project is crucial because the designer and stakeholders define the objectives, scope, budget, deliverables, goals, audience, and timeline, which they have discussed at the beginning of the project. I manage the project's timeline by listing down how many tasks are needed to be done, estimating the timeframe by doing some research, getting some inspiration and ideas, and producing possible prototypes. I also evaluate the meeting time with clients and stakeholders. There are times that I often have to do multiple iterations. When designing a timeline for a project, I intentionally leave some extra time for iterations. At the beginning of each kick-off meeting, I would also clearly communicate with clients about agreeing on a definite timeline and limiting the number of iterations that a project can have. When do I decide my design is ready? In my early career, I frequently spent too much time polishing one particular project. Constantly checking with the project manager or clients helps me prioritize tasks better and decide to move on. I believe that the "golden rule" is understanding how the design fits into the company's overall goal to help make crucial design decisions.

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

MHL : The top three aspects of the design process that are important for me are Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation. Inspiration includes research and understanding of the user and the problem. Ideation involves coming up with ideas and solutions that I came up with when I was inspired. Finally, implementation includes user testing, A/B testing, and design iteration based on the user’s feedback.

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

MHL : Technology that allows a greater depth to design, allowing users to better immerse themselves and visualize concepts and design better. It also allows clients and designers to pinpoint exactly where and what they changed in the design.

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

MHL : I use sketchbooks, pens, pencils, stickers, notes, mood boards, inspiration boards, color palettes, user journey maps, user archetypes, brand guidelines, and mind-mapping and brainstorming maps. For design software, I use Adobe Suite every day. My favorite design tool is Figma for collaboration.

DL: When you see a new great design or product what comes into your mind?

MHL : Good design is not just what looks good. It also needs to perform, convert, astonish, and fulfill its purpose. A good design should not be measured finitely – multiple perspectives should also be considered. These aspects define a good design: Functionality, repairability, reliability, aesthetics, durability, producibility, simplicity, compact, intuitive, user-centered, and a good business.

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

MHL : Designers often work in a highly collaborative manner. The primary focus of the design team is to define the look and feel of the brand product image through experimentation, critical thinking, and extraordinary attention to detail. Designers should articulate ideas clearly, engage in a constructive debate, and accept feedback that will lead in the right direction. Within a design team, each individual has their strengths and specializes in areas where they can grow. I want to work with people who can maximize the contribution of every individual by cultivating a culture of cooperation rather than competition, where designers feel comfortable sharing their knowledge. Design teams are most productive when they know that the work is meaningful and adds value to the company's long-term goals.

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

MHL : Emotional Design is both the title of a book by Donald Norman and of the concept it represents. Design based on emotions can affect the overall user experience deeply, since emotions influence decision making, affect attention, memory, and generate meaning.

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

MHL : I like to play with typography, grid systems, and white spaces and experiment with different types of grid systems. Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test are the main tasks of my design process. First, I empathize with the users’ needs and pain points by conducting research and interviews and organizing focus groups. I then define the design problem. Then I ideate the design solution and deliverable. Then I prototype a design and test it using user testing methods before doing the final iteration and launching the final product.

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

MHL : Donald Norman. Emotional Design is both the title of a book by Donald Norman and of the concept it represents. Design based on emotions can profoundly affect the overall user experience since emotions influence decision-making, affect memory, and generate meaning.

DL: How do you feel about all the awards and recognition you had, is it hard to be famous?

MHL : In the application phase, I noticed what a positive image and international appeal the A' Design Award has! Everyone I told about my application was enthusiastic about my participation, and many followed my work even more attentively than before. The demands on the competition entries and the information to be provided are very high but justified. This design award requires the applicants to make a sincere effort and intensively deal with the submitted work (and their personal development). The knowledge gained is an excellent opportunity for self-reflection and further development. After announcing the results, I received excellent international feedback. Especially my existing customers and long-time companions felt that the award confirmed that they had rightly given me their attention. I also had the impression that this also led them to reflect on themselves and the object as well as on questions of design. I am very proud to have received the A' Design Award and am overwhelmed by the positive effects I have already experienced.

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

MHL : I feel very inspired and become more eager about my work. Designers must be curious enough to understand the users and their problems. Therefore, whenever I design a solution, I usually research a user's pain point and how other people address this problem. After gathering all the knowledge, I developed a solution, which will always be a continuous learning process. The journey of discovering new things is my biggest motivation, and it brings me a lot of joy and feels meaningful in everyday life.

DL: What do you think about future; what do you see will happen in thousand years from now?

MHL : Product design has changed the world. The internet has opened the door to the world of virtual design experience, while 3D printing is poised to become a game-changer. As a designer myself, I have an optimistic view of the future of design. This is an era where designers can leverage their unique edge in creativity to inspire people through personal expression and self-fulfillment. It is also an era where designers can promote their products and services through the effective use of technology, breaking the boundaries between physical assets, digital assets, and intangible assets.