Interview with Christia Cheuk-Ying Fung

Christia Cheuk-Ying Fung ("CCF") interviewed on Wednesday, 15 May.

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?

CCF : I've been working mainly in advertising agencies for the past few year, and recently gone solo as a freelancer. During the advertising years, I was lucky to work with clients like Red Bull, Smirnoff, Nike, Nestle Canada, etc. Nowadays, I'm working with mostly start ups with interesting ideas.

How did you become a designer?

CCF : I became a designer because I lost interest in engineering. I liked the idea of creating something different on a daily basis and wanted to try it out. I saw some funny ads, and thought that it would be fun to make those someday.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

CCF : The concept is the most important, if the concept is weak, the design will be weak as well. Next I would say mockups/sketches are very important, since sketching allows you to make many ideas in a short period of time for you to test the layout/concept. Without mockups, you'll spend many hours trying to refine things on computer when it doesn't even work. I usually go to the computer last for refining and finalizing.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

CCF : The initial idea is usually the most exciting and stressful at first, once you have that down, the finished project becomes the most exciting for me.

What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?

CCF : Before I studied engineering, and that allowed me to learn coding easier for web design. I guess all those numbers and math stuff helped in the long run. As for actually designing something, doodling helps me design since you're mindlessly sketching, and sometimes those random sketches become an inspiration for a project.

What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?

CCF : I would like to try a whole bunch of things, like furniture design, a illustration series, prop making for movies. I just like to take on new challenges and see if I can handle it. My dream design project would be making movie props, since it involves building things and design, and the fact that I love movies.

What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?

CCF : Always go in with confidence. I remember during my interview for an intern position, the design director at the time told me to "own your shit", and present with confidence. Don't worry about what people may think of the design, just go in there and tell them why you made those decisions and why it works. That has always stuck with me, and I thank her for saying that.

You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?

CCF : Just do you. Don't worry about what other people are doing, do what feels right to you. You'll like that project more.

What is your day to day look like?

CCF : Stumble out of bed and rush to work is pretty much my daily get go. I'm not a morning person, so I suck at waking up. I usually start off by browsing some design blogs to see what's happening and then I'll start working. If there's a fun project, that keeps me excited throughout the work day, sometimes just knowing I have lunch is pretty exciting.

How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?

CCF : I usually look at what the latest trends are to see what people are doing and to keep myself up to date. If it involves using new tech, I usually do a deeper dive to see what I can learn and how I can apply that tech.

How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?

CCF : If the design functions without compromising anything, then it's a good design.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

CCF : I don't think a design can be complete, there's always room to make it better. I stop when I can't remove anything else from it while still maintaining it's main function. In the future when I look back on projects, I always say that I could've done this or that to improve it.

What is your biggest design work?

CCF : The work done for The Wood Workshop would be the biggest one, since it involved naming the brand, creating an identity, creating storefront signage and website. It was challenging because it had to be bilingual and initially, I wanted to make it look modern and sleek. In the end, it became something that is completely different from what I initially thought I would take that brand. It more homey and rustic looking because of the roots of that company.

Who is your favourite designer?

CCF : Pum Lefebure is currently my favourite designer. She has a great eye for typography and layout and the designs that come out of her company are visually stunning.

Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?

CCF : I believe culture definitely plays a big role in design, since culture is part of your background. Also, your lifestyle shapes the way you approach things and how your design turns out to be. I'm blessed to be working in Toronto to be surrounded by all these different cultures that you can learn from.

Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?

CCF : I'm pretty laid back and would think I'm pretty easy to work with. When selecting business partners, I always look for people that are better than me, so I can learn from them. That way you can push each other to do better.

Christia Cheuk-Ying Fung Profile