Interview with Jiawei Wu

Jiawei Wu ("JW") interviewed on Sunday, 22 May.

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

JW : Jiawei Wu is an award-winning graphic designer that has shown her work at exhibitions around the world, which has allowed her to establish herself to be among the world’s leading artists. She fuses her Eastern background with the Western lifestyle to create unique designs that speak to and attract people from around the world. Because her audience has been exposed to global experiences and highly talented professionals in the field, they are deeply influenced by and connected to Jiawei’s artistic works and her phenomenal accomplishments as a graphic design artist. Jiawei’s career aroused to a revolutionary level due to her influential voice as a top artist upon the awards and the recognition she has earned from internationally and nationally acclaimed competitions such as GDUSA, NOVUM Design Award, MUSE Creative Award, C2A Creative Communication Award, and International Design Award.

How did you become a designer?

JW : I like to read books that make me study the layout by myself in the beginning. With my graduate school experience in Pratt Institute and exploration, I decided to be a graphic designer. The graduated study broadened my visions that my teachers and classmates were willing to share their thoughts with me honestly. I’ve been doing freelance work to enrich my experience. For me, to be a designer is a wonderful journey where I create an ecosystem to nourish good artwork that meets the audience’s needs.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

JW : Usually, I spend more time discussing core ideas to create a series of sketches or a moodboard to communicate with clients. When I form a general framework, I will design multiple directions to explore widely. Then discuss with the team to find the best suited one, and come up with more details to support the core idea and apply it to wider range communication designs. For me, I care about story-telling and design systems. I tend to consider a unique story behind design works and a balance based on the information I receive. Moreover, the design system is another key point for me to weigh designs. Illustrator, Indesign and Photoshop are the most important tools for me. If there are some new trends or knowledge that could enhance my works, I am always open and willing to learn.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

JW : Excited and nervous. I enjoy the exploring process where I can see unexpected directions which is exciting. But after ensuring the final direction, I wish to execute it perfectly. Sometimes, I do worry whether I mess the projects up.

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

JW : I majored in Digital art about films in my undergraduate school. I enjoy the charm of the storytelling and visual language. When I got interested in graphic design, I started to think of another way to tell a story within a single project. Interdisciplinary experience enriches my way of thinking. At the same time, I am also ensuring that design is the right path for me. Because I like to use systematic structures to solve problems and work that can illustrate my thoughts.

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

JW : I hope I can be an art director in a design studio where I can collaborate with talented designers. For now, I am still enriching my experiences and learning from other art directors. Besides full time jobs, I am open to take freelance work that can train my design skills and critical thinking independently.

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

JW : Learn to manage your own time, and be able to estimate the workload and the time of the next draft. Treat each task as a learning opportunity, and the more you do, the more feedback you get. State your thoughts in detail in every draft. When in doubt, ask them in a timely manner, and you are responsible for the results.

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

JW : Be bold. Be active. The design process is a journey for designers to learn, grow and build their own style. Sometimes it might be boring during the process, but designers will gain critical thinking and professional skills.

What is your day to day look like?

JW : Generally, I have a regular schedule for work days. I like to take shower in the morning to fresh myself and feel more focused when I step into work mode. After work, I like to cook at home and that makes me relaxed. For some boring business days. I will try to adjust my schedule such as arrange work effectively and plan some training for myself so that I will not waste my time.

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

JW : I will learn the latest design trends and merge them into projects based on the client's needs. If the trends do not fit with projects, I will not use them for sure. For every design work, it should have its own style, not just following the trend without context. I hope my design works could convey unique stories with suitable styles that meet needs. So, I will do lots of research before I decide the final direction to find the proper one.

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

JW : For me, I care about story-telling and design systems. I tend to create unique stories behind design works and a balance based on the information I receive. Moreover, the design system is another key point for me to weigh designs. To me, good design and great design both bear a nice look with a particular aesthetic. But great design is distinguished from good design by better problem solving results.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

JW : I will check the connection between storytelling and visual language. Then I will evaluate it to see whether it meets the client’s needs. If the process is smooth, I will share with my client to discuss the plans I prepared. Usually, I will analyze each plan’s advantages and differences which will explain my ideas more comprehensively. After the client’s final decision, I will improve my design to the complete one.

What is your biggest design work?

JW : Avant restaurant is a fine-dining restaurant and has become famous in China. During the whole process, I think I am not only the branding designer to design a modern and elegant branding identity including logo and some applications, but also I created a unique experience to lead customers to feel a journey after they finish the meals. The owners of the avant are young Chinese who studied in different countries. They combine techniques from different regions of the world with local ingredients and traditional Chinese food. Their cuisine is related to city memory. Thus, I designed the menu like a passport. When customers finish one dish, they can get a ticket based on dish content and city memory. After they finish all the dishes, it seems like they enjoyed a global journey. For their social content, I created an online event for customers to vote for which is their favorite city they want to travel to. I designed layout templates，content banners by combining the traveling season and limiting ingredients. I set some topics such as lost in Bangkok for summer limitations. Due to the covid-19, traveling is limited and this idea worked successfully to appeal to customers. My clients were happy to work with me because I made the extra value for them. For myself, this freelance experience brings an amazing experience becauseI firstly lead the design direction by myself. I designed a visual system to tell a story about a journey and travel.

Who is your favourite designer?

JW : Tadanori Yokoo. His graphic design works are full of ukiyo-e collages, interweaving of psychedelic techniques and depictions and indictments of the consumerist society of Japan and the United States at the time. The mashup of visuals and texts makes them seem alive and tastefully grotesque.

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

JW : I grew up in China and live in New York now. Chinese culture, such as Taoism's concept of nothingness, can be seen in my design works. There are also some Chinese calligraphy that have more or less influenced typography. I fuse my Eastern background with the Western lifestyle to create unique designs that speak to and attract people from around the world.

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

JW : For now, I have a full time job in New York and I accept freelance by myself. When I am in the office, co-workers respect each other. We always communicate in our spare time to make the projects better. For me, the most important point in work culture is communication. If a designer has good communication skills, he/she will be a good listener with an empathic soul on the team. The whole team can leverage the same goal and they can co-exist.

What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?

JW : I believe that design is a job with skills and prices. I am not a fan of pro bono projects actually. With formal relationships as a client/designer is an important anchor for me to create design works. I would be more than happy to be a mentor to young designers sharing my experience with them. I am sure that with more and more good designers participating this industry will definitely make our society better and better.

What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?

JW : I really appreciate how A’ Design Award makes this community flourishing way more than before. By participating in this whole process, I have an opportunity to know designers from different corners of the world. Moreover, learning about their advantages and disadvantages to improve my skills and mindset as a designer. This platform brings people together, thanks a lot!

Jiawei Wu Profile