We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dingding Hu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dingding, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job
Before I became a full time creative entrepreneur, I once worked as an assistant in a home textile show room. My day to day was mostly revolving around handling emails between the company and its vendors, as well as organizing inventory in a large quantity. That job has taught me so much about how to communicate with people via email like a pro, how to organize large amount of products / artwork, and overall how to manage a space that include both design space and product storage. It was not obvious at all back then but this job actually helped me set the foundation of how I manage my home studio on a daily basis right now! I have learned so much about structure and discipline from the experience, and I will be always grateful for that.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I moved to New York after attending graduate school, and I got my first freelance illustration assignment through 100 postcard promotions that I sent out. Starting from there I was able to get more commissions from various clients by emailing them my portfolios and share my work on social media. Over a decade, I have collaborated on projects for clients such as Google, Sephora, MIT Media Lab, Instagram Bloomberg LP, Museum of Chinese in America and many more.
In between illustration commissions, I have worked in home textile studio, motion graphic studio, as well as commerce company. I also spent my spare time besides my day job and client work to develop a world of illustration that is dedicated to the joy of food and love. This collection of work started out as a stationery brand called “Hu is Hungry”, and has evolved into “a seek and find book for foodies” called “Delicious Daydreams”, which will be published by Chronicle Books on March 21st, 2023.
I think what I’m most proud of so far is that I sticked with my vision, despite it didn’t pay off at the get go, and over an extend period of time, I was able to put some of best work out there as myself. I would recommend people who has a passion for art to always find time to create personal work, and never lost yourself in the hustling for other people’s vision.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I think most people tend to chase after everyone and reach out to a long list of potential clients. For me I did that as well in the beginning but soon enough I realized it was not at all an effective strategy. Instead I did a lot of research of the market and observed what kind of work people was looking for, at the same time I also dived deep into myself and understand what kind of work I want to bring to the world, in the end I was able to find the sweet spot of my perfect fit clients as well as align it with the kind of work I enjoy doing. With the understanding of who I am, and who is looking for my kind of work, I was able to really narrow down the pitch process and gained a lot of clients organically without even reaching out.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I grew up in mainland China, and at the beginning all I wanted was a green card and stability in the United States as that is what my parents have told me too. Over the years I learned that this mindset truly limits myself and I struggled to get outside of the box of stereotypes. Despite the fact that my work is universal, I would mostly get hired to do something related to my heritage and skin color. It is a long process to recognize how we limit our own potential because we were brainwashed at the get go, and I’m still in the process of redefining myself as an artist who is not recognized only for her heritage or skin color, and whose artwork has a true impact on other people. It is a work in progress but I know it will all be worth it in the end.
Contact Info:
- Website: huishungry.com
- Instagram: @huishungry
- Order her new book: https://huishungry.com/
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