We were lucky to catch up with Ian Chen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

I took a class during my school year and the professor asked students to design the publication for the department and would only select one at the end. My proposal and design were not selected and I was kind of depressed. However, when I looked back, it was a failure but not because of my design ability. I did not have to be sad as long as I did my best and shared my ideas because everyone’s perspective is different. The decision was only made by a few people which means their design tastes or perspectives can be different from mine or other people’s. What I can do for the next time is do my best, see more great designs, and collect them in my mind.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up in a small county in Fujian, China and moved to Xiamen when I was five years old. I was interested in collecting some movie posters since I was a kid. Then I came to Maine for the high school. I met some good art teachers there and had some fine art classes, like painting and metal designs, which made me have more interest in art and design. I used to want to choose architecture as my major in college but after some research, I found graphic design is a good combination of making creative works and finding a job earlier in the future, that was how I ended up choosing graphic design as a major and decided to apply art colleges instead of universities, but I still very jealous about university life.

About the college, School of Visual Art used to be my dream school. but I went to School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) because they provided me scholarship and I wanted to experience somewhere outside of east coast. I started to learn graphic design at SAIC. In the summer after my freshman year, I was searching some good portfolios online and some graduate work from the Art Center and School of Visual Art appeared. Those design works surprised me a lot and kind of gave me a new world about graphic design. During the covid, I got more time on searching different design firms and studios online, which also led me to have more creative minds on design. Before the end of my college, I felt New York still is so attractive to me in terms of life vibe and job opportunities, so I decided to come to New York right after my graduation, which is where I am now.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think I still need to learn how to network with people outside and how to step out of my comfort zone. People usually say you can get the job opportunity by networking with other people, but you need to build the connection first whenever you reach out to the people you would like to chat with. It usually takes time to let other people know more about your ability and what are your limitations. The most difficult thing about it for me is I cannot find a good way to talk with new people I meet. My mentor taught me different ways of building more closer connections with new people, so I am still in the learning process.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think being creative or having creative ideas is the core of an artist or designer. Nowadays, more and more people know how many skills and have the ability to do cool design visually. The most difficult thing is to have creative ideas that can really catch people’s attention and impress them so that your design can be remembered.

Contact Info:

• Website: ianchen.info
• Instagram: ianchen.8
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ian-chen-746674215

Image Credits
Design: Ian Chen