Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nini Chen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nini, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally when I was in high school. I had a strong urge to narrate stories of my own, whether it was through composing music, drawing images, or writing stories. Any form of “language” served as a tool for me to narrate. However, it wasn’t until midway through college that I realized out of all the options, the visual path is what I wanted to focus on as my professional pursuit. I still enjoy music and writing, but I found that creating visual images allowed me to convey my ideology better.

Nini, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a concept artist based in Los Angeles. I specialize in creating narrative-driven environments and prop concept designs for games. Before creating all the visuals, I love to dive deep into research and worldbuilding for my stories. My passion lies in creating visually captivating narratives. My work draws inspiration from the motifs of nature and a rich tapestry of diverse cultures, with a particular focus on native folktales and humanities that incorporate elements of horror. When I am designing, I also love to experiment with different visual styles and take that into consideration of how they can apply to the overall logic of world-building. With holistic consideration of world-building, I put much thought into how players and game interaction work when designing each piece.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

In my earlier creative journey, I was bound to things around me and found resources only in languages I knew. I wished I knew more about the information cocoon and looked past what was available on the internet, instead of being passively fed information or diving down deep rabbit holes as big data kept showing things it thought I might be interested in. I believe the best resources one can access are to learn more languages and research the topic one is designing in its native language. Knowing an additional language not only allows you to think in that language’s logic but also allows you to access any information being published in that language. Additionally, reading related books and papers daily helps build a knowledge base that is unique to your perspective. This active way of gaining knowledge is a valuable resource that you can customize as an individual and will significantly help you on your creative path.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As a creative, one of the most rewarding aspects is the opportunity to explore a variety of topics, satisfying my curiosity to learn about almost anything in the world. As a concept designer, there’s the freedom to make or break rules depending on the tone set for the project. For instance, if I’m tasked with designing a truck that can spit fire, I need to understand the mechanics of a truck and how fire can be released, while also having the flexibility to creatively bend the rules, as I’m not designing a real-life driving vehicle. Consequently, much of the learning feeds into my curiosity about the world and contributes to the knowledge base I’ve been building.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ninininini.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nini.nini.ni.nini.ni/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nini-chen-b666ba206/
• Other: https://steamcommunity.com/id/ninichen_/

Image Credits
All images are created by me.