We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tiffany Chan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tiffany below.

Tiffany, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

My childhood love of anime and video games definitely kickstarted my interest in illustration when I was younger, so that really drove me creatively in the beginning (and still does). I also had a really great art teacher that encouraged me to draw what I enjoyed, and who taught me a lot of fundamentals to help support those interests. So I’d say finding something you really, really love or are curious about is the best way to get started when learning to draw.

However, it can be a double-edged sword sometimes, as I can find it hard to stay engaged if I have little interest in a subject, so I tend to stick to drawing things that I’m comfortable with. Reflecting on that, that has definitely gotten in the way of me improving certain skills earlier.

It was also really hard for me to do any art when I was attending university because I was pretty burnt out mentally and creatively with [the design program I was in], so it can feel like I’m trying to catch up on said skills — which can feel frustrating. I’d say that the best thing to keep in mind is that learning is not a linear thing, and that it’s never too late to pick something up and start studying it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi! I’m Tiffany, and I’m a UX and visual designer at IBM, working in their Sustainability Software unit. I’m also an illustrator both at work and outside of it — but right now I mostly just draw for fun.

As a designer, I pride myself on being curious and trying to understand the full scope of the industries I’m designing for, the people I’m trying to help, and the problems I’m trying to solve. My main approach to my work has been to provide more context and to increase visibility into the information people need to help them better understand their data and make informed decisions. Mainly, I just want to help make people’s jobs easier.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

As a designer, I definitely lean towards wanting to ‘design for good’ and teaching others as my overarching goals. But with my personal art, I’d say I don’t necessarily have any mission guiding me. Sometimes I just want to make something ‘cool’ or try out different mediums I haven’t explored yet. It can also be pretty self-indulgent at times, so I mainly want to get better for myself so I can draw what I want better — whatever that ends up being.

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

Probably the need to be productive at all times, and learning that it’s okay to not be ‘on’ always. When I was at university, I always felt the need to cram every part of my day with projects or other tasks to make sure I was getting everything done. Even outside of work, I definitely still struggle with feeling like I need to be busy, whatever the definition of that is.

Reframing how I see being productive and listening to my body when I need a break helps a lot. Prioritizing [other] creative hobbies [aside from design work — which is mostly drawing, but sometimes painting, pencil sketches, and punch needling —], exercising consistently, and getting enough rest has been an ongoing journey, but it has definitely helped improve my mental health [and definitely has helped me feel like I have a lot more space to have fun creatively both in and outside of work]. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s good to start to recognize when those feelings pop up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tiffanyyingyee.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mallcryptid/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanyyingyee/