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

Alright, Victoria thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

When we started Astro Circo Studio, there wasn’t really a single moment where we decided, “Let’s start a business.”

My partner Edwin and I were already creating things together long before the studio existed. I come from a graphic design and illustration background, while he comes from graffiti, street art, and design. We were constantly making personal projects, painting murals, designing posters, and collaborating on creative ideas simply because we enjoyed it and genuinely loved creating together.

At some point, friends and local businesses started asking if we could help with their branding, illustrations, and creative campaigns. The projects were small at first, but they gave us a glimpse of what was possible.

Instead of spending months building a detailed business plan, we focused on doing the work. We created a name, built a simple website, opened social media accounts, and started documenting every project we completed. Looking back, one of the most important things we did early on was building a strong portfolio. It allowed people to see not only what we could create, but also how we think and present ideas.

The biggest challenge wasn’t actually design. It was learning everything around design: writing proposals, pricing projects, communicating with clients, managing timelines, invoicing, and understanding how to run a business. Even today, we’re still learning. I wouldn’t say we’ve mastered the business side of things, but we continue to improve our skills, become more professional, and learn from every project that comes our way.

Over time, one project led to another. Local businesses introduced us to new clients. Our work started reaching people outside of Toronto and eventually outside of Canada. We began working on larger branding projects, packaging design, murals, and collaborations with brands we never imagined we’d have the opportunity to work with.

Looking back, there wasn’t one big breakthrough moment. It was really hundreds of small actions repeated consistently over several years. We kept showing up, creating work we believed in, sharing it publicly, and improving with every project.

That’s probably the biggest lesson we’ve learned about moving from idea to execution: you don’t need everything figured out before you start. The clarity often comes from doing the work, not from thinking about it. And through all the ups and downs, the one thing we’ve never stopped doing is the thing that made us start in the first place: creating work that we love.

Victoria, 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?

We are Astro Circo Studio, an independent creative studio founded by two artists and designers who share a passion for storytelling, illustration, branding, and street culture.

What makes our studio unique is that we come from very different creative backgrounds. I come from graphic design and illustration, while my partner Edwin comes from graffiti, street art, and design. Over the years, those influences naturally blended together and became the foundation of our visual language.

Today, we work with businesses, restaurants, startups, cultural organizations, and brands looking for creative work that feels distinctive and human. Our services include brand identity design, illustration, packaging design, murals, environmental graphics, marketing materials, merchandise, and creative campaigns.

Many clients come to us because they want something beyond a logo or a visual system. They want a brand with personality and a story people can connect with. We enjoy helping clients uncover what makes them different and translating that into visuals that feel authentic to who they are.

Our work often sits somewhere between commercial design and artistic expression. We love creating things that are functional and strategic, but also memorable, playful, and emotionally engaging. Whether we’re designing a restaurant identity, illustrating a packaging system, or painting a mural, our goal is always the same: to create work that people remember.

One thing we’re especially proud of is that we’ve been able to build our studio while staying true to our creative interests. Many of our projects allow us to combine branding, illustration, and street-inspired aesthetics in ways that feel natural to us. Over the years, this has led to collaborations with local businesses, international brands, and clients from different parts of the world.

If there’s one thing we’d like people to know about Astro Circo Studio, it’s that we’re genuinely passionate about what we do. We approach every project with curiosity, care, and a collaborative mindset. We don’t believe great creative work comes from following trends or templates. It comes from understanding people, telling meaningful stories, and creating something that couldn’t belong to anyone else.

At the end of the day, we’re not just interested in making things look good. We’re interested in helping brands create experiences, emotions, and connections that last.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

The story of how we met is actually one of the reasons Astro Circo Studio exists today.

Both of us are originally from China, but we met while studying in Toronto. The funny part is that we had actually known each other online years before we ever met in person. We were both involved in creative communities and had crossed paths on the internet back in China, but we never had the chance to meet face-to-face.

Then, years later, we found ourselves attending the same program in Toronto. When we realized we already knew each other from before, it felt like an incredible coincidence. What started as a friendship gradually turned into a creative partnership, and eventually a life partnership as well.

From the beginning, our personalities and artistic styles were completely different. I tend to approach projects from a graphic design and illustration perspective, focusing on storytelling, branding, and visual systems. Edwin comes from a graffiti and street art background, bringing a lot of energy, spontaneity, and bold visual thinking to the table.

At first, those differences felt obvious. We often approached the same problem in completely different ways. But over the years, we’ve learned that those differences are actually one of our greatest strengths. Through countless conversations, collaborations, experiments, and even disagreements, we’ve continuously challenged each other to grow.

Many of the projects we create today are the result of those two perspectives meeting somewhere in the middle. Our work combines illustration, branding, street culture, design thinking, and artistic expression in ways neither of us would have arrived at on our own.

Building a studio together has also taught us a lot about trust. When you’ve worked side by side for years, you learn each other’s strengths, weaknesses, habits, and ways of thinking. There is a level of honesty and collaboration that becomes difficult to replicate elsewhere.

Looking back, it’s funny to think that Astro Circo Studio started with two people who knew each other online, lost touch, met again in another country, and slowly built something together. What began as a chance connection eventually became a shared creative journey, and we’re grateful that we’re still creating together today.

How did you build your audience on social media?

To be honest, we’ve never been social media experts.

We didn’t build a large audience overnight, and we never had a single viral post that suddenly changed everything for us. Our audience grew slowly over time through years of consistently sharing our work, creative process, experiments, and projects.

In the beginning, social media was simply a place for us to document what we were making. We shared illustrations, murals, branding projects, sketches, and sometimes even ideas that never became finished pieces. Looking back, that consistency mattered more than any specific strategy.

One thing we learned is that people connect with authenticity more than perfection. Some of our most meaningful interactions came from showing work in progress, sharing challenges, or talking about the story behind a project rather than only posting polished final images.

Another important lesson is that social media should support your work, not become your work. It’s easy to get caught up chasing algorithms, trends, likes, and follower counts. We’ve certainly fallen into that trap before. But whenever we focused too much on what we thought would perform well, the content usually felt less genuine.

Most of our best opportunities didn’t come from a post going viral. They came from people consistently seeing our work over time and understanding who we are as creatives. A client might follow us for a year before reaching out. Someone might discover a project today and contact us months later. Social media often works much more slowly than people expect.

For anyone just starting, our advice would be simple: share your work, share your process, and don’t wait until everything is perfect. Focus on building a body of work you’re proud of rather than chasing numbers. Be patient, because meaningful growth usually takes much longer than social media makes it seem.

We’re still learning ourselves, but if there’s one thing we’ve found valuable, it’s showing up consistently and staying true to what genuinely interests us. The audience that connects with that will find you eventually.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.astrocirco.com
• Instagram: astrocirco.studio
• Linkedin: Astro Circo Studio