We recently connected with Yibei Chen and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Yibei, thanks for joining us today. How has Covid changed your business model?

Prior to Covid, I got an internship on-site in China, which requires me to come into the Design Department every day to browse for some inspiration. I make sure to keep myself available, in case my director wants to assign a design task to me. When I do get a task, my director will stand behind me, and give me pointers and suggestions while I’m working.

However, after Covid, working on-site is no longer mandatory, and for the design business, it provides designers more flexibility. Working from home become more common in the design market, as we mostly rely on our laptops to work. Instead of having to come into the office, we can have a zoom meeting online . Since we work and cooperate remotely rather than in-person, it is a well needed positive change to the original business model. Designers can now drop off files in the digital space, like Dropbox or Google Drive, helping to simplify the process.

Yibei, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, my name is Yibei Chen, I originally come from Mainland China, and my art and design journey is a fun story to tell. When I was a kid, I use to watch a lot of cartoons and would draw the main characters. and would spend the whole day in my study room drawing full size character posters. My mother eventually found that I had potential in art and drawing, so she sent me to Art School. From there, my art and design career officially began.

Before I went to university, I’ve been learning painting for seven years. During my undergraduate, I choose Graphic Design and Visual Communication as my major, because I enjoy crafting things and creating visual pleasure. Furthermore, Graphic Design is very broad, and there are various branches within it. When viewing any piece, I can analyze it with my Graphic Design background , such as, composition, colors, typography, scale, etc.

Design is so simply, that’s why it is so complicated. I used to think that graphic design was simple; I just open up the software, grab elements, and place them into the art-board. Everyone can make a design piece, however, not everyone can call themselves a designer. Graphic design can really train your eyes and taste in art.

There are so many fields that graphic design can take advantages of, like brand identity, social media posts, digital marketing, and UI/UX, and web design. Almost all industries need a graphic designer. For me, I’m passionate about branding, social media design, typography and layout design. In addition, I did some freelancing work in logo design, packaging, and layout design for my clients. Some clients come with a very straight forward request, like ‘I need a logo for my company, I want it to be unique and creative’. However, they don’t provide you with any additional information and details. Later on, they may tell you that the logo is not what they are really looking for, and they feel like this logo lack something. However, the truth is that even they cannot tell what’s missing. I have encounter many situations like this, and it is so common in the real design world.

One of my design principles is to always think about ‘why’ before visualizing any ideas. I have to ask myself why should I use this font or why should I use this color. Having a strong reason behind your design will make an even more powerful story. If my clients questions the design, I will explain the concepts and the reason behind it. This helps my clients feel satisfied and have further respect for my work. Design focus more on conception rather than it does on execution.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice

In my perspective, NFT art is a very new concept, and I think there are no right or wrong answers. It’s different form the physical art world in many ways. In the virtual space, I think the art tend to be more proactive, as there are no rules or limitations. In addition, anything can be an NFT art. It’s very open and has a lot of flexibility.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

I think the best way to foster brand loyalty is making the work irreplaceable. Keep learning, keep exploring, and stay on the most current trends of design. Giving clients reasonable suggestions and new things to refresh their brains and eyes also help. The most important thing is to be honest to the clients, and show them your passion, thinking, efforts and diligence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chenyibei480.wixsite.com/1996
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yc_designwork/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yibei-chen-9845721b9/