We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Yu Chen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Yu below.
Yu, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
My favorite project is ‘Let Parents Stay’, which garnered seven awards in 2022, including accolades from the Type Directors Club Awards and Communication Arts. My journey led me to Jinling, a village in China’s Hubei Province, which is marred by poverty. The villagers, skilled in the art of Han Embroidery, struggled to earn a decent living from this craft. This financial hardship forced many young parents to seek work in distant cities, leaving their children behind, sometimes for years.
Han Embroidery, a cherished element of China’s intangible cultural heritage, faces extinction due to mass production in large factories and the archaic nature of its designs. From witnessing the plight of the children left behind in Jinling, I was compelled to intervene. My approach was through design innovation. I transformed traditional Han Embroidery patterns, extracting and reinterpreting elements like color and symbolism, to create a contemporary series based on experimental English typography.
This fresh interpretation of Han Embroidery patterns not only revived but significantly boosted the local embroidery industry. It uplifted the village’s economy and, most importantly, enabled young parents to remain in Jinling, providing them the opportunity to raise their children in a nurturing environment.
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?
As a designer and art director hailing from China, my career took a significant turn in 2018 when I was honored with the Pentawards (NXT-GEN), which was my first design award. This achievement was further highlighted by the organizing committee’s sponsorship of my travel from China to New York’s Guggenheim Museum to receive the award, marking a pivotal moment in my professional journey. Following this, I have engaged in a multitude of design and artistic collaborations, serving a diverse clientele ranging from major automotive brands and educational institutions to FMCG brands and celebrities. My work, celebrated with over forty international creative design accolades, has been showcased in exhibitions across ten countries. Notably, in 2022, my creation ‘True Colors’ was featured in New York’s iconic Times Square. In 2023, I completed my MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and have since been immersed in the U.S., dedicating my skills to brand design, art direction, and the pursuit of artistic creation.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I’ve always set a high bar for myself, which is: every piece I create should have the potential to win awards, guaranteeing its effectiveness in visual communication and competitive edge. At this stage in my career, winning awards is a key strategy for gaining recognition. It not only ensures that my work is always at the vanguard of the market, leading and highly impactful, but also serves as a testament to my personal skills and abilities. My design efficiency and the expressive power of my work have consistently earned admiration from clients who have collaborated with me.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My aspiration is for my creations to resonate deeply with people. The true allure of art and design is their capacity to seize the unnoticed, everyday details, weaving them into one’s work to articulate a message. This process forms a powerful conduit for engaging with an audience. I am a firm believer in the power of simplicity in design, where even the slightest alteration can lead to profoundly impactful differences.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yuchen-creative.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yu-chen-design/