Meet Angeline Tjia | Illustrator & Visual Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Angeline Tjia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angeline, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Art has always come as somewhat of a second nature to me. Looking back, it’s something that I’ve consistently loved throughout my life. At the age of five, my first dream was to become a painter, which I was promptly told “painters don’t make money until they die”. It definitely isn’t the most uplifting view towards arts for a five year old to hear, but my love for art never died. From picture books and webcomics, to packaging and advertising illustrations. I was mesmerised by the story illustrators were able to capture, and truly bring the the quote “a picture paints a thousand words” to life.

I arrived at a crossroad when deciding on a major to further my studies. While I had always loved art, I also considered a more traditional path that felt safer and more stable. Ultimately, I could not picture myself giving up art and leaving my childhood dream behind. I convinced my parents to let me take a chance and move to the US to further my studies in illustration, and I have never looked back since. I love being able to convey intangible concepts and ideas through images and illustrations. I believe that visual communication and story telling is one of the most powerful ways to communicate, and can transcend languages and cultures.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As I briefly mentioned earlier, I love bringing concepts and ideas to life in a visual manner. The most satisfying parts of illustrating is not only the final product, but also the alluring journey of problem solving and storytelling, be it in a conceptual or narrative manner. I enjoy exploring an array of ideas and solutions to a visual problem.

I see my work as a series of experiments to explore a variety of topics and applications while still delivering the message at hand. My favourite projects are ones where I was able to really push boundaries and go out of my comfort zone in terms of style or utilisations. One of my favourite projects was illustrating a children’s book based on the Singaporean legend of Bukit Merah. It was my first time creating such a large series of illustrations and I had a blast creating character designs and style sheets to create a more cohesive design. I also enjoyed considering other aspects for the illustration such as text design and text placement as well as having varied layouts to keep the pages interesting. Additionally, I opted for a limited colour palette which pushed me to be more intentional to create enough contrast. It was also a major plus that I got to work on a story from home, which allowed me to bring more attention and give more representation to my community.

Aside from narrative illustrations, I have recently been working on more conceptual pieces where I get to explore the use of motifs and symbolism to creative illustrations that are less direct. I was also exposed to motion design this past year which has led me to explore more motion works and applications my illustrations could have in the motion design field, which I hope to continue to explore in future works.

In my opinion, I have not developed a distinct and recognisable visual language in my works. However, I am excited to see where my explorations will lead me and the development of illustration and its applications as well as working with other creatives!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
A week long trip in Savannah is plenty of time to look around! Some of my favourite spots I would want to bring them to hit around the city would look something like this:
Food:
-Foxy Loxy ($2 Matcha Latte on Mondays!)
-Superbloom (I love their hazelnut almond butter espresso latte)
-Franklin’s (really good lavender latte)
-Big Bon Bodega (my favourite is their BLTA)
-Quinn’s (for their egg’s Benedict and breakfast wrap!)
-Mrs Wilkes Dining Room (amazing fried chicken and sides, a must try for a taste of the south)
-ETang (for some restaurant Chinese food)
-Peking House (for some to-go Chinese food)
-Starland Yard (a variety of food trucks and choices and Superbloom is right next door)
-Common’s (have dollar oysters daily 2-6pm)
-Bull Street Taco (fish and cauliflower tacos are great! And the chocolate churros too)

Places:
-Forsyth Park (go for a picnic! Play some volleyball or frisbee!)
-The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist (really cool architecture and history, I also stare at it all the time from my classroom)
-SCADstory (learn the story of SCAD)
-Jones Street (known as the prettiest street in Savannah)
-Alleycat (for some drinks and a place to chill)
-Peacock Lounge (also has good drinks and a nice ambiance)

There’s plenty to see and do in Savannah 🙂

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to thank everyone who has supported, encouraged, and pushed me to do better. To my family, who gave me an invaluable opportunity to fly across the world to pursue my passion. They are the people who have been there for me and supported me throughout my journey. My love for them and drive to make them proud are the reason I want to do better and want to do more everyday.

To my friends, who have always been a shoulder for me to rely on, and have lent me a listening ear. They are the ones who have given me a sense of structure and stability in my life away from home, even if we are oceans away. At times, they were the ones that believed in me more than I believed in myself. They have been one of my biggest cheerleaders, and I am always grateful for their incredible support.

Finally, my peers and professors at SCAD, the wonderful bunch of creatives that I have the pleasure of calling friends and mentors. They are the reason I aim for perfection. The quality of work and the amount of passion they bring to the table for each project is what fuels me to improve and do better. Being able to be part of such an encouraging and constructive community has pushed me to do better and is evident in my growth while in SCAD. My professors, who have been supportive and have taught me invaluable lessons about illustration, and about life. They have allowed me to broaden my horizons and nurture my potential across disciplines.

I am grateful for all these wonderful people in my life who have made me flourish to who I am today and continue to support, encourage, and celebrate my work and achievements.

Website: https://thegrowingideas.myportfolio.com/

Instagram: @thegrowingideas

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angeline-tjia