Meet Yue Dong | Visual / UX Designer & Artist

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

Hi Yue, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
It’s hard to say, at the moment, the pursuit of art and creativity has become part of my career. I’m certainly glad it’s become a job that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I’ve always thought that becoming a designer was foreshadowed. I can’t restrain my appetite for exploration and my enthusiasm for new things, which has always allowed me to try to see things in a new light. Since becoming a designer, this trait has greatly benefited me in my work and creativity. I have actively learned about clients and products from different industries and fields, finding problems and solving them while giving myself a new track of learning and enthusiasm to create. So I guess I pursue art and creativity in order to stay curious because it brings me the most surprises.

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.
The truth is I don’t think I’m different. What I am most proud of is my ability to adjust myself in time to try in any way I can. This has given me more opportunities and possibilities. At the same time, a lot of experimentation and experience have helped me to gain more proficiency and professionalism in design. This is not an easy task because hitting walls and failures often come with various attempts, which is a major challenge to my mindset. I have also been devastated by successive failures or bad attempt results, but thankfully my mentors and friends have been there for me and encouraged me.

This is not a lesson to be learned but rather an attitude I am proud to live by. Because I have never felt like a gifted player, only a lot of experimentation and trial and error can bring me enough security and enough experience to progress. Many of the successful design projects I’ve shown were not created overnight but were final versions that were repeatedly validated and modified and even iterated over 2-3 years. I want the world to know that the work I create is not static or dying out as time progresses. It will be tried, guessed, iterated, and changed as my personal abilities progress.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The way many people get to know a city is to visit the sights, which I don’t deny is a great way to quickly learn about the history and current state of the city, but I personally would prefer to immerse myself in the local community. Rather than choosing some famous restaurants, I prefer to choose some small local specialty stores with long queues on the street. Weekend fairs and commercial areas with a concentration of artistic goods are also highly recommended.

Ponce city market, for example, is a shopping district that fits these criteria very well in my opinion. It has the excellent view of Beltline and the living atmosphere of midtown. It also contains interesting stores and occasional opportunities for art exhibitions. For a week-long trip, I highly recommend taking at least one day to walk around this area and experience the laid-back lifestyle of the local people. My friends would love this place.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Mentors to whom I are greatly indebted from Studio Dumbar in the Netherlands, Michel de Boer, and Joost Roozekrans, have helped me to become a visual designer with their forward-thinking education and their constant encouragement and understanding.

I am also very grateful to the professors I met along the way, who helped me at different stages of my life to get out of my funk and find a better path for my future. Professors Melissa Kuperminc and Peter Wong enabled me to consolidate my knowledge of design rules traditionally and practically and gave me a lot of opportunities to compete. I could not have achieved what I did without their encouragement and motivation during my studies.

And grateful to an Atlanta-based Internet company named “Billseye.” The company is a networking and consulting-based platform that helps people better use their fragmented time to get the benefits they deserve. The company’s CEO, Alcide Honore, is a very open and inclusive leader, and he gave me a lot of permission to try to make the designs I wanted. I was also able to use his feedback and that of lead designer Sabrina Yerin Hong to work through the details of my designs and get advice that would help me in my career. It was a very interesting and valuable experience for me.

Website: https://yuedong.work/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yuedong_graphic/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yue-d-b872abaa/

Other: yuedong0214@gmail.com

Image Credits
https://yuedong.work/