Today we’d like to introduce you to Yue Dong.
Hi Yue, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am a visual designer currently enrolled as a graduate student in the Graphic Design & Visual Experience program at Savannah College of Art and Design’s Atlanta campus. I come from a coastal city in southeastern China. Since ancient times, the Jiangnan region has been China’s economic, cultural, and artistic center, where traditional architectural design, garden facilities, and the unique artistic style of Chinese landscape painting itineraries have been subtly teaching our aesthetics. This has to some extent, influenced and guided me to take the career path of art and design.
With the rapid pace of globalization, curiosity made me interested in entirely different art styles, international design styles, social issues discussed in Western culture, and other contents. So I began actively visiting and staying in different countries and cities worldwide. During this process, I also received much help and inspiration from artists and design practitioners to help me refine and understand what I wanted to do. Of course, I still haven’t stopped my exploration so far. This is one of the reasons why I chose to study in a very different culture. I always think that when people know more, their choices for the future will be richer and more enjoyable.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Of course not. I broke out of some traditional ideas to pursue what I wanted. I have studied calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting and over ten years of Western painting. Even so, pursuing a career in art in a Chinese cultural context was still considered a rebellious choice. To this day, the prejudice that those who study art are those who do not do well in a study is still present in Chinese education. I had a discussion with David Barnett, a professor from UAL in the UK, about this issue. I took his advice and went to different environments to experience different cultural perspectives.
However, during my studies, I had deep self-doubt that I was not suited for this profession. I really met a very talented person my age, with a sensitivity and talent for art that I was struggling to catch up with, and it frustrated me. During this time, I met my mentor, Joost Roozekrans, a great designer and educator from the Netherlands. I still remember his words of encouragement: “Relying on inspiration is not enough to support you on the path of design; careful logic, thinking process, and analytical ability are the foundation of design.” His encouragement made me determined to continue on the path of design.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I currently work for a technology software company as a product designer out of personal interest. I work on graphic design-based interface design for websites and applications and focus on related advertising campaigns. I am very interested in the UI/UX design industry and digital media and have taken additional courses at Georgia Tech to enhance my background knowledge for this purpose. I think constant exploration and learning will also be an essential part of my future career.
I also work as a freelance visual designer, creating, discussing, and producing graphic artwork and illustrations about social topics that interest me without being tied to a client.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Sure. I’d like to share a recent insight I’ve had about questioning and iterating on one’s work, which is especially useful in the design industry. I know that a lot of design work is limited by time, market, client, and even budget. So when I look back at my previous work after a while, maybe a few months, or 1-2 years, I will find a lot of deficiencies or parts that are out of touch with the current market. So how to make up for the problems of our work, iterate it, make it generate new commercial value, think about the value, and avoid similar issues in other design works in the future is what we need to explore constantly as a designer.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://yuedong.work/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yuedong_graphic/
- Other: https://www.behance.net/yuedongdesign
