Meet Andrew Chang

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Chang.

Andrew, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in the city of Cupertino, one of the major cities in the Silicon Valley. Naturally, growing up surrounded by some of the largest tech companies in the world such as Google, Facebook, and Apple especially, there was a major expectation for me in my family to eventually work in the tech industry.

Growing up in a majority Asian American community, all my classmates and friends would talk about would be what Ivy League university they wanted to get into, which major tech company they wanted to work at, but I never got interested in any of that. While others were learning how to code, how to work with circuitry or other engineering skills, I spent my free time drawing in my sketchbook or doodling in the empty spaces of my homework during class. Drawing was the one thing that I was interested in, and it was what I saw myself doing as a career.

Has it been a smooth road?
It was not an easy path to get to where I am today. There was constant pressure from schools, classmates, and especially my family to perform well academically so that I could one day meet their expectations to get good grades, get into an Ivy League, and get a high-paying salary. Even though I had no interest in most of my school subjects, I would continue to try to keep my grades up high just so that I wouldn’t get in trouble with my parents. I remember several nights in High School spending hours trying to solve a math problem because for some reason, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get the solution. When it came to college applications, I had many heated conversations with my parents about wanting to attend an Art school for university. They would talk about how they moved to America so that my siblings and I could have a successful future and how they wanted me to pursue STEM so that we could be financially stable. My response would always be, though, that while it would be ideal that I follow their dreams for me, I would be miserable in those fields because I just knew that pursuing art would make me happy, no matter how small the pay might be.

Please tell us more about your art.
I am currently a senior at the Art Center College of Design, majoring in Illustration and pursuing a career in Visual Development. I’ve always been passionate in character design and my goals are to one day walk in a movie theater with my friends and family and seeing a character that I had designed on the big screen. I had always loved watching comic book shows and movies, so I hope to one day work in big studios such as Marvel or DC to help design superheroes and villains for their respective film franchises.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Moving from the Bay Area to Los Angeles felt like a huge breath of fresh air to me. I had always felt like this city had embraced the creative arts much more than the Silicon Valley ever did. When I moved down and started attending college, the first thought in my head was “Wow, these people are just like me!”. Although I’ve only lived here for only four years now, it sometimes felt more like home to me than my actual hometown.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.andrewchangart.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/andrewchang.art
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewchangdesign/

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