Meet Mengyu Cao of YiQi Hanzi in San Fransisco Bay Area

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mengyu Cao.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I love drawing since I was little. I got so sensitive about colors, shapes, and compositions. However, I didn’t choose to become an artist but a designer. I know that the world is not about myself. It is about people, things, and the environment around me. Design is a skill that can make things different. It helps people feel better; allows things to look better; makes the world work easier. With my passion for design, I started my journey.

I got my BFA in Visual Communication in Beijing. Mostly worked on branding and graphic design. Then I came to the States in 2015 to start my master’s study at Parsons School of Design in Design & Technology. So, I developed my skills in Product Design, UI/UX. I have worked at big corporations, like Micheal Kors, Shiseido Americas, and Ogilvy. Also, I loved my experience at startups, including Core Wellness, Clade, and LianUp. All the experience I had in the past helped me start my own company, YiQi Hanzi.

In 2018, I started to create Chinese character drawings with an interest in Chinese cultures and characters. As a Chinese living in a foreign country, I want to have a closer relationship with my inheritance. At the beginning of my design journey, I learned a lot of Chinese traditional culture. I was taught to own the mission to deliver valuable Chinese traditional cultures to the modern world, to enhance and spread it to the nation and the world. When I had an opportunity to explore my very own interest in my career. I dived into Chinese cultures and found out there weren’t many creative creations around Chinese calligraphy compare to English lettering. I can design and draw, so I started to create more possibilities of the traditional assets, Chinese characters.

Until now, I have more than 40,000 followers on Instagram. I launched my website and learning center on http://www.yiqihanzi.com/. I got a lot of positive feedback on my creative approach to Chinese characters. My creations helped Chinese learners to learn and memorize Chinese Characters easily and quickly. With my mission to deliver the beauty of Chinese characters and cultures to the word, I believe I can make it further.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
For all my experience until now, there were two difficult phrases. First, it was when I changed my design direction from traditional Graphic Design to Digital Product Design. I wasn’t sure that it was the thing I truly loved to do. However, in the end, I found out that all designs are the same. It only helped me to develop more skills and have a deeper understanding of design. Second, it’s starting my company. The first-time experience, everything is new to me. There are so many things to be figured out on my own. I have cried many times, still crying, will cry more for sure. But I would always stand up after and do the things. I have my mission to help Chinese learners learn & memorize Chinese characters easily and to deliver the beauty of Chinese characters and cultures to the word.

Please tell us about YiQi Hanzi.
YiQi Hanzi creates unique Chinese character drawings to provide the easiest way to learn & memorize Chinese Characters. All the characters are hand-drawing. With award-winning design thinking, it breaks the traditional Chinese calligraphy forms and adds creative drawings to it harmoniously to show the meaning, history, and stories of each Chinese character.

To people who don’t know Chinese, Chinese characters always look like complicated drawings to them. We wanna use design thinking and drawings to make the ‘character drawings’ understandable to everyone to spread Chinese culture and the beauty of Chinese characters.

The thing we are proud of the most is that every single character is original, created with love and craft. Because of the time that we invested in each character, users can truly benefit from it to learn the meaning and story of the character right away. With all the smart visuals, learners can remember characters easily. We have received a lot of positive feedback about our product. Things like ‘This approach is really useful because it gives a chance to improve imagination, and learn a language like a child.’ and ‘This is really helpful and interesting how you explain with your illustrations. Thank you! ‘ All the feedback gave us more confidence to keep doing what we do and continue helping our Chinese-learner friends.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would say that I wouldn’t doubt myself that much, I would just do it to see if it works rather than thinking if it is possible. Because that’s the only way to find out. If I had this determination from day one, I would have gone further.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yiqihanzi.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/han_characters/
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/c/HanCharacters

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