Today we’d like to introduce you to Runzhe (Ian) Chen.
Runzhe (Ian), we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in a small county in Fujian, China and moved to Xiamen when I was five years old. I was interested in collecting some movie posters since I was a kid. Then I came to Maine for the high school. I met some good art teachers there and had some fine art classes, like painting and metal designs, which made me have more interest in art and design. I used to want to choose architecture as my major in college but after some research, I found graphic design is a good combination of making creative works and finding a job earlier in the future, that was how I ended up choosing graphic design as a major and decided to apply art colleges instead of universities, but I still very jealous about university life.
About the college, School of Visual Art used to be my dream school. but I went to School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) because they provided me scholarship and I wanted to experience somewhere outside of east coast. I started to learn graphic design at SAIC. In the summer after my freshman year, I was searching some good portfolios online and some graduate work from the Art Center and School of Visual Art appeared. Those design works surprised me a lot and kind of gave me a new world about graphic design. During the covid, I got more time on searching different design firms and studios online, which also led me to have more creative minds on design. Before the end of my college, I felt New York still is so attractive to me in terms of life vibe and job opportunities, so I decided to come to New York right after my graduation, which is where I am now.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It was not a smooth road for me. In my freshman year at SAIC, I would say it was kind of easy but boring at the same time sometimes because I was learning some basic knowledge and principles. As I mentioned previously, the works from other schools really provided me with a world of graphic design, like creating a customer typeface for branding. I was doubtful about what I learned at my school. Since that, I tried to make my work more experiential. I also was so struggled sometimes before SAIC did not have multiple branding or typeface design courses (only one identity system class). I didn’t know where I can learn these. In my junior and senior years, I got two opportunities to work with two professors in two different semesters, which provided me with opportunities to experience designs I wanted and something I wanted to put in my portfolio. I am still very thankful for the help from these two professors.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a designer, I focus on brand identity, typeface design, and editorial design. I am really passionate about how to connect brand identity and typeface design together. I strongly believe that branding is a way for designers to create astonishing designs and bring order to chaotic things with cohesive and creative methods. I also love to explore the relationship between two different language systems, Chinese and English in graphic design, which can be seen in some of my recent works. One thing I am proud of right now in my work is that I got an opportunity to design English letters and Chinese characters in one branding project and the result turns pretty well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ianchen.info/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ianchen.8/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-chen-746674215/
Image Credits
Ian Chen
