Today we’d like to introduce you to Christie Wu.
Hi Christie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started majoring in math and physics in college since I had no specific goals and did not know what I wanted in life. However, art and design have always piqued my interest since I always considered myself somewhat crafty. Simply as an act of rebellion escaping from a predictable career path, I transferred to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and had fallen in love with art ever since.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was not only a struggle to start learning design from scratch. Moreover, it was also a struggle to learn a completely unfamiliar discipline in a second language. Design is not only about craftsmanship, most importantly, Design also thrives on compelling concepts and resonating stories. A designer needs to know how to create marvelous work, do proper research, and deliver high concepts eloquently. Nevertheless, design helps me learn to communicate visually, conceptually, and verbally. It allows me to perceive the world through a critical lens as I learn to question the existing systems, artifacts, and worldviews.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a visual slash interactive designer, as the name suggests I specialize in visualizing concepts and sometimes making them interactive. Due to my fascination with social media and hype culture, my personal work often responds to the most infamous cultural moment of the time. In the past, I had made projects about NFT, Fyre Festival, and the hype over wellness culture. Professionally, I found my bearing in the ad industry since my culturally in-tuned and hyper-dynamic style of work is appreciated. I find my calling in bringing the seemingly impossible concepts to life and making things weird, fun, and extraordinary. I want to make you chuckle and have fun with my design, whether it is a game, a digital performance, interactive web experiments, or an AR lens.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love how ridiculous everything is in Los Angeles. I see too many wild things on the street while driving. Controversially, I love driving and getting stuck in a traffic jam, which is the one time of the day when my head is not running 200 miles per hour trying to get things done. People here are super fun and hilarious. I am also a big fan of fashion, and people in LA are not only well dressed. Most importantly, they seem to really have fun with their styles.
Nevertheless, there are lots of hardships behind all the glamor and extravaganza. Growing up in Taiwan, I have only seen a couple of homeless people my entire life. Homelessness has always been a big issue in LA. It is heartbreaking to see how people live in a condition like that, and the issues definitely perpetuated more social problems in the city.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.christiewu.design/
- Instagram: aka_babyspinach
