Today we’d like to introduce you to William Cheng.
William, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Growing up, visiting my cousin’s house once a month was like Charlie entering Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. They would show me the newest games, comics, and anime and that was what really got me interested in the idea of creating things. Saturday morning anime like Yugioh continued to fuel the hunger to create my own creatures and stories. My parents weren’t big on spending money on games and cards so I would draw my own monster cards and pretend to play them out like I was in the show.
This eventually led me to pursue art as a career where I attended Laguna College of Art and Design for a year and then Art Center College of Design for two and a half years before one of my teachers helped me get my first job at Disney Interactive!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been a smooth road nor is it smooth currently haha. I’ve realized that I’m a pretty sensitive person, and when you choose art as a career it’s hard to get critiques and not take things too personally. It has been a hard journey of learning to process everything in a healthy way and not get too overwhelmed by things both inside and outside class.
School was a great experience, but it was crazy to be put in a situation where you go from being one of the best in your class to now becoming nothing special in terms of skill. I’ve had amazing classmates but that also means it challenged me to be much better within strict time constraints. As intense as it was, it challenged me to find what set me apart and to sharpen my own voice and ideas.
Luckily, I feel I’ve been blessed with great mentors and friends. There have been a good handful of teachers and friends that have taught me how to be a better designer and person and I am eternally grateful to have met them. They’ve given me the confidence to overcome a lot of my biggest hurdles and continue to do so as I keep tackling the problems I face today.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m a concept artist that currently works at Parallax Studios. It’s a small design studio that does outsource concept art and branding. I do a lot of keyframes and creature designs, but since its a small studio I end up doing a bit of everything.
I’m proud to work in an artistically challenging environment. Our creative director has a great eye for detail and (sometimes to our frustration) will point out all these small things that we don’t think matter but end up making or breaking a design.
As a designer, the thing that sets me apart is the focus on narrative. I think the stories we tell each other are vitally important and so I always strive to help accentuate a narrative with meaningful designs. In a way, they are just shapes and colors on a flat surface but when put them together in the right way it can create a deep and meaningful human connection.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
For me, I’ve found the most success from following my sense of play. When I try to dream up new worlds and what inhabits them I feel like it works best when I have a child-like curiosity and sense of wonder because the opposite creates things that are stiff, boring, and devoid of life (ironically I love drawing dead creepy things). For me, figuring out how to balance the adult side of you that manages deadlines and the kid side that wants to explore and have fun and learn is the big challenge.
Also, just being a good person to work with goes a long way.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://williamchengdesign.com/
- Email: william.cheng.c@gmail.com
- Instagram: @whylium
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