Go back in time with me.
“Be prepared to have a lot of people not enjoy your work and have it not bother you; you should do it because you want to do it.”
I suppose one of the steps in becoming a persuasive UX designer (or rather, a someone that is trying to pursue a career in UX) is to be a great storyteller. I don't recall where I have seen that and for now, don't quote me on that. Nonetheless, let us just remember that design should be able to tell a great story. If you're pitching a product or a web app/mobile app to some group of audience, you most likely don't want to waste their time. So getting to the point and being able to eloquently present a design idea (or multiple design ideas) is key, and before that comes good storytelling that engages your audience and keeping them that way won't be easy.
tl;dr
aka how it all began
Since I tried to go to bed at 9pm and failed miserably, here I am trying to chronicle how my visual design 'taste' has evolved in the past decade. Never thought I would be using the word decade to describe something in regards to myself. But I have indeed been alive for more than two decades now. Time sure flies. I am a 90s baby. I was born in 1990, and I have gone through the powerful transformations of technology. I remember our family only had one computer, and the dial-up internet was so obnoxiously loud that I couldn't even sneak out in the middle of the night to get on the Internet. As technology advances, my family also decided to invest in more advanced technology or rather increase the access to computers and internet for all of us. I landed with a sweet deal and got my own computer.
This was also a phase that I started exploring the world of design. Back in the day, we had these challenges called blending challenges, I wish I could still find a website that showcased what blending meant. Essentially, blending means what it means. You take a few photos, usually provided by the host of the challenge. Whoever is able to blend those images flawlessly (there's no such thing of flawless to be honest. The technique here is to master the different layer opacities and if you're daring, be able to utilize other overlay properties such as hardlight and whatnot). I got hooked. I started making my own 'blends' and submitting my work to these challenges. At first I got honorable mentions, soon enough I was first runner-up, and then eventually I started winning all these challenges. Of course, it doesn't mean that I would then become Art Director at some company by winning these challenges. Let alone, I was a 14 year old religiously sitting in front of my computer, trying and trying to master Adobe PhotoShop (I was also using a pirated version of the software, thanks to the vast access to pirated software back in the day in these sketchy buildings in Hong Kong).
#Shameless
Here, I am showcasing a few graphics I made throughout my 'teenage angst' years. A bunch of these were experiments and did not have a meaning. I remember I was really satisfied with how the Replay poster turned out, mainly because it was also an event that I hosted.
To be honest, some of my work is embarrassing to the max. But these are the work that fueled my motivation to keep refining my skills and hoping to one day master the skills of PhotoShop, Illustrator (and one day, Sketch!). Before I entered college in 2009, I have been honing skills to student organizations and even designed a book to commemorate all the good causes and activities my school has done in order to celebrate its 25th Anniversary.
Don't be afraid of failures, they are part of the process
I decided to showcase some the oldest work I have is because I want to showcase a timeline of improvement and also reminisce on what used to motivate me and what created this passion to get into visual design and eventually UX design. Obviously in college, I decided to pursue a degree in Political Economy. The ultimate goal here is to find an intersecting for the two passions I have and it seems like human-centered design might be the best way to go. After graduating from college, the internet has opened up a plethora of interests for me. I started researching about design for social change and how UX can even be applied to urban planning and public policy. I have been religiously following Ideo and the work and social impact they have brought. I recently discovered how awesome InVision's blog is. Having the ability to learn and take on new skills is definitely a fun and exciting journey.
“You have to get into the mentality of play and making mistakes—especially when you can’t quite understand something.”
Of course, the next thing I am trying to conquer is to become a devigner or rather a unicorn - someone that can code and design. With rapid changes in technologies, having coding skills under my belt would facilitate better communication and understanding with fellow designers and developers - depending on which side of the spectrum I eventually fall on. I recently came across an article, and what stood out was this: "Have fun being bad when you start learning". For a lot of us, we are afraid to start learning something new because we are discouraged even before we started it. I have personal experiences in failing. They can be frustrating. But when you finally figure out how to solve a problem, the gratification that comes after is irreplaceable and only allows you to keep going.
To end this 'journey', here is the latest work I have done. It lacks user research and insights. Nonetheless, I have attempted to apply all the past UX knowledge I have obtained and decided to adapt some UX principles and came up with this landing page. It is also one the last projects I participated in while I was at the startup.