Interview with Yichun Lin from United States

I became a creator because I always have many thoughts that I want to express. It is very enjoyable for me to transform my thoughts into creations. I like the process of turning ideas into images. I also want to let people see the stories they want to tell from different angles. It's something I've always wanted to do and it's something I have been earnestly working on.

Creation is a thing without words. It can break the boundaries of regions and spread to different ethnic groups. It makes me feel connected to the world.

I'm a graphic designer in a design agency in New York City. I work with art directors to develop the best solution for the client. Back in my home country, I assisted in designing the website and APP's user interface and helped create visual identities for many brands.

In addition to that, I also helped make Keyart for a few films which went on to be featured at the New York Shorts International Film Festival.

There are always a lot of ideas in my head. Being able to express your thoughts through a physical medium is a wonderful thing. Just like how I am leaving my footprints in this world. Sometimes people get new perspectives because of my creations.

Therefore, I started digging more into various views and mediums for my stories. For example, my urban series work "A Night in Taipei" and "Urban Impression" aims to present the beauty of my hometown. I used different ways to represent these concepts. I also got a lot of positive feedback from many people. Creation is a way for me to send a message to the world. It also made me have more curiosity and exploration of the world.

A good story is an essential element of an idea or design. Of course, tools and techniques are a plus for creativity. A good story can make it more meaningful. Visualizing a story through concept building has always been the part I enjoy the most!

First, I would determine the business's goals and the necessary information. At this step, I will explore various design styles by brainstorming. Then, I start collecting references and explore several directions. After that, I will establish different aesthetic types. This part is always exciting and you can always discover possibilities at this step. The last step is finding feasible ways to present to customers and get feedback. After several back-and-forth communications and revisions, we finally would choose the most appropriate design for the project.

My favorite part of the creative process is exploring the design directions. This stage can lead to discovering several possibilities and new ideas are generated in the process. And the result is always surprising. The uncertainties and potentials make creations so fascinating!

I've always been obsessed with saturated colors. It is quite difficult to achieve a balance of saturated colors. In the past, I liked using many bright colors to present my content. As a result, I established a unique "style" from it. For now, I will determine the design strategy according to the content and concept. Find the most appropriate solution using colors and elements under the right conditions based on the content.

Absolutely. I have been profoundly influenced by my hometown. Many local characteristics are desirable to me. Even a town road has its cultural implications. These give me a lot of inspiration for my creations. For example, I have always been interested in signboard culture, so I created the "A Night in Taipei" series poster. I wanted to show the beauty of signs in my home country at night from a different perspective.

It is an honor to receive this award. It means a lot to me! No doubt winning the MUSE Creative Awards encouraged me to create more. This would allow me to share this joy with my clients through my work.

My work, "Taichung Public Library Brand Identity", is an identity system for the new library building. Taichung Public Library was the first building to combine an art museum and a library. The core concept of the library, "Library in the Park, Art Museum in the Forest", creates the building's mood.

Located in a city park, the library extends the forest and city. As a new cultural indicator, the pure white building stands in the forest and represents the intersection of nature and the city. I made a visual strategy based on the concept. I chose this piece because it brings a new style to the library. Unlike previous designs, it can give public facilities new inspiration and perspectives.

The library is expected to be completed by 2025. Therefore, I can only gather library information from the concept rendering photos. It was a huge challenge for me and very difficult to achieve. But I'm glad I did it.

Winning awards has helped me to be more motivated in my creative journey and it also stimulates me to look for more possibilities to improve my work.

Brainstorming with a bunch of crazy ideas.Exploring the possibility with new directions.Sharing the work and receiving feedback from different perspectives.

My home country is a small island. Despite not having a long history like other countries, it has a lot of cultural significance. We have many different ethnic groups, creating many different cultures. Many designers from the new generation take this as a concept and develop many unique designs. The combination of foreign cultures in many works is also noteworthy. We have been injected with more multiculturalism in recent years. You can feel that many new ideas are developing in many industries. I am glad that the creative industry is getting more and more attention in my home country. I also hope to contribute to my home country’s creative industry in the future.

In the modern age of rapid technological development, the creative industry has been presented in various forms over the past few years. And this development is only going to get faster. For example, NFT and AI drawing have been quite popular for a few years. No one knew AI drawing would become a trend before that. Therefore, how to find their own play space between traditional media and new technology is a topic that creators can consider.

Being fully prepared is the most important thing. All that's left is to be confident and professional.

I recommend online or offline courses for anyone interested in the creative field. Of course, you have to be a creative person but the tools are a plus. Your work will be more valuable if you have skills. The other is to increase the sensitivity and sense of creation. Many inspirations can be found in museums or on websites such as Pinterest or Behance.

I recently started doing yoga! This is one of my favorite ways to de-stress as of currently.

My parents inspired me a lot. They always support any decision I make and always encouraged me to fulfill my dreams. I am grateful that they understand me so well.

Be confident, work hard and always be fully prepared.

Thanks for nominating me for MUSE Creative Awards. It's a pleasure to be a part of it!