In short, tell us who you are and what you do:
My name is Chin I Lee. I am a multidisciplinary designer based in San Francisco. Specializing in branding, typography, packaging, art direction, illustration and UI/UX. I create award-winning brand identities and visual systems in the areas of print and packaging.
Tell us about your journey up to now:
In 2015, I graduated from Academy of Art University with an MFA degree in graphic design. In the past few years, I worked at United Dsn, Hatch, MetaDesign and Teak. I am currently working at Teak as senior designer. My role is to create meaningful and conceptual brand designs provide guidance, and prepare and give presentations to clients. Today, I work closely with designers, strategists, copywriters, and illustrators to create a consistent and compelling brand experience for our clients.
What inspires you?
Learning about the different type of clients/businesses. Designing for a purpose. Trying different design executions for the clients. Seeing clients find success using our designs.
How would you describe your style? Where did your style originate from? What are its main influences?
Minimalism. At MetaDesign and Teak, these are the places that shape my style and taught me how to create a consistent and compelling brand experience. My influences are Massimo Vignelli, Wim Crouwel, and Paula Scher. What I learned from them are typography, grid systems, color, photography, and graphics. Using these elements properly creates simple, strong and timeless designs.
What do you wish you could’ve told your past self? When and why?
Learn more skills — motion graphics and Interactive. I wish I had a chance to do some work involving motion graphics, web design and, product design when I was in school. In the future, we will rely on digital more than ever so I think that these are skills I need to learn once I have a chance.
Any advice for other designers?
1. Be familiar with the software you are using and study the shortcut keys that can enhance your work speed.
2. Find good design references and spend some time to decode and imitate it.
3. Keep practicing.
4. Get feedback from other designers.
What do you like most about working at Teak?
Teak treats everyone like a family and the vibe is like Hawaii which I enjoy the most. I have a lot of freedom to do the design I want to do.
Words to live by?
Keep hungry keep humble.
If I’m not at Teak, you can catch me _______.
At design events.
