Interviews with Shih-Wei Cheng

I have been a professional designer roughly about three years since I graduated from Pratt Institute with a master in communications and digital designs in New York.

I first grew interest in design when I took an adobe creative suite class back in high school. I almost went to an art school at the time but chose to go into a regular college. After working as a sales for a year, I could not forget about design so I went back to school to study it.

I feel like I am in a flow when I am doing great works but feel stuck if I have no idea what I am doing.

My love for design and psychology shaped me as a designer both cognitively and visually. From my previous job, I also learn how to become a good communicator with clients. I believe communication skill is one of the most important skills as a designer.

Not to have a high ego and always try to learn from the best.

Always try to find ways to upgrade your portfolios. Joining a competition is a good way to push yourself too.

In the morning, I read design news and try to do as much as UX works when my mind is clear. I like to have meetings and visual designs in early afternoon.

Design trends matter a lot but I believe the fundamentals of design are just as important. Any successful designers should learn about typography.

Design is never ready because there is always space for improvements.

I was born and raised in Taiwan until the age of 14 then came to the States. I have a multi-cultural background and very adaptive to new information and things. I find New York City to be one of the most inspiriting city and Seattle to be my favorite city due to the cost of living and how close it is to nature. I am an outdoorsy person and like to spend my weekends outside as much as possible.

I work alone but also with my team, which consists of designers, engineers, and product managers. My day to day task require constant communication and learning about the guidelines and technical constraints. Personal traits that make good designers are: communication and collaborative skills, technical skills, and work ethnics.

I graduated from Pratt Institute with a master in communications/digital designs. I started becoming interested in art/design back in high school from a digital art class and my interest grew since then.

I am always drawn to beautiful things and colors and that’s what first got me into graphic design. Being able to do meaningful and data-driven designs are what got me into UX design.

I chose to become a designer.

I design applications and web designs. I wish there are more testing involved in my designs.

Train your eyes by finding inspirations online and always ask people who are better than you how you can improve on something.

Good designer can make things pretty but a great designer can not only make things pretty but also think from a user’s perspective

The only way to evaluate a good design is to do testing and get actual numbers.

Apple is an example of how good design can bring to the company.

The secret ingredient is to find good inspirations by researching and talking to people. Always ask how you can design better.

I will either become a sales man or open up a micro-brewery.

Design is communication, organization, and experience.

My family and friends.

A lot of self-doubts, especially when I went to a well-known art school and surrounded by many great designers, but I learned that mastering a skill takes time.

Pictures always speak louder than words.

Creating things that can help poor people or just any problems in the society.

I am currently working on a lot of push notifications for a tech company and always excited about how my designs help the company grow revenue.

To see more companies grow their focus on design, not just engineering.

It is very hard to tell because the world is changing so fast everyday.

I always start with sketching, researching, and wire-framing.

I think design sometimes sets the trends but technology also sets the trend for design pretty often.

I use Sketch, Figma, and Adobe Creative Suite.

Both visually appealing but also great user experience.

My favorite colors are white, black, and green. My favorite places are Seattle, although Brooklyn comes close.

When the works that I've done got noticed or helped the company.

No, not at all. I was the worst drawer in my family but digital design has changed my life entirely.