Interviews with Rui Ma

I am an award-winning designer, art director, and illustrator based in Los Angeles. I currently work as a senior designer at MullenLowe U.S., located in California. With an MFA degree in Graphic Design and over eight years of professional experience, I focus on graphic design, art direction, branding, illustration, digital design, print design, experiential design, etc. I also have a passion for photography and fashion. My work incorporates bold, dynamic typography and illustration, along with energetic colors. I started my career in New York City and decided to move to Los Angeles four years ago, I gained years of design experience in both cities. I have created work for a variety of clients including Google, Apple, Shopify, Facebook, Sundance Film Festival, PepsiCo, Stella Artois, and many more. My work is recognized by international awards and featured on Creative Boom, Print Magazine, IdN World, Mindsparkle Magazine, World Brand Design Society, We And The Color, etc.

I started painting when I was five and decided to choose art and design as a major in school. Gained my bachelor’s degree in Art and Design at Beihang University in Beijing and Mater of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York state. My family provides me with the biggest support to pursue my designer dream.

The top aspects of a project to me are the ideation, the function, and the design aesthetic. Technology and digital tools definitely help present my works in a more realistic manner. My favorite tool is Adobe Creative Suite and I like creating mock-ups to present the work before sending mechanicals to production studios.

I always feel energetic when I design, and the most exciting part I enjoy for the design process is the moment I realize “I love the design!”. When I finish the work, I feel satisfied and proud.

I like reading books and quotes from famous designers, which include visual designers, fashion designers, architects, etc. With writing down the highlights of their philosophy and understanding of design, I get much inspired.

Growing up I have always wanted to be a designer. With an MFA degree in Graphic Design, I started my design career in NYC to pursue my designer dream. I want to create designs that help people, solve problems and change the world.

Stay curious, always ask questions, work hard and smart, be passionate about what you are doing, and always learn.

Keep learning is the key. It is inspiring when you learn from different fields than your expertise, such as reading books or watching a speech from other professional creatives. It is like different shapes merging, the connection of the shapes is where creativity grows.

I work every day on workdays. I usually create arts after work, either digital illustrations or oil paintings on canvas. Sometimes I like reading digital magazines and getting inspired by posts from design blogs during my day.

Take advantage of the internet. I mostly follow the design trends by browsing digital design magazines and a lot of well-known creative inspiration platforms such as Behance, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. It is always beneficial to be aware of what the latest design trends are, but sometimes it could be misleading if one design is created just to follow the trends.

Good design/product is long-lasting, innovative and future forward.

I define a complete design when I think the ideation, the function, and the design aesthetic are consistent and work well for the purpose. When I receive positive feedback from my audiences, I know that it is a successful work. However, as a designer, I always think there’s room for refining design details and making it perfect.

The award-winning design "Eight Ways to Protect Biodiversity" posters. It is a series of poster designs created to raise the awareness of conserving biodiversity and encourage everyone to protect our world and environment.

Massimo Vignelli. One of his most famous designs is the New York City Subway map. It is definitely a landmark for modern information design. It helps the subway riders get the clearest information in an efficient way.

I lived in Beijing for several years when I was in university. The city is representative of Chinese Culture and the experience of living in this city has become one of the most influential design inspirations for my work. I started my career in New York City, it is the most inspiring city I have ever lived in. The mix of eastern and western culture provides me with so many unique ideas for my life and work.

I believe that good designs can help people and change the world. For example, the award-winning design "Eight Ways to Protect Biodiversity" posters I created are helping and raising the awareness of conserving biodiversity. I hope the design contributes to encouraging everyone to protect our world and environment. I am glad that the work is recognized by many international awards and magazines which is beneficial for communicating the design concept with the public.

When I got the award, the appreciation and recognition from the award provided confidence for me to continue creating good designs. It's really exciting that my work is recognized by people when it got featured on the award sites.

I was reading a few psychology books recently and a question came to my mind: What would emotions look like in the visual world? So I did the research and created the posters with graphics and illustrations in English and Chinese.

The main focus is creating illustrations of the emotions in a clear and creative way.

I would like to create more design of different type of emotions.

An inspiration.

I was inspired by the idea of emotions in visual form.

The public

Creating unique illustrations, combining English type and Chinese type.

It means the concept-Emotions.

Adobe AI and Photoshop.

Creating illustrations to show the emotions in a visual form.

Technology plays a critical role, the design was created by using Adobe Suite.

The research of this project was based on information about the subject from the internet.

Emotions can be abstract and also representational at the same time. The challenge of the project was how to visualize emotions in playful and contemporary design/illustration styles. The research on the connection between facial expressions and emotions was also a challenge but an interesting subject.

I believe it is worthy to be seen and known by more people.

The inspiration was from combining Chinese and English language culture. At the same time, I am also inspired by clean and modern visual designs, which brought me to think about how to create an alphabet that represents Hanzi in a modern way.

The possibility to combining Chinese characters and English alphabet.

To make this type design to an actual font.

I have been working on the concept for years, always thinking if there is an opportunity to create the design of these two languages.

An inspiration, the possibility of combining Asian and Western culture.

People who are interested in using typeface of combining Asian and Western culture.

Every letter was a custom design, this makes it unique.

It is pretty straightforward, the meaning of combining Chinese/Hanzi strokes and the English alphabet.

Adobe AI and Photoshop

Every letter was a custom design, this makes it unique.

By using the Adobe Creative Suite makes this concept become the actual design.

The research was based on information about Hanzi character strokes and the English alphabet from books and online. It helps form the idea from a draft to the final design.

The challenge of this project is how to combine the Hanzi stroke shapes and English letters in a clear and also creative way.

I believe it is worthy to be seen and known by more people.

I appreciate the aesthetic of designing Chinese/ Hanzi strokes and the English Alphabet. I would work on more designs like this in the future.

The inspiration was from a film about saving the world by protecting the environment. By educating myself on how to protect biodiversity, I created a series of posters to raise awareness of conserving biodiversity through visual communication design.

I always believe that good design helps people’s life and contribute to making the world better. That’s my goal to achieve as a designer.

I would like to submit this design to more publications so that people would see it.

From research to production, estimably several months.

Sustainability is a subject that people always talk about. I have been educating myself and researching this subject, my goal is to create more designs about sustainability.

Poster design is a good way to visually communicate with the audience. For a sustainable purpose, digital posters are a great option instead of the printing technique.

The public.

These posters are designed in two languages, English and Chinese. This helps get more people's attention.

“Eight ways to protect biodiversity”. It is straightforward and presents the concept of the design.

Adobe Creative Suite.

It's innovative, haven’t seen a poster design list and visualize the ways of protecting biodiversity in two different languages.

Just myself.

The design was created entirely digital and paperless. In this way, the production would be without a physical printing process, and the audiences can view it through the internet.

Conducted research online from Google, chose from subjects, decided the categories, had conversations with others if they realize the problems, considered what would be the best/most sustainable way to produce the design.

The most challenging part of this project would be the selection of subjects. There are plenty of environmental problems that we need to pay attention to. In the end, I decided to choose the subject: ways to protect biodiversity, because biodiversity provides healthy ecosystems that are really important to the earth.

I would like the design and the concept to be recognized by the world and more people.

To create more sustainability designs.

I hope more sustainability design would be created and benefit the world.

I study Art and Design at Beihang University for my bachelor's degree in Beijing, China, and gained my Master of Fine Arts degree in graphic design at Rochester Institute of Technology, New York State.

The belief that design helps people’s life, solve problems, and change the world is always the motivation for me to create good designs.

I started drawing and painting when I was five. Growing up I have always wanted to be an artist and designer.

I create branding, digital design, illustrations, editorial design, as well as Experiential Design, etc. I am looking forward to creating more designs with technology.

Believe in your work, work hard and smart, be patient, pay attention to details, and always ask why.

Focus on details, and make the design innovative and different.

A good design always has great ideation behind it.

Good design is innovative and long-lasting. Everyone should invest in good design because good design is always getting people inspired and solving problems.

Design for sustainability organizations.

I want to design something that can be sent to Mars.

Always be patient about making design details and passionate about what I am creating.

Massimo Vignelli, Saul Bass, Stefan Sagmeister & Jessica Walsh.

I like the designs by Saul Bass, I get inspired by his design concept “Design is thinking made visual”.

The award-winning design "Eight Ways to Protect Biodiversity" posters. The ideation behind this series of poster designs is to raise the awareness of conserving biodiversity and encourage everyone to protect our world and environment.

Stay curious, be passionate about what you are doing, and always learn.

Maybe an oil painting artist. I love the realistic feeling of painting with brushes, this will never be replaced by digital painting.

Design changes people‘s life, especially when it with technology.

The creatives that I have been worked with are the most influential people in my career.

The knowledge and experience I learned from school and work experience and the support from my family.

It is important to tell the story of where your idea comes from, and include all the sections of the process. Make sure audiences understand why you think it is successful.

Design changes the world.

An esteemed designer tells a unique story through visual language.

In a lot of different ways, such as design helps sustainability and solve problems.

I have been creating a series of digital illustrations based on my daily life.

The award-winning design "Eight Ways to Protect Biodiversity" posters. It was recognized by a good amount of international awards and magazines.

More sustainable production.

Design with technology.

It depends, maybe a couple of days or several months.

I usually start by getting inspired and creating mood boards for ideation.

Less is more.

It’s a two-way answer, it works in both ways.

Design and technology rely on each other and design is a bridge of connecting technology to consumers.

Adobe Creative Suite.

They always work together.

Where I get the idea from, I think it’s the most creative part.

Why it is great and what inspiration I can get from it.

Sometimes yes, I like working independently but also I get inspired by my coworkers. You never know where the inspiration comes from.

The creatives that I work with when I started my career in New York City.

I designed a series of posters of emotions after reading a few phycology books. That was the biggest inspiration of my recent work.

Read books and get inspired from life.

If it exists, I want to talk with whom has experience traveling between parallel universes.

Getting awards and recognition means my work is appreciated and I have more motivation to create more designs.

Black and white, home, ice cream, fall, my phone, Apple Inc.

The best motivation is when my work is appreciated.

I started drawing and painting when I was five. Growing up I have always wanted to be an artist and designer.

People might live in a digital world.

I will launch my new design work soon. :) Stay tuned!

I started drawing and painting when I was five. I have always wanted to be an artist and designer. Sometimes I wish to be a fashion designer or a film director.

With an MFA degree in design, I focus on graphic design, art direction, branding, illustration, digital design, print design, and experiential design, etc. I also have a passion for photography and fashion. My work incorporates bold, dynamic typography and illustration, along with energetic colors. I started my career in New York City and decided to move to Los Angeles years ago, I gained years of design experience in both cities. I have created work for a variety of clients including Google, Apple, Shopify, Facebook, Sundance Film Festival, PepsiCo, Stella Artois, and many more. My work is featured on Creative Boom, Print Magazine, IdN World, Mindsparkle Magazine, and World Brand Design Society, We And The Color, Design & Paper, etc.

Design changes people‘s life, especially when it with technology. And design helps solve problems and change the world.

Branding, Typography, and Illustration.

The award-winning design "Eight Ways to Protect Biodiversity" posters. This is a series of poster designs created to raise the awareness of conserving biodiversity and encourage everyone to protect our world and environment.

I like prints, I think print will never die. A lot of great designs can only be seen by print technology, like 3D books and paper art. Of course, nowadays I’d say digital platforms are important as well, like social media. I get inspired from the internet every day.

It could happen at any time. Maybe it’s when I watch a movie, listen to a song, or talk to a friend.

Ideation and details.

Energetic.

Glad and proud.

Innovation, uniqueness, and details.

Ideation and aesthetic.

Create aesthetic designs, help solve problems and change the world.

The future of design is relying on people and technology.

It was during Oct 18-Nov 1, 2021, in Istanbul, Turkey.

To me, sometimes life is an experience of learning. I learn from people and things, so I get a lot of inspiration from daily life, sometimes it is a song, sometimes it is a movie or a book, or a conversation with a friend, or even an emotion or a dream. I always write it down when a thought comes to my mind, even sometimes it is random, but later this random thought could become a contribution to my next work/project.

I don’t think I have a certain style because I don’t want to limit mycreativitywhenIdesign, but I like dynamic and colorful designs that would make people happy when they see it, of course, the design with meaningful and functional thoughts behind it at the same time. I like to follow trends but not follow trends. It is always good to learn what good design and art are in the latest trends but it is also really important to keep my work different and unique.

I live in Los Angeles, California. I like how the art design culture is mixed here in the US. I always get inspired by designs from different culture.

I like working independently but also as a team player.

Be honest to let the designers know what exact work you are looking for from them. Let them know when you appreciate their work.

I like to get inspired and brainstorm first before executing the work. Have a deep level of understanding of the problem I am solving and define the best solution.

Apple laptop, iPhone, iPad, Wacom Tablet, Dyson Hair Dryer.

A morning coffee and get inspired from life.

Get inspired, work hard, stay curious.

The belief of being a designer could help people and the world always makes me positive. Negatives might be sometimes it is hard to balance work and life. And the balance of life and work is really important for being creative.

Never right align type.

Think before design.

Adobe Creative Suite. I like get inspiration from the internet, such as Behance, Designspiration, Pinterest etc.

Create a plan on how many hours I put on searching inspirations and crafting the design. Be focused and be efficient.

It varies, it can be a day or months.

“ Can I see your work?” :)

When I started my career in NYC, I worked with a lot of very talented and creative people. The experience taught me a lot. That was the most valuable work experience I had.

Google, Facebook, Apple, Sundance Film Festival, Shopify, Netflix, The North Face, PepsiCo, Stella Artois, SBE Entertainment Group, Patron, YAHOO! Sports, etc.

Designs that have a great concept and make me think about it for a second time.

My future plan is always to create good designs. Helping brands, companies, people, and the world through visual design is always the goal.

I like working independently but also with other team members like creative directors, copywriters, and strategists, etc.

I have been creating a series of digital illustrations based on my daily life.

My website, ruimadesign.com