We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Tuo Zhang ("TZ").
At LIMVI Studio, we believe in good people = good works. We stand out as a design company by not only delivering the work of the highest quality on-time and on-budget but also by thinking and processing the visual project with the business understanding.
Tuo Zhang Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Tuo Zhang.
Designer Interview of Tuo Zhang:
DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
TZ : With near ten years of experience in the fashion and creative industry, she is the founder and creative manager at LIMVI Studio, leading a team of six to focus on creative solutions, business branding, and UX/UI projects. Her experience includes but not limited to branding identity, package designing, web/app product designing, and visual merchandising, and fashion designs.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
TZ : Over the past four years, she has helped several businesses to launch products, websites, mobile app, and commercial digital designs. Her focus is not only on visual design and product appearance but also think like the clients to grow the business with elevated user experiences and brand strategies. She works closely with different creative talents, developers, project managers, business owners, and sometimes, with the targeted customers directly.
DI: What is "design" for you?
TZ : I want to use design to impact people’s life and awareness in a good way.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
TZ : She spends her days organizing the team, crafting proposals, visual presentations, digital designs, and planning new projects. She leads the creative team to serve with all sizes of companies, from small local businesses up to international brands.
DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
TZ : Less is more - simple, clean, but with philosophy
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
TZ : The utilities of need - then aesthetic for inspiration
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
TZ : Fabric - or digital
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
TZ : Conceptive ultimate vision
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
TZ : Focused but fun
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
TZ : Being accepted is always cool
DI: What makes a design successful?
TZ : Design reference, research, passion
DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
TZ : Design concept and cisual design
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
TZ : Delivery high-quality work, and enhance people’s awareness that how important is design
DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
TZ : I think the design field is becoming more and more complicated — a design work, usually including different design technologies and methods.
DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
TZ : I love reading some design blogs, like the medium. By reading these articles, you can understand that other designers are thinking about what they are doing.
DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
TZ : I will always be a good fan of digital illustration, and when I design at work, I will try to input this idea to my work.
DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
TZ : Right now I’m living in the US. I don’t think my design style effected by my own culture, but I do want to add more Chinese elements into my work in the future.
DI: How do you work with companies?
TZ : I love to talk with them a lot and try to understand the story behind the work, that will be easier to do the job.
DI: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
TZ : I will suggest all the companies not only care about the work but also try to understand how the designers make their design decisions. That will be an excellent way to filter the great one from them.
DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?
TZ : At first, I need to figure out what problem I’m trying to solve; second will understand what’s the pain point of this problem, understand my users.
DI: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
TZ : My iMac, sketchbook, pencil, graphics tablet, and whiteboard
DI: Can you describe a day in your life?
TZ : Get up and take a shower, start to work.
DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
TZ : Join as many as possible design conferences, build your network.
DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
TZ : The positive thing is you can create anything you want, the negative stuff is you need to fight with the deadline all the time, and also your work will be challenged by anyone.
DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?
TZ : Less is more
DI: What skills are most important for a designer?
TZ : Learning to feedback, and do research
DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
TZ : I use illustrator and sketch a lot
DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
TZ : Before I start a new task, I will make a timesheet and list all the steps I will take. That will help me manage the time better.
DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
TZ : Depends on how big is this project and how big is this design team. Normally it will take one month
DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
TZ : The most frequent question is, why do you make this decision.
DI: What was your most important job experience?
TZ : There’s a time when I was asked to design a series of posters about the environment protect
DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
TZ : Application visual design or branding design, this kind of job allow me to expand my thinking and use my skills to make the work as best as possible.
DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
TZ : In the future, I would like to lead a team, and I would change my role from a design to a design manager.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
TZ : We have a design team
DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
TZ : Not at this moment
DI: How can people contact you?
TZ : Some of my clients will reach out to me through LinkedIn or email.
DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
TZ : Not at this moment