Vincent Liu

Despite only graduating from design school just over a year ago, Vincent Liu has already worked on high-profile projects for the likes of The New York Times, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Chinese-American band Chanpan – working along designers and freelancers to meet client needs while building up his own skillset. But the path wasn’t always so well laid out. Fresh out of school, “the biggest challenge was to show that I can provide more value to my employer than someone with more experience than me,” he explains. We find out how he proved his worth, made his mark and developed a multidisciplinary practice grounded in both craft and connection.

About my work

My creative practice
I’m a multidisciplinary designer with a focus on visual storytelling across digital, print and spaces.

Influences and inspiration
The main inspirations behind my work are Chinese culture and creative people that I admire. To name a few: Draw Down Books, Kurt Woerpel, Benoît Bodhuin, my friends in design and organizations doing great work such as Order Design, Studio Lin and Werkplaats Typografie.

My training
Yes, I think a solid foundation in typography and an understanding of design processes are essential for any graphic design role. For the positions that I have taken on, a wide range of software skills are needed. I would say mainly the Adobe Suite and Figma are the most required.

Favourite recent project
My favourite project that I got to work on was an interactive digital article that we did for Lagavulin while I was at the New York Times’ T Brand Studio. Our art director flew to Islay in Scotland with the photographer to capture the moody environment of the distillery, which was the centerpiece of that article. It really showed me that excellent creative work comes together because of collaboration with other talented individuals.

A normal day usually looks like…
It involves making myself a nice cup of tea and then hopping on my computer to do whatever work I have that day. Sometimes, if I have time, I like to have a walk outside to take my mind off of design work for a bit.

A starter pack for my job:

How I got here

Starting my creative journey
During college, I made sure to intern at places where the design work interested me and built out my portfolio. After college, it took a while and a lot of applications before opportunities appeared.

Landing my first few jobs, clients and commissions
To get my foot into full-time industry work, I was recommended by one of my professors to a creative director and I ended up getting the position. I think a good approach is to reach out to people – like art directors or professors – that you know and admire to chat about the work you’d like to do.

Biggest challenge along the way
The biggest challenge was to show that I can provide more value to my employer than someone with more experience than me, or to convince them that I was worth taking a shot on as a recent graduate.

Skills I've found helpful for my creative work
I think communication skills are a must. The design industry is very collaborative, and even the most basic relationship between the agency and the client is very important to maintain. It’s crucial to lead the project in a direction that makes both parties happy.

My social media and self-promotion vibe is…
I personally have not had much professional work inquiries come from social media. I use my social media to share personal design projects that speak to my interests.

A few things I’ve found useful in my career:
Inhabiting the Negative Space, What Graphic Design Can’t Do, Karel Martens: Re-Printed Matter, Detail in Typography, Who can afford to be critical? These books are great for someone entering the industry as they contain a blend of design theory, experimental design and design foundations.

My greatest learnings when it comes to making money and supporting myself as a creative have been…
I really respect freelance designers who do everything by themselves. After working with them, I learned that it’s totally different to the path I had imagined while in school. It’s a lot of work to maintain their own practice on top of trying to make money.

I’d say a helpful piece of advice is to always have your portfolio updated and keep a few versions of your own invoice lying around. You never know if another opportunity will need those things, so it’s good to be prepared.

Advice

Best career-related advice I've ever received
Be prolific with your work!

Where I go to feel connected as a creative
If you are in NYC, Bungee Space and Dashwood Books are great. Online, I like It’s Nice That and Are.na.

What I'd say to someone looking to get into a similar role
I would say apply for an internship in a role that you want, at the company you want to work at. Ideally, this will help you build experience. Also, get to know a lot of creative people that can help you on your journey – professors, art directors, alumni, senior designers – and go from there.