Hello! Welcome to Decode My Design. I am Ping Chen, playing in an energetic realm called Graphic Design. I always get excited whenever I see something fresh / interesting in daily life. Nowadays, however, I feel our world is overflowing with billions of annoying ads and generic designs around us. I think they can be more effectively enticing if integrated with interesting ideas, such as the things I see in everyday life. I have the passion for pursuing the goal of perfection. I am incredibly particular with my design, attempting to figure out more ideal solutions than the ones I have got, which keeps me passionate and makes my design better each time around. Quote: “Good, better, best, never let it rest; then good is better, and better is best!” With an Advertising Design B.F.A. (China), Graphic Design M.F.A. (USA), and 7 years of work experience in branding & advertising in both the U.S. & China through various visual media, I have built a unique aesthetic philosophy and diverse design style to approach high quality and creativity in every design. I specialize in an international style, communicating beyond cultural boundaries, with a late-postmodern attitude incorporating classical successes, pure and simple modern beauties, and postmodern concepts. As a visual communicator, I am capable of concept-oriented branding and advertising strategies plus visually-oriented facades. I consider myself as a problem solver, responsible for bettering human lives, with which I focus on defining and managing appropriate design solutions for long term benefits of clients as well as seeding roots of sustainability in design. I think thoroughly and conceptually and establish visual language exclusively for each project.I strive to make people’s lives better by their experiences of my design, which aims to not only inventively catch people’s eyes and emotionally touch people’s hearts, but also functionally expand people’s capabilities and meaningfully refresh people's lives. I always treat “now” as a beginning point for this objective and have been doing and will be insistently doing as much as I can to make Design Refreshing Lives . . . . . . start

Molly McGuires is an Irish and Celtic style, modern tavern. As the restaurant is a distinctly cultural atmosphere within a contemporary high-end restaurant, this logo is designed with multiple cultural elements, including an Irish green, Celtic patterns, a Shamrock leaf, and stylized typography that is historically Irish handwriting referenced. All of the elements are integrated through highly contemporary rendering.

0. Molly McGuires Restaurant // Identity // Typography
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ZeeZee(ZZ) specializes in designing creative & sustainable interior spaces. As a promotional strategy, its identity is branded as a unified, concrete color and an opened “Z” door in a 3D style that stir viewers’ curiosity as if inviting them to explore the mystery of 3D interior spaces: her unique personal interpretations on diverse styles of interior architecture. This whole promotional kit includes a card, a stationary system, a calendar showing work samples, a teaser, a digital work sample piece, and a blog-style (imitation of interior tours in “skyscrapers” by scrolling the “elevators”) portfolio site.

0. XZZ Space: Interior Design // Branding
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This is a re-brand project for Garden City, Georgia government. With the expansion of adding new land and their new city hall in a new, modern city center, Garden City has been growing to become an even more beautiful and ideal place to live. The new city logo illustrates a stylized Georgia State Flower, the Cherokee rose, with an organically elegant typography intergrading with “G” & “C” and leaves. The new city crest demonstrates the overview of new Garden City and the warm mood of family lifestyle happiness. This 360 degree re-brand project involves every brand-related aspect.

0. City of Garden City // Rebrand
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Tubby’s is a fun place for people who like seafood and music to hang out and relax. Like their tons of fresh seafood, the logo creates a relaxing mood and sense of humor by fishing in a tub on an ocean in nice weather. With the combination of typography, pictorial graphics, and sailing elements, its identity conveys the message of fresh and fun.

0. Tubby's Restaurant // Identity
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Contest Winner

AdviceList.com is an informational site that lists hot topics with solutions of people’s daily issues and helps people with plentiful, useful “how to’s”. As the site’s name, the concept of the logo design concentrates on “advice” and “list” by many comment bubbles, implying response with abundant helpful information.

0. AdviceList // Identity
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The South magazine is the resource for getting the most out of life on the Creative Coast and a celebration of the style of the new South. To meet their statement and keep the already recognized identity, the logo refinement concentrates on sexier letterforms, including fashionable contrasts, even letter weights & negative space, and fluid strokes.

0. The South Magazine // Logo Re-design
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0210_new_the_south_logo Award Winner

The City of Garden City, Georgia government, were going to run a re-brand project for the city. With the expansion of adding new land and their new city hall in a new, modern city center, Garden City has been growing to become an even more beautiful and ideal place to live. As a prologue to this re-brand project, this introductive and promotional campaign tries to create a mysterious mood to attract audiences to explore the “cultural treasure” of the new, advanced realm with their deeply historical roots. The series, an invitation, envelope, and ticket, with its bill-like form, express the value of the “everyone-wants” & “everyone-talks” topic. Award-winning piece.

0. City of Garden City // Invitation
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Award Winner

Rêve Surfaces is a contemporary high-end material design showroom for interior construction. Its collection includes most of first-rate European material brands, such as Sicis, Waterworks, Terra Viva, Vetrostone etc. Meaning “sweet dream” in French, the Rêve logo is visualized as soft and illusional typography and formed to be elegant and pure, with which its whole identity system attempts to be a stylized, modern, high-end, and dream-making world via its minimalism.
Award-winning piece.

0. Rêve Surfaces // Identity
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With a black & white close-up photo of a window blind, this advertisement shows the details and quality of Rackley’s Window Treatment. The 3D typography integrated into the giant building-like shot embodies the relation and attitude between Rackley’s and windows.

0. Rackley's Window Treatment // Advertising
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0. Grapevine Restaurant // Identity
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With the tempting food giving out its scent through the “grape trellis” grid, elegantly organic grapevines as the design elements floating through the pages, script typography, and classic typefaces, this Grapevine menu design exhibits a high-end restaurant of European gourmet cuisine.
Award-winning piece.

0. Grapevine Restaurant // Menu Design
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There are only 3 seconds in which to catch drivers’ sight with outdoor billboards. Within these 3 seconds, this design attempts to communicate 3 things: the delicious food, the Grapevine brand, and the contact, one message per second. Above these 3 things, with the tempting gourmet cuisine giving out its scent via the “grape trellis” grid, the overall visual language emotionally establishes an experience of a high-end European restaurant.
Award-winning piece.

0. Grapevine Restaurant // Outdoor
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United Future is a design company endeavoring to discover future styles. The initials “U” and “F” fused with each other creates a canyon that paves the way for the future.

0. United Future // Identity // Identity // Typography
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In the beginning of 2009, as a celebration of New Year and a one-page “yearbook”, this fashion magazine advertisement for Shot by Roxy, a first-rate photography studio, manifests the quality, the productivity, and more(double en-tundra) moments being seized in time.

0. Shot by Roxy // Advertising
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Savannah Hardscapes is a natural construction company specializing in various materials, surfaces, landscapes, and natural views. This crest design both incorporates those features and states the company’s established attitude and culture.

0. Savannah Hardscapes // Crest Design
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The key concepts of KingdomLife Ministries logo are “reverse” and “eternal”, emphasizing with its “anagram” the reversal of people’s messy lives and their transition to eternal of lives. In order to convey the message, the visual language includes the design elements of crowns (also the lights), column-like “K” & “L”, and also the infinity-like symbol.
Award-winning piece.

0. xxxxx McGuires Restaurant // Identity // Typography
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Hopscotch -- on the wall? How do people play? How can people even stand; let alone jump? This Nike commercial is metaphorized for the spirit of the corporation with the original slogan -- Just do it, which tries to make people feel that they would become more powerful by wearing Nike.

  1. Nike // Advertising
award winner

This whole is designed for an international educational organization, including the logo, the stationery, a manual, and direct packaging. Apollo is the god of the sun. The red scribble presents the sun, which is the symbol of power and brightness, enlightening people, warming people, and providing a bright future. At the same time, the scribble creates the feeling of an uneducated childlike doodle, but gradually, the main shape becomes a more and more perfect circle, which aims to be well educated. Award-winning piece.

           
  2. Apollo Education // Brand Identity System                    
contest winner

By composing various cultural patterns with the words "Barnes" and "Noble", and different ampersands from different languages, surrounding the traditional Barnes & Noble logo, this design expresses the impression of cultural diversity and rich knowledge.
Contest-winning piece.

     
  3. Barnes & Noble // Cross-Cultural Promotional Campaign        
award winner

This series deliberately literally displays the characteristics of black white things in our lives to suggest the relationship between black and white people.
Award-winning piece.

     
  4. Say No to Racism // Social Posters        
award winner

This web site was designed for the Wren's Nest, a literary museum and also the home of the famous 19th century author, Joel Chandler Harris, who created the well-known characters, such as Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit, etc.
In the role of visual leader in this group project, I designed the web site to be a virtual online museum by using the photos of the real museum that I took to create a historical mood that entices people to explore this American literary treasure.
Award-winning piece.

     
  5. The Wren's Nest // Online Museum Site            
award winner

This book is about my personal design process, which illustrates my five projects. There are two sub-books inside this entire book. The one on the left displays the final appearances of my five projects, and the one on the right shows my creative processes of those five. The two sub-books can be read either individually or simultaneously. Continuations between these two symmetrical sub-books make readers perceive how my thoughts develop.
Award-winning piece.

         
  6. Design Methodologies // Book Design                

Design College Expo 2005, Seoul, Korea -- the theme, The Age of Design was personally interpreted as "design: everyone", "design: everything", "design: everyday", and "design: everywhere" focused on "who, what, when, and where", to respond to our daily lives overflowing with design nowadays.

       
 
  7. The Age of Design // Poster Series Exhibition                

This typeface, Byseal, was designed with an attitude after the postmodern perspective by incorporating postmodernist and modernist design values with classical typefaces' successful design forms. Based on the research through 600-year typeface design history and 5 typeface classifications, this pure text typeface attempts to own timeless, elegant forms with great readability in huge display size as well as in tiny body-text size.

 
  8. Byseal // Typeface Design    

This poster was designed for the song -- Lose Yourself -- of EMINEM, a Rap singer. The expressive type treatment overflowing with passion creates a messy 3D space, in which people feel lost. This visual language, also with certain re-presented lyric responding the singer's featured tone, symbolizes the EMINEM Code.
Award-winning piece.

 
  9. E-Code // Visual Music Poster    
award winner

This personal care set, focused as 3-D branding, including Perfume, Body Cream, and Bath Milk, is marketed for young ladies, inspired by a female of great mystery. This set seems familiar with the square-like bottles, but feels unusual. The cross logo, the dynamic imagery, the curved forms, the diverse displays and overall visual language show the emotion of un-guessable possibilities.
Award-winning piece.

     
  10. X fragrancy // Package Design            
contest winner

Camaya is a famous brand with a long history in coffee liqueur market. As the winning design of the real project, it satisfies the client’s expectations with a fresh design, long shelf life, working well on the lower shelf, and effectively showing Camaya’s characteristics by emphasizing the Mayan calendar, sculpture, and architecture to convey a mood of Mayan civilization, where is Camaya Coffee Liqueur initially came from.
Contest-winning piece.

   
  11. Camaya // Label Design        

These are some recent samples of my logo design, for:
1. Savannah Secession 2007 -- a graduating outstanding students' exhibition
2. LicensArt -- an online agency connecting creativity with commerce
3. together of World Wildlife Fund -- The logo with the ligature design demonstrates the humans and animals always link together.
4. SACC -- a network encouraging dialogue and collaboration among teachers of anthropology across sub-disciplines

     
  12. Logos            
 
 

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  Fun Stuff // 2011 Calendar Wallpaper
Experience ////////////////////////////////////////
2013 – Present // Design Director // Mega Info Tech Co., Ltd. Shanghai, P.R.C.

2011 – 2013 // Senior Art Director // RocketDog NYC. New York, NY. USA.
Direcing and leading a design team to create multi-layered design solutions, such as identities, ads, websites, and books, for iHome, MobiMunch, NowWhat Research, Stonehenge, TwoBoots, Classic Car Club, etc
2009 – 2011 // Art Director //& 2008 – 2009 // Senior Designer // & 2007 – 2008 // Design Intern // Titan Advertising Group. Tybee Island, GA. USA.
Branding for City of Garden City, Durham, Southern Motors, Grapevine, Rêve, Tubby’s, etc., including cross-platform strategies, online & digital solutions, user interactive experiences, advertisements, brochures, packages and brand identity systems. Management of a design team.
2007 // Teaching Assistant // Savannah College of Art and Design. Savannah, GA. USA.
Developed teaching strategy & evaluation criteria, presented lectures & critiques, provided guidance, and aided in grading for senior level class.
 
2006 // Freelance // Barnes & Noble, Inc. Savannah, GA. USA.
Developed a cross-cultural, promotional campaign for Barns & Noble to be implemented nationally.
2005 // Freelance // The Black Prince Distillery, Inc. Clifton, New Jersey, USA.
Design selected amongst around 50 entries for Camaya brand coffee liqueur. Released for real marketing.
2000 – 2004 // Art Director // ADK − Shanghai Fortune Advertising Co., Ltd. Shanghai, China.
Duties involved concept building, including advertisements, web sites, brochures, posters, logos, TVC, packages, and CI designs, with directing over 10 designers.
1999 – 2000 // Editor // OTV − Shanghai Oriental TV Station Ad. Biz Co., Ltd. Shanghai, China.
Focused mainly on print publication for potential advertisers, including audience rating analysis report.
  Education /////////////////////////////////////////
2005 – 2008 // Savannah College of Art and Design [SCAD], Savannah, GA. USA, M.F.A., Graphic Design, Highest Honors, GPA 3.84
2007 // [SCAD], Savannah, GA. USA, Certificate in Typeface design
1995 – 1999 // Fine Art College of Shanghai University, Shanghai, China, B.F.A., Advertising Design

Expertise //////////////////////////////////////////
Mastery of: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver [HTML, CSS], FontLab, Acrobat, MS Office, knowledge of Flash & JavaScript/jQuery.
Large-scale, concept-oriented branding and advertising strategies inducing detailed, visually-oriented design languages.
International design style communicating beyond cultural boundaries.
Human-centered design solutions with sustainability exclusively established for each project.
Fluent language skills in English & Mandarin.
  Exhibitions // Publications ////////////////////
2008 // “LicensArt” Logo Design Case Study, presented at The Association of Free Community Papers Annual Conference [AFCP], Palm Springs, California, 2008
2008
// Showcased work in the [SCAD] Catalogue
2007 // Designs exhibited at 2007 Savannah Secessssion, outstanding student design show, [SCAD]
2006 & 2007 // Selected & participated in poster projects exhibited at International Young Designers’ Exhibition [YODEX], organized by Taiwan Design Center [TDC], Taiwan World Trade Center, Taipei, Taiwan // The Posters of 2007 also exhibited at Vernissage Exhibition, SCAD-LaCoste, LaCoste, France, 2007
2005, 2006, & 2007 // Selected & participated in poster projects exhibited at International Design College Expo [DCE], organized by Korea Institute of Design Promotion [KIDP], Seoul, Korea // The posters of 2005 also presented at Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey, 2005
  Activities // Achievements ////////////////
2007 // Selected & served on the “Smart Design” Poster Project Design Committee, [YODEX] //
Also designed the “Smart Design” logo & Layout format for the project.
2007 // Member of American Institute of Graphic Arts [AIGA].
2007 // Member of Art Directors Club [ADC].
2007 // Committee member in “2007 Savannah Secession” design team, selected as the best seven students, [SCAD].
2007 // Selected & served on the “Interactive Print: Engage [IP]” Poster Project Design Committee, [DCE]. // Also designed the [IP] logo for the project.
2006 // Selected & served on the “Change the World” Poster Project Design Comittee, [YODEX].
  Awards //////////////////////////////////////////////
2010 // Gold Award, Stationery Package (Garden City), Addy Awards, American Advertising Federation [AAF], USA.
2010 // Bronze Award, Stationery Package (Durham), Addy Awards, [AAF], USA.
2010 // Bronze Award, Stationery Package (Excelsia), Addy Awards, [AAF], USA.
2010 // Bronze Award, Logo Design (Garden City), Addy Awards, [AAF], USA.
2009 // Gold Award, Logo Design (Rêve Surfaces), Addy Awards, [AAF], USA.
2009 // Silver Award, Logo Design (Grapevine Restaurant), Addy Awards, [AAF], USA.
2009 // Silver Award, Logo Design (KingdomLife Ministries), Addy Awards, [AAF], USA.
2009 // Silver Award, Advertisement (Zielenbach Photography), Addy Awards, [AAF], USA.
2009 // Silver Award, Menu Design (Grapevine Restaurant), Addy Awards, [AAF], USA.
2009 // Silver Award, Identity System Design (Rêve Surfaces), Addy Awards, [AAF], USA.
 
2009 // Bronze Award, Outdoor (Grapevine Restaurant), Addy Awards, [AAF], USA.
2009 // Bronze Award, Invitation Series Design (City of Garden City), Addy Awards, [AAF], USA.
2008 // Nomination, Brochure Design (I.D.), Adobe Design Achievement Awards [ADAA], Adobe Systems Incorporated, USA.
2008 // Nomination, Poster Design (E-code), [ADAA], Adobe Systems Incorporated, USA.
2007 // Nomination, Brochure Design (A Logo’s Birth), Scaddy Awards, [SCAD], USA.
2007 // The National Dean’s List, USA.
2006 // Honorable Mention, Book Design (Design Methodologies), 2007 Savannah Secession, USA.
2006 // Silver Award, Package Design (X Fragrancy), Scaddy Awards, USA.
2006 // Silver Award, Newspaper Ad Campaign (Say No to Racism), Scaddy Awards, USA.
2006 // Silver Award, Web Site (Wren’s Nest), Scaddy Awards, USA.
 
2006 // Nomination, Brand Identity (Apollo Education), Scaddy Awards, USA.
2006 // Nomination, Direct Marketing (Apollo Education), Scaddy Awards, USA.
2006 – 2008 // Highest Honors Scholarship, [SCAD], USA.
2004 – 2006 // Combined Honors Fellowship, [SCAD], USA.
2002 // Merit award, Chinese Advertising Annual 2002, Shanghai, China.
download: cv .pdf                           download: cv + references .pdf