Interviews with Yitian Zeng

To me, design is about solving real problems and improving people’s lives whether by making something more efficient, more accessible, or simply more enjoyable.

I’m most passionate about service and system design, especially when it involves helping professionals improve their work efficiency. I find this type of work more challenging because it requires a deep understanding of workflows, problem-solving at scale, and designing with long-term impact in mind.

A campaign design for a nutrition company

My favorite material is my drawing book and my Wacom. Also love Figma, Adobe. Midjourney, GPT etc.

I feel most creative when I’m curious about a problem—especially in the early stages of a project, when possibilities are wide open.

I focus most on understanding the “why” behind the design. Why we’re creating it, what problem it’s solving, and what caused that problem in the first place. To me, a strong foundation comes from uncovering the root needs and motivations behind user behavior.

Curisity, excitement, and responsibility. Curiosity drives me to explore new ideas, excitement comes when those ideas start taking shape, and responsibility reminds me that good design can truly impact someone’s life—for better or worse.

Fulfillment and pride

To me, successful design considers multiple aspects such as adoption and retention rates. We can use the metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the design in attracting and retaining users over time.

I focus on the target users and whether the functional aspects solve their problems. A good design, to me, is one that meets user needs and also aligning with business goals.

Designers should create solutions that useful and ethical, also sustainable, minimizing harm and promoting positive impact on people and the planet.

"design field" is evolving a lot and merging with AI, or using AI like design's tool/weapon, it can help us build a sustainability products. The future of design lies in creating adaptive, ethical, and inclusive solutions that shape both digital and real-world experiences.

My inspiration comes from real-life observations. I feed my creativity by staying curious—exploring different fields like sculpture, art history, gaming, psychology, and tech, and by paying close attention to how people interact with the world around them.

To me, I combine usability, gamification, and emotional resonance. Curiosity drives me to try new tools, learn continuously, and observe how people interact with products. My approach is user-centered and problem-driven. My approach is understanding user needs through research, then explore solutions through iteration, usability testing, prototyping and feedback loops.

I live in California, but I'm originally from China. This cross-cultural experience gives me a broader perspective, blending Eastern values like harmony and subtlety with Western on clarity and usability. It helps me design with empathy for diverse users, though it can also be a challenge to balance different aesthetic and communication styles in global projects.

Open communication and inclusive.

I follow an iterative design process: starting with understand users first, research, defining problems, ideating, design, testing, and refining/launch.

Keep everything/elements consistency.

Curiosity, learning, communication

Figma, Adobe, AI tools, and I use other tools to support my prototyping, such as Maya, Unreal Engine, etc.

I also like to set daily tasks to focus. But if I get stuck, I will either take a break or change to another task to focus.

It depends on the scope of project, sometimes longer, sometimes short. From my past experience, a project could take 2 weeks or more than a year.

What is your design process? how do you approach it?

I love the most of digital design, but now the more attract me is data visualization. I think it's challenge and I want to use my skills make the complex data into a simple way.

I hope to use my skills and creativity to tackle more complex, meaningful challenges that benefit people’s lives. Beyond designing for enjoyment and gamification, I want to create solutions that make daily life simpler, smarter, and more human-centered.

Yes. I work as a team. Collaborate with other designers.

Much of Stickman's resonance can be attributed to the culture of Kansas City itself. During my research, I found a community characterized by openness, inclusiveness, and a genuine willingness to embrace new experiences. People appreciate brands with distinct personalities, yet they also value authenticity and accessibility. These cultural insights encouraged me to create a visual identity that feels playful, welcoming, and culturally inclusive. Rather than forcing a trend, the design aimed to reflect the spirit of the community, allowing the brand to naturally connect with people from different backgrounds and become part of the city's diverse food culture.

Ensuring consistency across various materials was less about scaling graphics and more about creating a cohesive brand experience. Throughout the process, I maintained close communication with the owner and developed a series of prototypes and application mockups, ranging from 12-foot storefront banners to packaging and delivery bags. These previews provided a comprehensive view of how the identity would behave across different touchpoints and enabled collaborative review before implementation.Taking a holistic approach allowed us to evaluate visibility, proportions, and emotional impact in context, rather than in isolation. This helped preserve the brand's playful and welcoming personality while ensuring a consistent visual presence across every medium.

The mascot actually originated from the owner's vision. At the beginning of the project, he came to me with a very simple hand-drawn sketch that represented his initial idea for the brand. Rather than replacing it, I saw it as a starting point and worked through multiple rounds of refinement and iteration to transform the concept into a cohesive character that aligned with his expectations.Throughout the process, my goal was to preserve the authenticity behind the original sketch while enhancing its personality and adaptability across different applications. The rounded forms, friendly expression, and playful interaction with the bubble tea and stick bites were intentionally designed to create a sense of warmth and approachability.In many ways, the character embodies the brand's core values of friendliness, inclusiveness, and joy. More importantly, it represents the collaborative spirit between the owner and the designer, turning a simple idea into a recognizable identity that customers can easily connect with.

I don't believe the success can be attributed to design alone. The owner's passion, local community support, influencer collaborations, and promotional efforts all contributed significantly to the brand's rapid growth. My role was to create a visual identity that felt warm, playful, and memorable. By using vibrant colors and a friendly mascot, the design aimed to evoke positive emotions and make the brand approachable to people of different backgrounds. In that sense, the design served as a bridge that helped transform curiosity into familiarity and encouraged customers to engage with the brand.

The unification actually started with the owner's vision. From the beginning, he shared his desire to create a brand centered around a memorable character while highlighting the store's signature offerings: bubble tea and various stick foods. Rather than treating them as separate categories, I looked for a way to connect them through a single personality.During the creative process, I explored how the character could naturally live within the bubble tea cup and interact with the stick bites. The intention was to transform the products from standalone items into elements of a larger story. By giving the mascot a cheerful expression and a sense of passion, the character became the emotional center of the brand rather than simply an illustration.This approach helped unify the different food offerings into one cohesive identity. Instead of focusing on the differences between bubble tea and stick foods, the design emphasized the joyful and welcoming experience they create together. The result is a brand system where the mascot, products, and visual language all work together to communicate the same friendly and energetic spirit.

Although the conversations were informal, they provided valuable insights into how different age groups responded to colors, characters, and overall brand personality. What surprised me was that people of different ages shared a similar appreciation for things that felt cheerful and welcoming. This encouraged me to develop a visual language that was simple, playful, and inclusive, allowing the brand to connect with a broad audience rather than targeting a single demographic.

Since many applications for a bubble tea store involve physical production, scalability was an important consideration from the beginning. Large storefront signage, banners, menus, packaging, and delivery materials all require artwork that can maintain clarity at different sizes.For this reason, I chose to build the entire visual system in Adobe Illustrator using vector-based graphics. Creating the mascot, icons, and supporting elements as vectors ensured that they could be reproduced consistently across both digital and printed media without losing quality.Beyond technical flexibility, I intentionally kept the shapes simple and recognizable. This allowed the identity to remain visually effective whether displayed on a social media post, a delivery bag, or a 12-foot storefront sign. The goal was to create a brand system that was not only expressive, but also practical and adaptable for future growth.

I believe strong brands are built on memorability, but they should never remain static. Iconic brands such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi have continuously refined their visual identities over time while preserving the elements that people already recognize and trust. Design naturally evolves alongside cultural trends, changing aesthetics, and new ways people interact with brands.For Stickman, I envision a similar approach. The friendly mascot and welcoming personality will remain the foundation of the brand, while the surrounding visual language can continue to evolve through subtle refinements and new applications. Rather than pursuing change for its own sake, I believe evolution should respond to people's expectations and the environment in which the brand exists.Going forward, I intend to stay attentive to design movements, consumer preferences, and especially the local culture and trends within the Kansas City community. By continuously gathering insights and observing how people engage with the brand, I hope to help Stickman adapt over time while preserving the warmth, inclusiveness, and joy that define its identity. To me, successful branding is not about preserving a fixed image, but about preserving a recognizable spirit while allowing the visual expression to evolve with time.

Kansas City's multicultural environment encouraged me to think about accessibility and inclusiveness from the beginning. Rather than relying on highly specific cultural references, I focused on design principles that could resonate with people from different backgrounds.Simplicity, friendliness, and emotional connection became the guiding principles throughout the project. Rounded forms, expressive illustrations, and vibrant colors were intentionally chosen to create a welcoming and approachable atmosphere. I wanted the identity to feel cheerful and memorable without becoming overly complex or tied to a particular style or demographic.At the same time, maintaining distinctiveness was equally important. The mascot, custom typography, and playful interaction between the bubble tea and stick food concepts helped give the brand its own personality. My goal was to create a visual language that felt universally inviting while still allowing Stickman to stand out within Kansas City's diverse food scene.Ultimately, I believe cultural resonance comes less from emphasizing differences and more from creating experiences that people can emotionally connect with. By focusing on warmth, joy, and approachability, the brand was able to communicate across cultures while preserving its own unique identity.