For Visual Art Designer Haotian Dong, the most important element of any design is the fun. “What I love most about my job is the creativity and fun,” he says. Dong, who comes from a city in northern China, never considered that he would pursue a career in art and design as a child. “I grew up with my grandparents, who were both chemistry teachers, and my mom and dad, who were in business and civil service,” he says. 

When Dong’s family sent him to study in the United States, it was decided that he major in Accounting. “Basically, my family thought that every company needed an accountant so I could find a job. At the time, I did not have any personal opinion on my major.” After studying for one semester, Dong realized that he didn’t want to work in a law firm, so he secretly changed his major to Visual Communication, and the rest is history.

Dong doesn’t subscribe to a particular visual style, preferring to see his work as stand-alone pieces. “This way, you can explore a lot of new stuff with each project,” he says. He also lets creativity dictate the project's trajectory, which he credits with keeping his work fresh and unique. “If you only have a strategy and focus on that, your designs will fall into a trap where all of your work becomes similar,” Dong says.