Serena Tang started off in Hong Kong, China, and then moved to her current city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to grow up & learn about the world. Attending the University of Alberta in 2009, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Art & Design. The journey has only just begun, connecting with the local & international art community, and exploring digital illustration at the Edmonton Digital Arts School.
When I was studying Art and Design at the University of Alberta, a number of my friends were in the Design program. I quickly developed an appreciation for visual communication when I enrolled in Design Fundamental courses to round out my course load. Though I was incredibly mediocre compared to my fellow classmates, it taught me skills that rounded out my fine art courses.
It was my editorial illustration assignments during my digital illustration program that helped me discover my interest in design. My illustration skills are much stronger, but this stream of visual media lets me lead with the art while balancing text and image.
My two main tasks are: 1) reviewing my planner to see what work needs to be done today, and 2) responding to messages from the previous day. In my company we have employees and clients that don’t live in our time zone, so I try to strike a balance in communicating with them within my own working hours. These tasks are often done over a morning cup of hot tea.
Emily Chu is an Edmonton illustrator (and former mentor) that made a huge impact on my journey! When I was doing my diploma program, it was so uplifting to have an instructor who shared similar identities with me, even though that sounds cheesy. I am incredibly grateful to have maintained a great relationship with her, and I am so proud to see her work all around the city.
My process often starts with many open browser tabs and search windows as I gather photo references to help me come up with a collage-like composition. I have worked on projects where we want to showcase existing spaces and landmarks, so references are a must. It’s worth the effort when viewers recognize what you’ve drawn and have memories inspired by those places.
I’m incredibly passionate about civic engagement (from policies to events), and I get amped up when I get to illustrate something that is tied to Edmonton. I also get fired up to make visual assets that amplify a call to action and to channel emotions into making these. Not only is it a good outlet, but having visuals that others can use to express their support of a movement can further its reach.
The Edmonton Fringe 2021 Theme is still a project that feels surreal to me. I had just announced that I was venturing into full-time freelancing, and I was floored to have been sought out as a potential designer for the 2021 season. I was incredibly worried that I didn’t have the skills or ability yet to produce a concept worthy of an iconic festival. But I could not be prouder of what I drew.
I have found peace in the motto “Done, not perfect.” I know that everything I work on can be better, or that I could have come up with a stronger concept. When these insecurities creep in, it helps to ask yourself if what you currently have will work.
If the answer is yes, then we finish to a level where it’ll be ready to present even if we know it could use an extra few hours. Most people who see our work will see the great effort that we put into it!
I find that strong communication skills became a double-edged sword, at least for me. Sometimes my ability to converse and navigate a project has led to situations where my role shifted to doing less designing and more communicating. I am appreciative that this soft skill is acknowledged, but I want to make sure that I still get to use my art and design skills.
In past conversations, I have expressed an interest in studying traffic engineering. I am very passionate about how people commute and move around in their communities, and I would love to learn more about the complexities of traffic signal programming or to push forward more developed infrastructure to prioritize people who do not use vehicles.
I still struggle with people-pleasing. When you know that working with clients will always go smoother if you are able to execute what they are looking for, it can easily devolve into following your client’s wishes and ignoring your own objections or knowledge that you have been hired for. Despite years of working, it is one of my biggest challenges.
I hope that I can advise young women to stress less about finding a singular style or aesthetic. Not only will it develop naturally as you do more projects, but it’s more than okay to have different styles that you can present. Even if you feel that your styles are really different, I bet that there are more similarities than you think! Embrace the variety, because it is an asset.
I used to say that every idea that you thought was original has most likely been done two or more times by other people. What I hope people take away from this comment is that they should not hold themselves to the pressure of being original and instead focus their energy on doing their projects in a way that they feel is original and true to how they envisioned their work.
I confess that I have incredibly lukewarm feelings for the vectorized portraits of people where they directly use a photograph, but purposely omit the eyes or other facial features! The lack of facial features makes these portraits off-putting to me. I hope this wasn’t too mean!
I slowly learned more about product design through producing small items to sell on my personal webshop before I was recommended to a company that produces merchandise for a brand that has a pair of cute characters.
It was a steep learning curve, but it is a very rewarding type of design where our attention to proper sizing, colour, and material can lead to products that make people really happy. I have learned so much about taking a visual asset and turning it into a tangible, physical item, and also how much focus it requires to list out all of the needed details for the manufacturer to produce it.
Studying art history has shown me the many ways that art is used in society, and I regularly think about how what artists and designers create is a mirror to what people were currently experiencing. I see art as a channel for my passion for activism and advocacy. I get to create a visual piece to relieve some stress and emotions, but also to make something that people who share a similar passion can use.
I think that my heritage has influenced where I seek inspiration and references from. Artists such as Victo Ngai and Deb JJ Lee, as well as text and image designs from Asia have made a big impact on how I approach colour and layout. I love how much more variation you can achieve with languages like Chinese where there is so much you can do with the blocky nature of the characters.
A big thanks to Monotype for supplying the typefaces for our website. Their consistent support of Canadian Women in Design underscores their commitment to the design community.
