Visual Design – Design and Code

Visual Design

6 Years and 300 Illustrations Later

This is a long overdue reflection: It was supposed to happen last year. Having been away from this blog for so long made me realize how valuable writing was to me. It was a form of self-reflection and self-discovery. I missed the sense of groundedness after writing a piece, and I wanted to relive that feeling, and so here I am, writing again, starting with the topic of illustration.

The Journey

My illustration journey started in 2018. I decided then to create roughly one piece per week, which amounts to about 100 illustrations every two years. By the end of 2024, I’ve uploaded 300+ illustrations to Instagram. After 6 years of practice, here are how my best works for 2024 and 2023 look like.

Best works for 2024 (left) and 2023 (right)

Visual Design

Learnings from Reading Atomic Design

As a product designer, you may have used a design system in the past, but have you actually built one yourself? The book Atomic Design by Brad Frost talks about the atomic principle when it comes to creating a design system, and dives into the nitty gritty of how to do that.

Visual Design

Microcontrast

In art and design, the levels of details is closely related to the amount of visual interest in a piece. Rich details can help us transform something bland and banal into something amazing, and one way to add details is through what I call microcontrast, which is the contrast within existing elements of your design.

Visual Design

Small Investment, Nice Return

How creating 200 illustrations on a weekly basis has made me a better illustrator

I recently posted my 200th illustration on Instagram. As you may know, I started this project of creating 1 piece of illustration per week back in 2018. I first reflected on this journey in 2020 when I reached the 100 milestone. Now, after another 100 pieces, it’s about time for me to look back again and share with you how 4 years of consistent practice, especially in the last two years, has shaped my illustration style, and I hope that this will give you inspiration in whatever goals you want to achieve.

Colors Are Relative

One of the most amazing things about colors is that they are relative. I learned this from one of my professors in university. It’s an optical illusion, and it can be used to our advantage to create the perception of the color we want without actually using that color.