Ash Huang on moving from brand design into product design, and what inspired her to become a writer

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Ash Huang is a designer and award-winning novelist from Silicon Valley. She has done product design and branding for companies such as Pinterest, Twitter and Dropbox. Her writing has been featured in numerous publications including Fast Company, Offscreen magazine. Today she shares how she moved from brand design into product design, and what inspired her to become a writer.

Featured Jobs:

• Toptal is looking for a Senior Web Designer
• Google is looking for an Interface Designer
• Bench is looking for a Brand Designer

Episode Highlights:

2:28: Introduction: Ash describes pursuing multiple creative professions, and the unifying thread in all her work.

6:08: Ash’s educational background and experiences in design school.

11:47: Ash discusses the job market after graduation and the attractiveness of agencies and startups to prospective employees.

15:40: Ash joins Twitter, and describes her work on brand design there and at Pinterest.

18:18: Finding an interest in product design and lessons learned from other product designers.
Exploring the effects of product design and user experience on overall brand.

23:38: Inspiration for her first novel, The Firesteel, and becoming a writer. She also describes the process behind the design of her book cover.

29:42: Ash talks about her newest book, Suspension, and the themes examined. She also shares her experience writing a second book, compared to the first.

34:48: How Ash finds inspiration to write fiction and parallels with reality.

36:30: Creative satisfaction and personal fulfillment while balancing multiple creative professions.

Show Links:

Ash Huang Website

Ash Huang on Twitter

Suspension

The Firesteel

Photo from Techies by Helena Price.