Meet Jun Lin | Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jun Lin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jun, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I love taking creative risks—a calculated, intentional risk pushes people to grow and often leads to exciting results. The risks I’ve taken in the past have often involved a lot of labor. I’m trying to move away from time-consuming solutions, though; sometimes it makes more sense to go for something simple. That said, I still love laborious projects. There’s a sense of deep commitment that comes through when someone has really toiled over a piece. You can tell it was made with care, and that moves me. In a design world focused on logic, scale, and systems, that kind of emotional imprint feels rare.

Last year, I took on a project that involved creating multiple custom type treatments, animating them, and producing the designs across a substantial suite of print and digital assets. I’m not a type designer or a motion designer, but I took the risk anyway. It was a lot of work to experiment and learn new skills at the same time, but I grew a lot as a designer, and it really paid off.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I consider myself a generalist designer. Over the past few years, I’ve designed books and magazines, designed for corporate and cultural brands, designed identities for events, packaging systems, and assisted design researchers with community research. I think in a time of change, remaining flexible and open to all sorts of design tasks is essential to survival. A big part of being a generalist is learning on the job. While it can be stressful, I find the process rewarding. Each challenge I overcome builds my confidence and helps me better understand my strengths. Once I move past the learning curve, I usually find the work isn’t as intimidating as it seemed. Those moments often lead to exciting growth and results.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If you’re into books, I’d recommend visiting the Skylight Annex in Los Feliz or Other Books in Boyle Heights. For restaurants, I recommend Golden Leaf for authentic Taiwanese food or Taihei for really good sushi.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d love to give a shoutout to LA and its creative community. I’ve lived here for nearly a decade, and the people, culture, and energy of this city have shaped and inspired me in so many ways.

Website: https://junlin.info

Instagram: @junlin.info