Meet Valia Liu | Graphic Designer

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

Hi Valia, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Since I was very young, probably in the first grade, I had an interest in digital layout/design. While most of my peers were hanging out in the playgrounds all day, my biggest hobby was to sit in front of the desktop at my grandmother’s house, open up PowerPoint, and try out all the templates, fonts, animations, etc.

This particular hobby lasted for a long time. It made me realize that while I would feel extremely tired and irritable after studying at my desk for two hours, doing typography and design in front of the computer for hours on end would only make me forget about the passage of time. Since then I’ve been thinking: if a career is something that will take up most of the best years of my life, then I want to choose as my future career a field where I can work eight hours a day without getting frustrated. That’s why I’m a graphic designer now!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As I’ve always told people, I’m a designer with a “fake ADHD”: I’m always on the lookout to learn new effects, new software, or new techniques. After learning the basics of typography, I thought: if only I could learn some more complex image manipulation techniques. After that, I wondered: if only I could make my own 3D models to enrich my layout. And then I’d think: what if I could learn some front-end coding and show my projects to everyone in a customizable form? …… As a result, I’m always learning and have become a designer who seems impossible to be quiet. This not only gave me more freedom and flexibility while designing but also allowed me to bring a great deal of contribution to the startup company I’m currently working for. I know that in many people’s minds, getting to know a field deeply is one of the necessary conditions for success, and they want to see you decide on your direction and are determined to go towards it. But I believe that’s not the case for everyone and I’m proud of the choices I’ve made. They’ve made me who I am.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Griffith Observatory is definitely my top recommendation. When I was in the observatory, I was able to not only feel a spiritual stillness that I hadn’t been able to perceive in a long time, but I was also able to enjoy the sunset and the view down the mountain.

By Beverly Hills, we can pick out gifts for each other and get to know each other a little better.

Disney Theme Park is also a must-go for me. Mario Zone is just too cute.

& maybe a rave?

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to thank my mom for all she has done for me along the way. It wasn’t until now that I realized: curiosity is expensive. Growing up, I was curious about a lot of things and used to acquire some basic equipment to explore almost every new hobby that I had. In many cases, those pieces of equipment would be having a long sleep in my cabinet within a few months of purchase. As I was exploring, I grew to understand my interests and preferences, thus incorporating some of them into my career plans today. Except, I never thought about what the price of addressing curiosity was, and who was quietly paying to give me the material foundation to try each new interest. As I remember, she was always very supportive of my new hobbies or aspirations and expressed her amazement and praise for the new crafts I made. She gave me a lot of trust, support, and love, which helped me grow into the person I am now.

Website: https://valialiu.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/not_valya/

Image Credits
Copyright © Valia Liu 2024.