Meet Chloe: Our New Emoji Connoisseur and Hopeless Romantic

Breaking news! A new Species has been spotted and her name is Chloe Yeo. She is a talented designer filled with words of wisdom and, a lover of chips and fries—and most importantly—she has an uncontrollable love for dogs. When she isn't busily working on design projects or stopping to pet random dogs on the street, she can be found curled up on her couch watching movies or the lasest episodes of her favorite shows.

We sent Chloe our usual list of questions and we got some profound responses. Read her answers below to get a little insight into the mind of Chloe and join us in welcoming her to the team!

When did you know you wanted to be a designer and what influenced your decision?

I became interested in design around junior and senior year of high school. Being a part of yearbook gave me the opportunity to learn InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator during school hours. Pretty soon after, I took those skills to the internet, where I started making graphics and gifs about the band One Direction. I channeled a lot of fangirl energy into reading tutorials from bloggers on Tumblr, and spent hours a day just editing photos and making graphics to post on my blog.

At the time, I didn’t realize I was doing design, even though it was so color and typography oriented. Being a teenage girl making things about a boy band was often trivialized by other people, and kind of invalidated the work I was doing. But now, I understand that time was valuable, if not crucial, to my development as a designer (this talk does a great job discussing the untapped potential in the One Direction fandom). Going into college, I still kept up my blogs and would make posters and graphics after my classes. It took some time, but I eventually plucked up the courage to enroll in the design program at my school. Having the continued support from my peers and professors really solidified this as a career path for me, and I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to work with them.

Who are your favorite designers and what do you like about their work?

One of the designers I’ve always admired is Lauren Hom. Her work is so playful and versatile, I feel like she can work with anything and make it look effortless. I first heard of her when she was running Daily Dishonesty, and I was following a lettering tutorial she made (on Tumblr of course). Since that was posted in 2012, I’ve followed her work since then and I’ve loved seeing it gain more recognition.

Source: Hom Sweet Hom

A studio I consistently turn to for inspiration is Sawdust in London. Their typography is incredible, and their work for Wired is always conceptually strong and fitting for editorial design.

Source: Sawdust

I also like For the People in Sydney. Beyond producing really thoughtful and well-executed design, they do a great job of documentation and transparency. Their blog on Medium discusses some of their studio processes, like hiring or handling mental health in the workplace, which I think is really cool and important for design agencies to be talking about.

Source: For the People

If you had to pick 3 foods to eat every day, what would they be?

If it’s more general, I’d say sushi, noodles, and potatoes (like french fries, tater tots, and hash browns)! I like the textures a lot, they’re all differently fun to eat, and you would be able to flavor them however you want, so you wouldn’t get tired of anything. If I had to pick a specific food, the first thing that comes to mind are those sunchoke chips from Lark. They’re fantastic.

If you could take a vacation anywhere, where would you go and what would you do?

I’ve found I’m the happiest traveling when there’s a variety of restaurants to pick from, public transportation to get to you around, and people to explore with. Right now, I’d probably take my siblings and go on a vacation to a food city, like New Orleans or Boston, and eat around, see some live music, and take a lot of naps.

What book should everyone read?

The Joy of Less, by Francine Jay. I haven’t read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, but I think the books are similar in their philosophy. Being aware of the things you own and why you own them have really helped to frame other aspects of my life, whether it’s my relationships, habits, or the food I eat. While minimalism and sustainable living aren’t necessarily the same, I think there’s a lot of overlap. For me, this book was a great tool in changing my mindset to feel more comfortable with buying and using fewer things.

How much wood, would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

As much as its heart desires, so long as the woodchuck enjoys chucking.

Drop a wisdom bomb on us.

“A philosophy of dependence acknowledges that we are not capable of achieving more than a fraction of what matters by ourselves. Our sense of who we are should therefore be focused not so much on our unique possessions and accomplishments but upon the many good things which have come to us largely through the efforts of others.”

(I find The School of Life to be exceptionally wise.)