DESIGNER PROFILE – Yu-Yin Lin
Summarize your professional career in 1 to 3 sentences.
YYL: I am a textile design professional with over 13 years of experience in apparel, beauty and accessories, including: trend research, artwork direction and creation, and line presentation. I have an intense passion for creativity, and have a keen eye for color and trends.
What should everyone know about you?
YYL: I am an Assistant Stylist/ Sr. Textile Designer with over 13 years of professional experience in the fashion/apparel/ accessory/ beauty industry. The companies that I designed for include Nordstrom, Eddie Bauer, Target, CVS, Bed Bath & Beyond, Cherokee, Wal-Mart, Mizuno, and more. My design is fine-art based and is influenced by both Oriental and Western cultures which reflects the diversity of my educational background, as I earned my BFA in Taiwan, where I was born and raised, and my MA at California State University, Long Beach.
How would you describe what you do?
YYL: I create and design patterns from concept to completion through all development, production, and approval stages, while I oversee the coherence of the line. My expertise in translating marketing trends into creative prints and products helps the sales team meet their clients’ needs and achieve their sales goals.
Why did you choose to be a Textile Designer?
YYL: I always loved to draw since I was 3 years old. I could draw for hours without being tired. I express all emotions into my drawings. I am so in love with art and wanted to be an artist when I was 6 years old. I spent all my free time, including weekends and school breaks, at art school, dedicating myself to learning to be proficient at art while other kids were playing outside. With my hard work, I was accepted to the prestigious National Institute of the Arts, the top art university in Taiwan. After graduating, I started my career as a Graphic Designer and Interior Designer. In 2002, I decided to improve myself by pursuing my MA at California State University, Long Beach where totally transformed my life to another level. During that 2 years, I had a chance to take classes of “Surface Design” and “Fiber Sculpture” that truly evoked my passion in Fashion and Textile Design With my fine art background, my design is innovative and original. Textile design is the best job that I can fully apply my artistic creativity to patterns.
Best/ Most challenging part of your job?
YYL: The best part of my job is seeing people wearing my design with a smile and displaying the confidence inside of them! However, the most challenging part of my job is that I need to grow a thick skin. Not all of my designs will be selected for the line, and not everyone is going to like my designs. Sometimes my design will be altered by buyers for their needs. As a person who is very proud of the work that I do, I have learned to not take it personally. Designing the perfect products for buyers that meets the needs of their customers is the key point.
What do you like about what you do?
YYL: I love creating beautiful, fun, interesting and story-telling patterns that relate to people. Drawing and working with colors make me happy and feel alive. Plus, it’s exciting to check out the latest trends and colors for upcoming projects; which is how I consistently learn new things and improve myself.
What is the biggest lesson that you have learned since you started your career?
YYL: The biggest lesson that I have learned is to never be discouraged. As I mentioned above (the most challenging part of my job), I need to grow a thick skin and always believe in myself. As an artist, you must recognize that a design that you feel strongly about, others may not always share the same perspective. This means you must learn to intently listen to what your customer wants and allow your personal preferences to not interfere with the design and style that is being communicated to you by the buyer. It is important to keep an open mind, check your ego at the door, and sit down with your clients and learn all their priorities for the given assignment, all the targets you should meet. Then, unveil your designs to your client, explain how they meet the requirements originally established, and ask for their thoughts and concerns. I always remind myself how much I love what I do, and , I always do my best, keep a positive attitude, and always look to learn and grow.
What are you fascinated by at the moment and how does it feed into your work?
YYL: I am fascinated by lots of things, such as life, music, art, people, and everything that touches my heart. I am very aware of how people will be affected by my design~ feeling happy, building inner confidence, laughing or receiving the positive messages that I try to send out. For example, I have designed several prints for BCA (Breast Cancer Awareness) that raise people’s awareness of cancer and also support people who have been through or are still fighting cancer.
What would you like to achieve before the end of the year?
YYL: I would like to expand my creativity from textile design to styling. I am currently working on my website that will help people find their own styles, build their own wardrobe within their budget, but still stay in fashion trends. You can check out my Instagram for more information: My ID is seeuasu (consider writing as SeeUasU)
What advice would you give to young designers?
YYL: “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst”. In the fashion industry, you will encounter lots of challenges and difficulties so you really have to remind yourself from time to time why you chose to be a designer. Never stop learning is also another key to be successful!
If you were not a designer, what would you be?
YYL: I would like to be a photographer who can travel around the world to catch the most amazing moments with people, places and events. Every photo tells stories, touches people’s feelings and event inspires them!
Are there any types of clothing/footwear/accessories that you avoid wearing?
YYL: What you wear represents who you are. I avoid wearing something that makes me feel uncomfortable inside out. I don’t exactly follow the trends, but pick certain trendy elements that go with my personality.
Are you superstitious or do you have any rules you live by?
YYL: I would say that I am not superstitious, but I do believe that everything happens for some reason”. Maybe you didn’t know why and how it happened, but you would understand or figure out why that happened to you sooner or later. I always learn something from whatever happened in my past and try to be better!
What’s your motto?
YYL: Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.
I was born and raised in Toufen, Taiwan.
I completed my BFA in Oil Painting at the National Institute of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan. My professional career started as a Graphic Designer and Interior Designer where I gained experience learning how to transfer my creativity and knowledge from painting to a new technology- computer art.
After a few years working in this capacity, I wanted to further expand my educational background in this area of art, so I applied to a Master’s program in the United States, and proceeded to immigrate to the United States, and immerse myself into a completely new country, new language and new culture – all by myself! In two years time, I earned my MA in Art Education: Design and New Technology at California State University, Long Beach. I am grateful for the support of my parents as I went through this amazing journey.
I currently reside in the Los Angeles area and look forward to continuing advancing my career and meet all new challenges that lie ahead.
Learn More about Yu-Yin Lin here:
https://styleportfolios.com/portfolio/seeuasu
https://vanessav122.wixsite.com/yindesign