Jie Jian is an award-winning graphic designer and typographer who explores how language, materiality, and storytelling connect. Her work uses typography to evoke emotion, challenge institutions, and foster connections, with collaborations including the Walker Art Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q1. Congratulations on winning the MUSE Design Awards! Can you introduce yourself and share about what inspired you to pursue design as a career?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m Jie Jian, an award-winning graphic designer and typographer exploring the intersection of language, materiality, and storytelling. My work examines how typography evokes emotional responses, challenges institutional spaces, and fosters connections. I’ve collaborated with institutions like the Walker Art Center and developed projects that reimagine our experience of text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My design journey began with a deep fascination for language as a visual medium. I have always been drawn to how words exist beyond their meaning\u2014how they take shape, move through space, and interact with various materials. This curiosity led me to explore typography beyond its traditional role, experimenting with print, digital, and tactile formats to expand the boundaries of how design can convey meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Q2. What does being recognized in the MUSE Design Awards mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n I submitted Among Friends and Sinful Magical Girls because both projects explore the role of typography in storytelling and human connection, which I consider fundamental to contemporary design. Among Friends rethinks how museums engage with visitors, while Sinful Magical Girls serves as an intimate experiment in using typography as a tool for self-expression and emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Design shapes our interaction with the world; it influences how stories are told, how institutions communicate, and how individuals perceive themselves. Both projects address urgent themes: institutional accessibility, self-representation, and the emotional weight of language. Typography, a fundamental component of public communication, can either reinforce traditional narratives or challenge them. I see my work as a way to push beyond function into deeper, more meaningful interactions\u2014creating moments of intimacy, provoking thought, and amplifying voices that might otherwise go unheard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winning at the MUSE Creative Awards affirms the impact and relevance of my work within the design community. It reinforces my commitment to using typography as a powerful tool for storytelling and social engagement. As someone who has long been involved in exhibition design, publication, and experimental typography, this recognition validates my approach and contributes to the ongoing discourse on the emotional and institutional roles of design. More than just an accolade, it underscores the importance of pushing the boundaries of typography to foster deeper connections and challenge conventional narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q3. Can you share the story behind your success? What inspired its creation, and what do you feel it represents in today\u2019s industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Sinful Magical Girls and Among Friends began with questions rather than answers. With Sinful Magical Girls, I was grappling with conflicting feelings around shame, girlhood, and self-expression, and I wanted to find a form that could hold that tension without resolving it. The concept of using typographic behavior (disappearing, distorting, or resisting readability) came from realizing that type could act as both voice and emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among Friends was rooted in a desire to soften institutional design. I was inspired by the warmth of casual conversations and wanted to bring that energy into the museum space, creating text that felt more like a whisper than a plaque.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an industry that often favors clarity, polish, and uniformity, I think these projects stand out by embracing ambiguity and emotional depth. They show that design can hold space for vulnerability and still be powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q4. What role does experimentation play in your creative process? Can you share an example?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Both projects stand out because they challenge how typography functions\u2014one in a museum setting and the other as a deeply personal and tactile experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Among Friends, I viewed typography as an extension of personal relationships rather than merely a design element. Instead of utilizing conventional museum label placements, I adopted a more human, conversational approach\u2014subtly shifting how visitors engaged with the exhibition. The text felt less like an authoritative guide and more like an invitation to connect. This method speaks to more significant questions in design regarding institutional accessibility\u2014how can museums feel more personal and more welcoming?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The difference with Sinful Magical Girls stemmed from how I approached typography\u2014as a means of readability and as a visual language for emotion. The text does not just tell a story; it acts in a manner that reflects its meaning, fading, shifting, or becoming unreadable at moments of vulnerability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both projects take risks in how text is felt and experienced rather than just how it appears, and I believe that’s what made them stand out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Q5. What’s the most unusual source of inspiration you’ve ever drawn from for a project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For Among Friends, the biggest challenge was navigating institutional constraints. Museums have a structured way of presenting information, and my approach\u2014introducing more warmth and informality\u2014was unconventional. Concerns arose about clarity and readability, so I had to discover a way to balance pushing creative boundaries while respecting institutional needs. Through collaboration with curators and extensive testing, I preserved the project’s emotional depth while meeting exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The challenge with Sinful Magical Girls was to make deeply personal experiences feel universal. The project was rooted in my emotions, but I wanted to avoid making it feel isolating. The turning point came when I allowed typography to convey the emotions\u2014distorted, disappearing, or unstable text that visually reflected the complexities of identity and self-perception. This shift enabled the project to resonate beyond my own experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both projects reinforced the idea that design is a negotiation between meaning and form, personal and public, structure and spontaneity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Winning Entry <\/p>\n\n\n\nSinful Magical Girls<\/a><\/h6>\n\n\n\n