Welcome back to the Student Spotlight, where each week we’ll be interviewing an LAU student to find out more about you and your practice! For this week’s student spotlight we spoke to Visual Communication student and president of the Christian Union Society, Nicole Regine Chang. She broke down to us who inspires her, how she works and also revealed what music she likes to jam out to while creating her amazing work as a multidisciplinary designer.
You’ll have to read on to find out who that is!
Students’ Union: Hi Nicole! Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. So, we know that you’re a Visual Communication student, but what medium do you work with?
Nicole Regine Chang: I’m a multidisciplinary designer with a background in digital media design. I produce imaginative, surrealist-themed art direction and set design for photoshoots, immersive experiences, theatre, and storytelling in any medium!
Students’ Union: Ah amazing! Who or what would you say inspires you?
Nicole Regine Chang: Walt Disney, Shona Heath, MinaLima, Magda, Nicole Mclaughlin, and Ellen Sheidlin are just some of my models of practice.
Students’ Union: It sounds like you take inspiration and ideas from an array of different artists! How do you feed that into your working process?
Nicole Regine Chang: I begin with research, followed by a concept and ideation process, which includes rethinking and self-critiquing my ideas. Then, creating the works and having rounds of iterations. I do this while keeping up with content creation and documenting my process on socials.
Students' Union: You seem to be constantly critiquing and be evolving your work. It's comforting to have a cyclical process for creating your best work! Surely you have some music that helps you stay motivated in this process. What do you listen to whilst working?
Nicole Regine Chang: A mix of Disney songs, Hillsong, JVKE, Cody fry, Laufey, and basically any song that went viral on Tiktok - if that was a playlist.
Students' Union: What a great variety! Music can definitely make you feel different emotions to inspire and motivate your work. Why do you do what you do?
Nicole Regine Chang: I'm driven by dreams, wonders, the reactions it evokes in people, the wow factor, and seeing their curiosity grow. I love taking every project a step further, challenging myself and asking “what-ifs” along the way.
Students' Union: It sounds wonderful how you use such intense emotions and concepts within your work. It's always so interesting seeing peoples reactions to your own work! You sound like a very driven artist. How do you come up with your ideas?
Nicole Regine Chang: A lot of research, whether it’s through physical or digital means. I especially enjoy travelling, walking around the city, seeing what's out there and immersing myself in different experiences, theatres, museums etc. I find joy in the unexpected, serendipitous moments of life! Digitally - Google, Pinterest and Tiktok are my favourite creative platforms.
Students’ Union: Thanks so much for joining us today Nicole! It’s been a pleasure to hear about your practice, is there anything else you’d like to add before we wrap up?
Nicole Regine Chang: I'm open to collaborating and freelancing!
If you want to see more of Nicole's work, you can visit their portfolio here!