Interview with Chairman Ting, the creative mind behind our newest Mogo Cards

Mogo’s newest Prepaid Visa Card comes from one of Canada’s most exciting visual artists, Chairman Ting. His new cards are here and you can see more of his work at ChairmanTing.com. We had a few minutes to pick his brain on everything from his artistic process, playful style, and what’s next for the Chairman.

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About Chairman Ting

Born and raised in Toronto, he moved out to Vancouver almost 7 years ago. After graduating from the Ontario College of Art & Design, he worked as an art director helping brands such as Nike Jordan, Lexus and Sony tell their stories through advertising. He now does freelance art direction and runs his own illustration and creative studio called Chairman Ting.

The definitive Chairman Ting interview

Can you tell us about your background?

I studied Communications and Design at the Ontario College of Art & Design and I’ve worked as an advertising art director for almost 15 years.

Can you briefly describe your creative process?

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I start off by asking a lot of questions and then I’ll try and understand the creative problem that needs to be solved whether it’s a mural or just a web banner. I also tend to doodle a lot and even write to myself about the creative problem.

Can you tell us about what influenced the designs on these cards?

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I’m not entirely sure but out of the pile of doodles I did for these cards, I was really attracted to the blob sketch. It came from the ink I was using for the doodles. I was dabbing one of my nibs in the jar of water and loved how these clouds were forming inside.

For the Gastown illustration, I just wanted to draw people floating away.