ABOUT

About me

Brand, packaging and interface, joined up by one designer.

I'm Shen Yuan, born in 1991 and working in Shanghai. I started out at a consumer brand company, spending five years on logos, packaging and retail stores. Then I moved into interface design at a tech company and realised that brand and product are two ends of the same thing.

I went independent in 2021. These days I mostly work with founders of lifestyle brands (tea, coffee, fragrance, boutique stays), plus the occasional app or B2B product. I like to begin with a brand's name and how it speaks, then build the visuals, packaging and interface as one system instead of handing over a lone logo.

What I do

Brand identity and visual systems
Packaging design
App and web interface design
Posters and campaign visuals

Tell me about your project

How I work

Business first, looks second

In the first call I ask a lot of questions that have nothing to do with design: who you sell to, what you charge, where you sell. Once those are clear, the visuals have something to be judged against.

Prototype early

Packaging and interfaces become physical samples or clickable prototypes as soon as possible. Clients decide far better when they can hold it or tap through it than when they stare at a flat render.

Hand over things that work

You get a design guide, source files, and a set of files you can send straight to the printer or the developers. If someone else picks it up later, nothing falls through.

Experience

2021 – present
Independent designerShanghai
Brand identity, packaging and interface design for a dozen-plus lifestyle brands and product teams.
2018 – 2021
Senior interface designerHangzhou · Yunshan Tech
Owned the design system for an enterprise data product and led the redesign of its console and mobile apps.
2014 – 2018
Brand designerShanghai · Qinghe Foods
Brand visuals, packaging and in-store materials for the tea and bakery lines, including opening designs for more than ten stores.

Highlights

2024 · The Camellia House Mid-Autumn gift box became the best-selling item in its stores that season
2023 · Invited to a local design salon to talk about a rebrand case study
2022 · Personal project “Street Type Archive” now catalogues more than 300 shop signs

Outside of work

On weekends I like to cycle out to the Huangpu River and photograph shop signs and lettering along the way. I’m also slowly building up a wall of old posters. Every so often I write something down and put it on the blog.