Today we’d like to introduce you to Nhi Nguyen.
Hi Nhi, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My parents came to the States as refugees and settled in Fresno, CA, where I was born. We moved to Baton Rouge, where I spent my time helping out at the restaurants my family owned (I was that little asian kid in the corner). Growing up Vietnamese-American in a restaurant family, food was always how we took care of each other, and it still shapes how I see the world.
My dad sparked my creativity. My sister and I spent nights scrapbooking at local craft stores, and growing up on the internet, I learned HTML and coding by perfecting my profile pages on sites like Neopets, Xanga, and MySpace. Looking back, that was really where I discovered my passion for design. It made sense for me to stay in-state and study graphic design at LSU. While I was in Baton Rouge, I found myself deeply craving creative community and yearning for a larger world. I made an effort to attend design conferences, expanding what I knew, and spent countless hours learning from other designers and artists. I wanted to keep bettering my craft by experiencing life through my own lens.
In 2017, I moved to Austin and spent years at a boutique design agency building brands and experiences. Now I’m a full-time in-house designer at a dining rewards app company, which feels so full circle. I think the through-line for me has always been the same. I come from a family that built a home from starting over, and from restaurants where everyone had a seat at the table. That’s what I love bringing into my work, and outside of it, making things with my friends and bringing community together through joyful experiences.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Growing up in the South as a child of refugee parents, I learned early on to work hard, keep my head down, and to play it safe. Creativity was always a big part of my life, but I didn’t always see the potential it could bring, or that it was something I was allowed to take up space with.
It took me a while to unlearn some of that. For a long time I’d shrink my ideas, second-guess myself in rooms, or undervalue my work without even realizing it. Knowing my worth as a creative has been quite the journey, but I’m a lot more comfortable showing up as myself now than I ever was before.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a designer with a focus on brand identity, building brands and experiences that feel personal and true to the people behind them. Through my freelance studio, Nguyen Creative Co, I love working with purpose-driven, community-oriented brands and anything rooted in the arts, because I believe everyone has a story worth telling. Along the way, I’ve gotten to design aprons for Hedley & Bennett, mentor in the Adobe Apprenticeship Program, appear on Adobe Live, and speak at CreativeMornings and the Brand New Conference.
Over the past two years, I’ve also helped shape community through mahjong with the Mahjong Mafia community and The MAHJ here in Austin. It’s been one of the many things I’m most proud of, building experiences through a lens of reclamation and watching people gather, play, and feel at home. In addition to that, my creative gal friends and I make up Mooncake Collective, where we make art and craft experiences at the cross sections of Asian girlhood creativity.
I think what sets me apart is that my work sits at the intersection of art, healing, and lived experience. I’m drawn to projects that center care, culture, and connection. At the end of the day, I just want to make things that help people feel like they belong and can show up as their full selves.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I can’t pick one!! I’d say it’s being curious, hopeful, and grounded. Curiosity keeps me open and makes room for creativity. Hopefulness keeps me believing in what’s possible when people come together and create. And feeling connected to the earth keeps me grounded, reminding me I’m part of something bigger and why I make things in the first place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nhinguyen.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/nhiii
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nhi-nguyen-58899152/
