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Apr 15 2024 
Behind the scenes of an illustration for professional client: Creative Adventure with D in Design
My client, Diệp Nguyễn, is a UX designer who just launched her brand, which focused on podcasting and spreading the knowledge of how to apply UX design into building a fulfilled life. Since her brand just arrived to the market, Diệp felt a need of some striking, high-impact, and as personalized as it could be to bring more visual support to her brand display. -
Apr 05 2024
1 retrospective and 5 reasons that will save 5 years of your creative life
Since the launch of my blog in December 2021, how did I manage to go from working 3 months to produce a 3-minute video, to creating two trilingual articles a month in addition to a 15-minute video a month? -
Mar 15 2024
Am I afraid of making mistakes when blogging in three languages?
There must be some mistakes in this article!
This March 2024, as I write these lines, my professional life is a race against time. Despite the hectic pace and stress, I…
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Mar 05 2024
How to build a strong support network as a creative freelancer?
Being a creative freelancer can sometimes feel like walking a solitary path. When you choose this path, you quickly realize there's a gap between your daily life and that of those around you. -
Feb 15 2024
How did one negative feedback validate my choice of freelance?
"How did you know that you would not regret leaving a full-time permanent job to set up your own business?" This question is perhaps the one that I received most often, from the day I shared my intention to leave a stable, well-paid job, until today, two years after I started out as a freelance illustrator. -
Jan 05 2024
Finding a balanced, authentic hobby when you (already) have a creative profession
My favorite thing in the world is drawing. And that's why I became a professional illustrator. And since I started my business, there's one piece of advice that comes back to me every week, whether from friends, or experienced entrepreneurs or in the medias I follow: "You need to find a hobby other than drawing, now that drawing has become your profession." -
Dec 15 2023
Catching up with the universe – The Present Writer gathering 2023
Strangely enough, for the past three years, the universe has been consistently saving one miracle for me every December. Even if just as surely enough, such miracle never just fell from the sky! It only happened after I pushed myself beyond my limits. -
Nov 15 2023
Creation story: Chi Nguyen – Creating The Present Writer is, actually, like polishing a diamond
What if today we were to discover the concrete steps (five polishing stages before having the diamond), which took Chi from a lambda student to a highly influential author, researcher and creator? -
Nov 10 2023
My job has a ridiculous side
I’ve been thinking about this since my move-in. It was the afternoon when I was desperately looking for my drawing tablet in the middle of 80 boxes, following my sudden house moving. -
Oct 15 2023
Hanoi, allow me to love you again.
"One day, when I was passing the King Ly Thai To statue by my house where little kids were driving in mini-cars, I saw a group of tourists huddled together, their faces lit up with joy as they eagerly snapped photos of the children." -
Oct 05 2023
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Sep 15 2023
Photographing three weddings to realize I won’t be… a wedding photographer
I'm a full-time illustrator, one of some very lucky humans being able to practice what she dreamed of doing ever since she was a child. However, before making a living out of my passion, I had a very "conventional" career path. -
Sep 05 2023
“Nhà” – Hello, Goodbye and Hello
In Vietnamese, there is this one very special word: "nhà". This word indicates the physical place where you live, be it a house, an apartment or a studio … And on the other side, this word also denotes a place you can call "home". For us, "nhà" means both a "house" and a "home". -
Jul 05 2023
I don’t know how to rest (yet)
I work too much. And I don't know how to rest. Or to be more precise, I have no trouble working hard, and I don't know how to stop before I'm exhausted. -
Jun 15 2023
Creation story: Ju_Lien – The indefinable link between community and music career
This article will be a breath of fresh air for our summer days, as we meet an artist whose universe is completely different from the cuteness we're used to seeing on this blog. Ju_Lien is a Swiss musician who creates everything solo. His music are expressive, often dark, mixed with melancholy. -
Jun 05 2023
The Present Day planner – My secret weapon for creative productivity
It is a weapon, because its power is mind-blowing. It is a secret, because its author took 5 years to design it in secret. Let me give you a head-up, this article is not sponsored. And it is absolutely not because the author of this planner is both my idol and my boss that I am advertising this secret weapon. -
May 15 2023
Behind the scenes of a real client illustration project
The last time I shared with you a behind-the-scenes of a true client project; it was about a year ago.Since then, for the past year, I was able to let you know about my work process only through my personal projects and a "fake" client project. -
May 05 2023
Choose the color palette for your visual identity (simple, fast and free)
If you are a creative person, the color palette is essential! The color palette is even more important than the logo! Colors can help create a particular mood or evoke specific emotions in your audience so that people can remember you.
