WEI CHEN is a DESIGNHEAD


What’s design got to do with it? DESIGNHEADS is a Pink Essay project featuring the new generation of designers, tastemakers, and creatives *shaking up* the design world.

Blog — 10.7.22



Age: 22

Location: New York

Instagram: @cabin.after.typhoon

Website: https://chenw658.wixsite.com/weichen - might start a gofundme so I can get my own domain.

Are you a designer? Why or why not? Yes, but I see myself as a storyteller through creating designed objects. There are undiscovered sides of everyday ordinary objects hidden behind our repetitive interactions with them—I try to bring them out under the spotlight. I believe that by evoking the hidden sides of everyday objects, we can then change the way we see our relations with surroundings.

One word to describe your take on design: Everyday

The last thing you made: A signage system to help connect city dwellers to their surroundings called “Human Stops.”



The next thing you want to make: Planters for each of my plants based on their native environment.

A designed object you adore: glass panes




A designed object you can’t stand the sight of: Anti-pigeon spikes.

A moment of pure creative joy: Seeing people find joy through interacting with my designs, seeing my perspective of seeing is shared and supported by strangers on the street is quite powerful.

When we say “designing the future,” what comes to mind? I wish the future means a better understanding of interbeing.  When objects are designed not solely for efficiency, but for creating emotional connections between people and their surroundings(be it built environment or natural environment), we can slowly change the way we see and think about our own position. Then all the technological innovations would be much more powerful for changes.

If you could show your work to anyone in the world, who would it be? I would love to see more interactions with my design by the public. It would also be cool for Nendo to see my works—his works have been major inspirations.

Your aesthetic embodied as a:
  • sound? Jazz performance in a city park
  • color?  Color of the material itself
  • texture?  Leaves

Your *grail*: if you could own one iconic design work, what would it be? Birds birds birds by Ingo Maurer



What’s next for you? Learn more and practice more. Learn to see how design ideas are actualized in the public realm with policies and regulations. To practice more making, outside of institutional environments.

︎ DESIGNHEADS is a Pink Essay project celebrating. Are you a DESIGNHEAD? Send your responses to these prompts, 2 hi-res portraits, and photos of your DESIGNHEAD world to hello@pinkessay.space.

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PINK ESSAY

A creative studio and platform celebrating radical design subculture.