SPCC is a small, discord-grown chess club that meets weekly in South Philly. The style reflects the eccentric and jagged look of the mosaic tiles seen throughout South Philly—most memorably in the South Philly Magic Gardens. The icon and background treatments blend this with a distorted chess board pattern, and the mark itself styles the club's initials into a knight piece.
Further treatments could take the checkerboard abstractions and geometric logo further with animations that represent calculated, mathematical thinking (e.g., the animations of @beesandbombs on Twitter).

A prototype for a drawing tool allowing users to "paint" with color-filtered selections of a pre-defined image. The original image remains hidden to encourage an improvisational approach to painting and remixing.

I made these because I didn’t want to wait for 3rd party developers to update to the new macOS app icon style Apple introduced with macOS Big Sur. I shared these icons on macosicons.com, where they’ve gathered over 3K downloads and counting.

Experimentations in bringing an umbrella to life. See more → nathancheng.work/Organic-Machin…

An expressionistic, frenetic comedy filmmaking thesis in film studies for Wesleyan's College of Film and the Moving Image that I wrote, directed, and edited.

Proof of concept demo & pitch presentation for an immersive 3D videogame world introducing kids to sleep science. Inside a sleeping brain, players maintain brain function and fix neurons as they progress through the stages of sleep.

Interface & motion design for a bespoke web gallery that emulates the sparse, “zen” feeling of coffee table photography books & museum exhibits.

• Selected for competitive entrepreneurial fellowship founded by Andrew Yang

• Honed entrepreneurial skills in rigorous, two-week training program featuring workshops from Frog, IDEO, and other business leaders

• Led a 5-member team in a 3-day design sprint and pitch presentation for a motivating city exploration mobile app: Conceptualized and designed 3 high-fidelity mockup screens; Served as one of 3 pitch presenters → Received Crowd Favorite and Judge Pick awards over 4 other teams, with a panel of visiting VC and business executives.
  → More explorations

Assisting as the sole employee with sales, support, and administrative tasks, plus:

• Drove UX improvements across digital touchpoints: collaborated on website redesign, conceptualized WinWedge software interface overhaul, and produced tutorial videos, resulting in reduced support calls and increased user engagement
• Streamlined internal processes by creating a centralized Notion wiki and improving documentation, enhancing information accessibility and consistency across the organization
• Bridged design and development, providing UX guidance to external teams and implementing design refinements using WordPress, Elementor, and custom CSS
• Aiding backend modernization efforts: evaluating e-commerce platforms, defining requirements for integrated license management and customer data systems, and assisting in technical hiring
• Notable users include NASA, Eli Lilly, Nestle, EPA, 3M

Focus: graphic design, web design, UI design, visual design, mobile app design, video editing (promo clips, narrative shorts)

Designed and developed a simple website & brand refresh for a local business.

Helped high school students improve their scores for ACT tests over one-on-one virtual tutoring sessions. Tailored study plans & feedback for students based on individual learning styles & personalities. Distilled complex concepts and motivated students to stay on track.

Turned scrappy footage into a 40-min pilot episode for Betsey & Jackie Carroll's web series "And We're Live," making savvy changes to the tone, pacing, and dialogue of scenes as needed to solve production-related errors and technical issues.

Served as a tech/design consultant and sole administrative support for a non-profit theatre/arts organization, where I refreshed the branding, organized records, and provided technical advice. Created assets for their virtual events and designed a new website that doubled online traffic.

Created video graphics for a critical virtual event of a new Sign Language play attended by dozens of stakeholders. Enriched the viewing experience with FaceTime-inspired floating cards for cast/team asides and subtitles, transitioning between documentary clips and play excerpts and integrating multiple interpreter feeds. Consulted with 6 sign language consultants to research and plan digital solutions in Zoom to make the event more accessible for both Deaf attendees.

Oversaw all stages of production for an 11-minute comedy film, including directing a 16-person crew over 4 days. The film stood out from 21 film theses and earned me the non-annual Frank Capra Prize for achievements in cinematic storytelling and combining humor with pathos. I also organized and edited a media library of over 400 assets, and researched and self-taught new equipment & production software as needed.

Led a team of 4 student artists & developers to develop a prototype based on my concept for an educational video game and immersive 3D world introducing kids to sleep science. Part of a double-credit, application-based competition course led by Bethesda Softworks founder Christopher Weaver.

Received First Place for best concept & execution against three other teams by engaging a jury of 6 business, film, and game industry professionals from companies such as American Film Institute, Harmonix, Warner Brothers Games, Demiurge Studios, and Wesleyan’s I.D.E.A.S. Program.

Designed a content-driven and animated keynote pitch presentation and gave the opening and closing remarks. Worked closely with the team to ensure open communication, wrote design documentation, and directed a cohesive visual style & art concepts. We integrated insights from research on three classrooms of target users, an interview with a sleep scientist, and multiple publications. At a critical stage late in the project project, I made significant cuts to the scope to ensure we had a minimum viable demo in time for the presentation.

Proposed a new brand and graphic identity to express a startup's health and ethics approach in the snack industry. Designed signs, sell sheets, and other merchandising materials that promoted key brand values and product selling points.

Best film among 21 to exemplify the legendary film director’s blend of pathos + humor, and for “using the tools of filmmaking at the highest level.” Awarded on an ad hoc basis.

Best concept & execution in competition for an videogame demo teaching a STEM concept to children.

Midterm paper for AMST / FILM308: "Television Storytelling: The Conditions of Narrative Complexity.

People love to hate-watch Riverdale, the CW's unhinged take on the once-wholesome Archie Comics. It's a fever dream of 30-year-olds playing teens, spouting nonsensical dialogue in plots that border on the surreal. A recent viral clip laid bare the show's signature brand of cringe, prompting collective head-scratching: "Why are they still making this?" But there's a special alchemy in Riverdale's devotion to narrative mayhem. This paper digs into how the series' commitment to chaos has spawned a singular and standout aesthetic spectacle.