Nathan Cheng

Nathan Cheng

Design, Front-end, and Video in Philadelphia, PA, He/him

About

I like finding crafty ways to help people feel, relate, and understand through visual, sound, and interaction systems. My backgrounds in digital design, filmmaking, acting, and code have shaped my collaborative and creative approach.

My work spans visual/UI design, graphic design, web development, and video editing / filmmaking, with a focus on putting together visually polished designs and clear information structures. I also have experience in photo editing, coding, writing, and icon design.

Currently, I’m working part-time in Philadelphia while taking on occasional freelance projects. I’m looking for a start to my design/tech career at a company where I can serve one or more of the following functions:

  • Polish details and make systems more consistent, comprehensible, and representative.
  • Contribute to socio-political wellbeing or environmental sustainability.
  • Assist the design & development of new immersive experiences (e.g., VR/AR/MR).
  • Work with new tools for image-making or interaction-building

Please don't hesitate to reach out!

Contact

LinkedIn
GitHub
Letterboxd

Education

2016 — 2020
Middletown, CT
  • Major: Film Studies — production elements + film theory, history, and aesthetic development.
  • Minor: "I.D.E.A.S." (Integrated Design, Engineering, and Applied Science), concentrated in Digital Design — an interdisciplinary and project-based track in technical + aesthetic design aspects.
  • Courses: Film, English, American Studies, Linguistics, Computer Science, Integrated Sciences, Studio Art, Theater

Side Projects

Ongoing
Blog

Writing my thoughts and quotes re: film & entertainment, the internet, tools, design, and media. Made with 11ty, Tailwind CSS, Github, and Vercel.

Ongoing

See higher-quality textures & detail → nathancheng.work/Misc-Posters-a…

+8
2023

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).

+6
2020

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.

+1
2020

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.

+7
2018

3D variations on an umbrella form made with Blender 3D. See more → nathancheng.work/Organic-Machin…

+3

Projects

Ongoing

Various iconography and logo/branding work from throughout past projects.

+6
2020

An expressionistic, frenetic comedy filmmaking thesis in film studies for Wesleyan's College of Film and the Moving Image.
nathancheng.work/Robin-Goes-Out…

+6
2019

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.

+14
2017

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

+7

Work Experience

2020 — Now
Designer & Video Editor at Freelance

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

2021 — Now
Media / Design / Admin / Sales Assistant at TAL Technologies, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA

Assisting as the sole employee with sales, support, and administrative tasks while providing design, front-end, and UX tips to an outside web developer for a major overhaul of TALtech's websites and store backend.

  • Collaborating daily with the VP of sales to identify user, business, and marketing needs and provide ongoing product strategy.
  • Lead advocate for design best practices for mobile & web UX.
  • Created tutorial videos using Keynote-animated motion graphics to explain communications technology for customers. Notable users include SpaceX, Nestle, NOAA, EPA, Loreal, 3M, and AT&T.
2022 — 2022

Designed and developed a simple website & brand refresh for a family friend’s small business.

2022 — 2022
ACT Tutor at Summit Educational Group
Remote

Helped high school students improve their scores for ACT tests over one-on-one virtual tutoring sessions. That included making tailored study plans & feedback for each student based on their learning styles & personalities, distilling complexity, and motivating them to stay on track.

2021 — 2021
Video Editor at Carroll Sisters Productions
Philadelphia, PA

Turned footage that was thought to be unworkable into a compelling 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.

2020 — 2021
Admin / Design / Multimedia Assistant at Berkshire Playwrights Lab
Remote

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

2021 — 2021
Producer's Assistant / Video Editor at Dreamatorium Productions
Remote

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

2019 — 2020
Middletown, CT

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.

2019 — 2019
Middletown, CT

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. This was part of a double-credit, application-based competition course led by Bethesda Softworks founder Christopher Weaver.

We 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.

I designed a content-driven and animated keynote pitch presentation and gave the opening and closing remarks. I also worked closely with the team to ensure that we collaborated well, wrote the design documentation, and worked to smooth out the cohesive visual style & concepts. We also integrated insights from research on three classrooms of target users, an interview with a sleep scientist, and multiple publications. At a critical stage toward the end of the project, I made significant cuts to the scope to ensure we had a minimum viable demo in time for the presentation.

2016 — 2017
Remote

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 their values and selling points.

Speaking

2019
Teenage Television: Aesthetics, History, and "Hate-Watching" at Wesleyan Forum on Teenage Television
Middletown, CT

Designed a syllabus on teenage TV shows and researched the history & intermingling of TV networks, narrative structures, fan culture, and teen-oriented aesthetics

2019

Midterm paper for FILM308: "Television Storytelling: The Conditions of Narrative Complexity," cross listed with Anthropology & American Studies and led by Professor Elizabeth Traube.

People love to hate-watch "Riverdale," a teenage television show with a dark, gritty, and sexy take on the wholesome Archie Comics series. It's insane and superficial, representing much of what people despise about the subgenre of 30-year-olds playing horny high schoolers in melodramatic plots. A clip of a very cringe-inducing locker-room scene with ridiculous dialogue went viral on Twitter, leading many to wonder, "Why are they still making this show??" This paper explores what makes the cringe so addicting, fun, and aesthetically thrilling, and how Riverdale's devotion to narrative chaos makes it such a unique aesthetic spectacle.

Awards

2020

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 irregularly/non-annually.

2019
First Place from Weaver Development Competition

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