The Expert Visual Designer Xiyu Deng
With design in this age as much of a lifeline and war zone for cultural value as it has ever been, Xiyu Deng is front-and-center leading the visual narrative movement, rendering pixels into rich, human emotion. A Senior Designer at Instrument, TDC Certificate of Typographic Excellence award-winner and Graphis Silver Award winner, Deng's work isn't simply aesthetic, fusing strategic restraint with emotional complexity. From conceptualizing gig worker narratives for Uber to creating Apple TV's effective Earth Day commercials, Deng illustrates that design isn't an instrument—it's an empathy of a language, of a rebellion, and of collective memory. New York Art Life delves into the maker mind that transforms data into feelings, brands into pals, and noise into art.
Deng's portfolio is a manifesto of today's design. Her Uber Earners Opportunities campaign reframed gig work as a story of autonomy, combining dynamic imagery with interactive narrative. "Aligning Uber's brand vision with earners' needs required a philosophy of flexibility," she says. The campaign's two-screen imagery—a driver's worklife on one side, a personal moment such as teaching a kid's soccer game on the other—graphically highlighted the balance promise. "Each piece, from gradient palettes to progress wheels, was designed to evoke transitions between work and life," she goes on. The result? A campaign that allowed earners to reframe success "on their terms."
For Apple TV Women's History Month and Earth Day campaigns, Deng blended archival textures with data-inspired artistry. "Inclusivity isn't just representation—it's building spaces where viewers see their stories within a communal fabric," she asserts. Women's History Month collages stacked directors' faces over protest signs and lines from scripts, but Earth Day's thermographic slopes and glacial noise transformed planetary exposure into an interactive experience. "We rendered broken earth and swirling seeds as visual metaphors," Deng says, "so the audience didn't merely look at the planet's beat—tried to feel it."
Deng's brilliance is taking abstract ideas and rendering them in visceral terms. In developing Greenhouse's recruiter-focused brand platform, she grounded the campaign in human narrative. "We started with language from the recruiters themselves—'I hire to develop' or 'make others feel valued'—and built imagery around their grit," she explains. Marvin's story blossomed with cracked earth textures becoming lush vines, and Shirim's dream of being seen emerged from handwritten overlays. The "Why Builder" gadget—a word-mosaic dragged together with such terms as "legacy" and "innovation"—turned purpose into play. "'One hiring manager said the imagery made their 'why' feel like a roadmap, not a mantra,'" Deng recalls. Her software for Giant Steps' game-based learning system made math practice problems collaborative missions. Teachers reported that students formed "learning clans" to vanquish challenges, and neurodiverse students thrived under the certainty of the color-coded system. "The mantra 'Turning practice into play' became a lived truth," Deng remembers. "Teachers even used the system for peer mentoring. It reminded me learning is not just personal."
During Hong Kong's 2019 politics upheaval, Deng evoked fear and resistance for her 50 Cantopop Album Covers. For No Tomorrow by C AllStar, she defined existential terror through a burning red gradient covering 80% of the cover. "The gradient's gentleness echoed the uncertainty—how a single arrest or protest would reshape the city's course," she explains. A severe black line cutting the cover represented her own fractured self-portrait: "I was walking against currents of anxiety, and I wanted the art to challenge that rawness." The covers became covert histories of a silenced city. "Cantopop's imagery became a vocabulary for what couldn't be said," she remembers. SurveyMonkey's 25th Anniversary Campaign put Deng's skills at harmonizing heritage and irreverence to work. Preserving the vintage red logo, she overlayed it with memeable data art, including Beyoncé donning a cowboy hat overlaid onto sparkling analytics. "Heritage isn't repetition—it's fueling debates a brand never even knew it could host," she asserts. The campaign's AR filters, including "aging" selfies on antique tech glitches, paid tribute to nostalgia while fostering boldness. At TutorMe, Deng's student-centric interface optimized modular flexibility. Dynamic progress tracking and customizable avatars turned learning into a shared experience. "When learning is personal, community grows organically," she quotes a student who bonded with others over a "Science Explorer" badge.
Deng's recognition reaffirms technical brilliance, yet her approach to mentoring points toward her lasting achievement. "I challenge young designers to have a dialectic relationship between discipline and rebellion," she suggests. "Learn fundamentals like a scientist, then rebel like an artist." At Instrument, she nurtures environments where "risk breeds innovation," and inquiries from junior designers fuel breakthroughs.
As automation and gig economies remake the world, Deng's work poses urgent questions: Can a typeface make the unheard heard? Can a color palette bridge corporate and human dignity? "Design isn't a vocation—it's a script for how we see, feel, and connect," she asserts. Her campaigns, from Uber's earners to Hong Kong's undercover covers, are not merely deliverables. They're living systems in which typography bellows resilience, gradients chart emotion, and each pixel pulses with possibility.
Xiyu Deng doesn't simply create graphics. She designs compassion, a gradient at a time.
New York Art Life Magazine, based in the heart of Chelsea, Manhattan, is dedicated to celebrating innovators and visionaries in the art world. Every week, within its studios, NYAL conducts exclusive interviews with artists who have significantly contributed to their fields through innovation and unique perspectives. These interviews highlight creative journeys and acknowledge artistic influence. New York Art Life values every individual behind artistic production and strives to bring their stories to the forefront. The NYAL team scouts talent across disciplines, leveraging its network of galleries, theaters, and museums to showcase diverse expressions, from traditional fine arts to avant-garde performances. By fostering connections within the art community, New York Art Life Magazine plays a pivotal role in sustaining the cultural landscape.
Website Xiyu Deng
Max A.Sciarra
New York Art Life Magazine
info@nyartlife.com
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