Whether designing a brand or font or creating a digital platform for soccer fans to share multilingual memes, Pasadena-based designer Yaheng Li explores his limitless imagination in his work. “I thoroughly enjoy the process of learning and mastering new skills [but] never regard myself as a multidisciplinary designer, because I think the word multidisciplinary is a bit too grandiose to own,” he says. “I believe that experiencing and engaging with broader readings of the world are more important than skills.” This openness to experimentation reflects his life philosophy of embracing change, as Li began his university studies in China learning illustration, Chinese calligraphy, music and then science before landing on industrial design. “I believed my knowledge in physics and mathematics would influence my studies [in industrial design] positively, but during this period, I shifted toward product and graphic design,” he explains. After a post-graduate stint at ad agencies and service design firms, such as Publicis and ARK Design in Shanghai, he decided to follow a different path after the COVID-19 pandemic hit and moved to Pasadena to attend ArtCenter College of Design. Through design, Li wants to influence the world for the better. “One of my visions,” he explains, “is to be involved in projects that make people feel the beauty of our world through art and design, from the establishment of a brand to the size of a typeface.”