On this episode, we interview Silong Chhun, a Communications Associate for the Tacoma Community House, and founder of the Red Scarf Revolution. Silong shares how his early upbringing in Cambodia has impacted his work, and about the importance of identity, persistence, and design as a center point for community, advocacy and activism.

Photo: CKao Photography

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Jp:

Silong, thank you so much for being on this is design school with us today.

Silong:

Thanks for having me as the pleasure is honored to be in the presence of professionals.

Jp:

Well, we’re excited to talk to you because you have a story that is not exactly the traditional route. And, I think that is one that we really want students to know, or professionals to know, that it’s not just a straight trajectory into design school or into a design career. So, how did you get to here?

Silong:

How do I get here? Umm, graphic design, and design in general, was something that I’d never even considered growing up as a kid. What brought me here today was really the curiosity and my interest in music, which is two totally different things.

To me, I found a way to kind of relate those two things and how they are the same to me. So, I started out pursuing audio engineering and production. I went to Green River Community College for broadcast communications and discovered that I like the production part of audio; more producing under writing and sound design and editing and putting sounds together to create a piece. And, I discovered that I really like producing and editing audio more than I do being on air.

So, I left Green River Community College went to the Art Institute of Seattle where I got into their audio production program. During that program, I discovered videography. And, when you do video you need, you know, titles and graphics. And, then I was too broke to hire anybody to do graphic design. So, I stumbled on design as a necessity and more of a curiosity thing.

I pirated Adobe Suite, like everybody else does. Self taught, you know. Kind of self taught. Fuck around Photoshop here in a little bit. Just figuring out how to use the software. And, that really piqued my interest in doing.. As I learned Photoshop was for photos and I discovered that, you know, to do a lot of signage and t-shirts for screen printing, you need vectors. And, I’m like, “What the hell is a vector, man?” (laughs>

So, then here comes Illustrator. And, Illustrator is probably the software that I just began learning about four years ago—been using Photoshop for a while. But, to me all of those things kind of relate to each other, because I see design as a placement of objects within a space. And, with audio you’re kind of doing the same thing. You’re taking different instruments and frequencies of those instruments, like your kick drum and snare drum. I’m trying to find the perfect space within that frequency where design is kind of the same thing to me. You’re taking objects and placing it within the space and creating a relationship that makes sense to me. More important in the design is the message you’re putting out. Same thing with music, was the message you’re putting out.

So then, here I am. I’ve started designing. I do a lot of t-shirt designs, and do that. I’ve been able to start freelancing as a graphic designer.

Jp:

And, you’ve worked with a couple of different organizations and a couple of different projects that you started yourself? What are some of the things that you’ve done with design?

Silong:

Okay, with design… The thing that got me really into design, to where I am today. I attribute to the clothing brand that I started called Red Scarf Revolution. Red Scarf Revolution is a clothing brand. But, I see it more as of platform. And, a way for me to get out the history of the Cambodian culture.

What Red Scarf Revolution does is try to connect the youth to their history. The Cambodian youth, specifically, to the history. Because, you know, if you’re not aware of the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian’s history, in 1975 a communist regime called the Khmer Rouge took over. And, from 1975 to 1979 they murdered about 1.8 million Cambodians. And, during that time, they murdered the intellectuals, the artists. Anything that has to do with Western influence they got rid of so they can run this utopia farming country. And, that was their idea.

The the reason for Red Scarf Revolution is to, kind of, to connect the youth to that part of history. ‘Cause that’s the reason why we’re here in the United States. A lot of our parents and grandparents came here as refugees and they were too traumatized to talk about it. My dad used to talk about the war and his role in the war when I was small and younger. But, I didn’t understand it. I was too immature to even care because I, you know, I was trying to discover myself, too. But, when I got a little older, I learned about the history and all the horrible things our parents and elders went through. And, for me, it was really a revelation. Like, “Man, we need to know this. Especially because this is our history, ’cause no ones going to tell it for us. So, I’m using the Red Scarf Revolution brand, and the designs I create for those t-shirts, as a way to tell a story. And, it is a way to bridge the gap between our upcoming youth, too. Every design that I make, that I put out, with Red Scarf Revolution has some kind of meaning and connotation within the history. So, each design is like a timeline of what went on.

Jp:

That sounds fascinating, especially because you are connecting to the youth and their own history. Do you find other ways that design has been able to make those connection points for you?

Silong:

Absolutely, because I grew up in, you know, in an urban setting, you would say “the hood.” And, I was connected to that. And, now that I’ve seen… I grew up, I used to skateboard and, you know, I produce beats, hip hop beats, and I used to rap as well. Those platforms are a good way to connect to the youth. So, you know, when you create a t-shirt design, you don’t want it to just do not mean anything. You know, the design might look cool but, to me, the message of the design is the most important. So, that is my way of, you know, elevating design to speak to the youth. ‘Cause they want to wear to something that’s cool and meaningful. ‘Cause, you know, growing up… Let me go back a little bit. Growing up I’d never seen anything that specifically identified. you as a Cambodian, right? Nike had those track jackets with Brazil in the back, or Japan. But, there was nothing about Cambodian’s. So, there’s a void there. And, that’s really my main motivation to begin to design these t-shirts and hoodies and clothing, just to give our community that, you know, the sense of identity. ‘Cause, you know, my generation didn’t really have that.

Jp:

I think identity is one of those things that we slowly kind of nurture and get into as we become more aware of who we are, or who we want to be. I find as I teach, you see them curious. And then, you see that maturity and growing and curiosity as they get more experience. And, it sounds like something similar happened with your trajectory with music, to then design. Can you speak a little bit about that curiosity?

Silong:

Yeah. Like you mentioned, it’s curiosity. I was curious on how things work. Just curious how things come together. How so many different types of elements, like music, you have so many types of instruments to create one masterpiece. And, design is the same way. You’re taking a lot of different objects and colors and typography. And, it’s just curiosity. I just wanted to learn. I was really interested in how things work and what is design. I didn’t know. I’m just curious on how it works. On how I see a good design. How did it get there? So, you kind of reverse engineer it, go back, back, back, back, okay. And, as you reverse engineer it, then you try it on your own. There’s a lot of influences, you know, the designs that you see, and then, you figure it out. You try it. How do I get there? So, you know, it’s just constantly learning. I think that’s what motivates me the most is to continue to learn on how people achieve things, or how they come to it. So, I mean, so monkey see, monkey do, I guess.

Jp:

(laughs) Amen to that.

Chad:

What was that long learning process?

Silong:

It’s kind of frustrating because, you have no… I have no formal training. You download software and you’re just like an early in the 00s. When I discovered Photoshop there was really not many… Mind you, this was pretty new back then. So, I attribute that to learning how to record audio before I went to school. I would read the manual. You know, surprisingly reading the manual instructions is very helpful.

Jp:

(laughs)

Silong:

So, I took that… I used to read every page of the manual of any audio equipment. I used to just have this digital four track that used to record on the zip drive. And, I was brand new, no formal training. So, I would just really make a lot of mistakes. I’d make more mistakes. The more mistakes you make the better off you’ll be at the end. So, I got to where I am now. I just mistakes. You fall a lot, but you have to get back up, right?

Jp:

Yup.

Chad:

Yeah, so in that process there’s the skills of the software, and then there’s the leading by example of going out and finding these things that seem to be working well.

Silong:

Yes.

Chad:

And then, I’m curious about the process along the way of gaining some competency in the software, then there’s these things, like these good examples of things that I want to make. How did you connect A to B? What was the toughest part about that as a learning process?

Silong:

The toughest part, the most challenging thing is when you create something is putting it out there to see what the reception is. I know sometimes I tend to overthink and overanalyze and over criticize the stuff that I do. And, I understand that I’m never going to be happy with it. You have to get to a point where it’s like, “Okay, this is good enough.” And then, you put it out there into the world see how it’s received. I’m different in new in ways. I think I should ask for more input. But, the more people I ask for more input the more input I get that that I don’t agree with. So, my ultimate things to get from A to B, my process is, whatever I do I put it out, see what the reception is, and if that works I’ll continue to build upon that. If I put it out there and people say it sucks, like for a t-shirt, if I up a t-shirt and it doesn’t sell within the first week as I thought it would, and then I go back to the drawing table. So, what did I do wrong here? Why aren’t people buying this design? Then, I can look at the design that I did previously and then see what the differences are there. So to answer your question, is just to get over yourself. You know, you’re never going to be happy as an artist, right? You understand that things are never going to be perfect. You have to accept to where you think that is going to be acceptable to whomever your audience is and just put it out there. Go out there and put something out that sucks and have people tell you it sucks. Then, you can get better at that. Because, not everything you’re going to do is going to be a hit, or is going to be great, or is going to be awesome. But, the steps that you take, all the sucky steps that you take, will eventually lead to something awesome.

Jp:

And, that is something that you kind of alluded to earlier, which is that it’s okay to fail. You learn from that failure. Yeah.

Silong:

Absolutely. There’s more value in failure than there is success. Failure builds character. If you look at anybody that succeeded in any industry or field, or music. You look back in their history, they’ve failed more times than they succeeded, you know? I’ve never met anyone that’s just successful all the time without any failures in their life. ‘Cause failures is like a, you know, rung to ladder, man. Every failure is a step towards… You gotta learn how to fail. Yeah, learn how to fail and accept those failures, you know? I fail so much in my life.

Chad:

I like to say, it’s only real failure if you stop.

Silong:

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. ‘Cause never a failure, always a lesson. I learned that from Rihanna. She got a tattoo of that.

Jp:

Oh, I like that.

Silong:

Never a failure, always a lesson. It always resonated with me, because I failed so many times in life. You know, going through life trying to find your way, trying to, you know, make your parents happy, and then self happiness, too, so…

Jp:

Because you didn’t take that same trajectory into it, do you feel that failure is a is a much more comfortable blanket for you to wear? That there’s no grade writing up on it, or anything like that?

Silong:

You know, honestly, I can’t say I’m comfortable failing. I still don’t like failing.

Jp:

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Silong:

But, I think it’s important to experience it, to take a step back and kind of take a look at it, and why you fail. Failing is subjective, too. And, going back to your students. I just want to say that a lot of students won’t understand it until it happens to them. ‘Cause acting experienced is the best teacher. You can try to tell somebody as many times you want, “You got to fail. You gotta fail.” But, if someone’s so afraid of failing and it just paralyzes them they don’t pursue it at all. Then, that’s the biggest failure. How do you communicate that to your students, right?

Jp:

Do you think that is something that you have learned with age, or learned with experience?

Silong:

Both. Both. At a younger age, accepting failure was a lot harder because you always feel that every time for a job that you don’t get it, or you put out design nobody likes, you always feel like you’re not good enough. And, you’re not good enough. And, feeling not good enough is really detrimental to your confidence, right? But, you have to accept it, learn that you’re not going to make everybody happy. No matter what you put out someone’s going to love it, Someone is going to despise it with all of their heart. So, that’s one thing that you gotta understand, too. That you’re not going to make everybody happy and that’s just human nature. And, when you do put out something, a design that you really like, the most likely there’s a 100 maybe a thousand maybe 5,000 other people like it, but there’s probably 30,000 that hate it. So, what you got to do is just focus on the people that like it, and build upon that.

Jp:

I feel like we’re about the same age. And, going through that trajectory of becoming a professor and being in front of students and feeling that sense of impostor syndrome, of like, “I’m not a real teacher.” You know, “I don’t even know if I’m a real designer. What am I doing here?” And now, as I’ve done it for 14 years, I feel that I’m either really good at making it up, or I am really there. But, it was something that it took awhile to experience. I think I’m trying to figure out how to relate to my students that failure is an important aspect of it, and only through failure can you really grow.

Silong:

Yeah. I think a good thing to do is kind of address the self doubt. We all have some kind of self doubt in us. I relate to your comment about the impostor syndrome. I feel that almost every time, even being here today is like, “Why am I here?” I don’t know if I’m good at it, but I get paid to do it. So where does that stand, you know?

Jp:

That’s so funny, because I feel the opposite. I’m like, “Oh my gosh, he said yes to this podcast. That’s amazing!” Like, “That’s a win for us!”

Silong:

Let me, let me ask you guys a couple of questions. What got you into the design? And, you have been a professor for many years now. And, I think that’s a really cool accomplishment. I would call that a success to be able to pursue something and then be able to teach it. Because being able to teach something is different than doing it.

Jp:

Yeah, definitely. I got into… The short version of the story is, I wanted to be a journalist. So, broadcasting, yeah. And, I was in the school yearbook, my college yearbook. And, the advisor for the yearbook was the graphic design professor. So, he saw what I was doing and eventually I took a class from him. I really enjoyed it. I figured out how to meld journalism and design. Because, really what I was interested was storytelling. So, similar to what you were talking about is telling stories. And, I found that design was that aspect of my interest in storytelling that I couldn’t find before. So, did that, worked as a designer. Went back to school. Got to be a TA for a couple of classes and it got me hooked. Like, I was alone in the classroom by myself. Talk about impostor syndrome! It was like, “Holy shit. Here, I am. What am I really doing here?” Challenging everything, all my decisions in life at that moment. (laughs) But, I survived and continued on, and then became a professor. For me, what design has always been about is changing lives.

Silong:

Yeah. To me, it sounds similar to what I experienced, right? But you went about the formal way, that it was a necessity. You had to step up. And then, you can just kind of discover it. And, sometimes people discover that late. I mean, I didn’t start designing ’til I was 35. I’m 39 now. And, you know with the resources available online is, I think, that helped me a lot. I wouldn’t be able to learn design in four to five years, say early 2000s, right? Resources wasn’t there. Yeah. So, let’s go to Chad. How about you? What’s your story?

Chad:

My story is really about JP uplifting me. Not that I’m tooting his horn, too much.

Jp:

Now please, toot away.

Chad:

So, I went to college, kind of not really sure what I was wanted to do. I had always been interested in photography and videography. And, that’s what I thought I was going to do. But, I was also really interested in English. And, there was a big part of me that wanted to be, like, a middle school English teacher. And so, I was just talking with an advisor and they were like, “Well, you should take communication class ’cause that kind of marries art and English.” And, I was like, “Alright.” Like, kind of clueless. So, I ended up establishing a major. But, I was also taking lots of art classes and decided to minor in art. And then, I think somehow through that and the fact that communication was in the same building as art and design, I got connected with Jp and we had a conversation. The part of that I remember was him talking. He said this specific thing, where he was like, “So, you’re telling me you want and like to make pretty things?” And that… Just the way he was saying it, no matter what I said, it was both the right answer and the wrong answer.

All:

(laugh)

Chad:

So then, I ended up taking a class with Jp and there was a certain amount of, like, the grayness of all of it that really appealed to me. Because there was no right answer. It was like, everybody in the class could approach a problem differently, and come up with a correct answer. It was just, you know, there was different effective solutions. And, there was something about that I really liked. So then, I kind of honed into that and I kept taking classes. And then, coming out of school I was like, “Oh, I really like this design thing. I’m not sure about it.” And so, I found jobs where I could do all of it. And, I kind of learned through doing what I liked more and what I liked less. And then, just kind of went from there. And so, it was just kind of through following things I knew I liked, and then getting experience doing it, and learning what you do and what you don’t.

Silong:

I think that’s awesome. I think the lesson that I’m learning here from both of you guys, is that it’s not necessarily that you find a passion. It just kind of finds you as you stumble along life and try to pursue… Like you wanted to get into photo and videography. And, by pursuing that, you ended up to where you are today, you know? Jp with the same thing.

Jp:

Yeah, definitely.

Silong:

Journalism is what lead you to design. So, the lesson is, there’s no one right way. There’s no one right path. You just gotta pursue you and your passion. And then, continue to do it. And, when you pursue one thing, it opens up the door to many other things. So, we are all here today because we’re all on different paths.

Chad:

Yeah.

Jp:

Yeah. And, you know, kind of intersecting here. Where do you think your path is leading you next?

Silong:

That, I don’t know. That, I never know. I’m not… That’s one of my biggest weaknesses is planning. I’m not a good planner. But, my ultimate goal is with my experience in, you know, audio production, video, and graphic, and marketing too. I’ve been in the marketing industry for as long as I’ve been in graphic design, now. Eventually, my ultimate goal is to really have my own agency, marketing agency, multimedia agency. So, we could provide services to, you know, more of the underserved communities that need quality graphics, or quality videos for their organizations and businesses. ‘Cause, you know, there’s a market out there for that. And, a lot of people need help with that.

Jp:

what’s next? What’s…

Silong:

Well, let me ask you about your, your teacher life. When you’re teaching these classes, are you assigning projects where they can, like, display it in a real life situation? Say, hey this organization needs a billboard. Let’s, as a class, come up with the design and maybe, you know, just as something tangible for them to resolve, for them to see that. Like, Oh my God! I did this in class.”

Jp:

Yeah, definitely. What we do, especially in the upper level classes, is a project with a client outside of the university. We looked at their annual report and said, “Hey, this would be a suggestion of how we would approach it.” And, it’s not that we have an expectation that they’re going to use our designs. But, at least they give some feedback to the students and the students get an opportunity to get that real life situation of, “Here’s what it’s like to act with the client. Here is what it’s like to interact with data that you have no idea, and you don’t have someone just raise your hand and say, ‘I don’t get this. Can you do it for me?'”

Silong:

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think one thing that I learned a lot dealing with clients freelancing with design, and even video work, is just how to interact with the client, how to accept feedback and revision, and went to say no, and what the charge. I mean, I’m sure all of that is taught. And, invoicing. Invoicing is new to me.

Jp:

Oh, yeah. The business side..

Silong:

It’s so annoying! You need an invoice to get paid, right? Like, it’s like, “Ugh, I gotta send invoice.” But, there’s invoicing programs out there that make it a little bit easier. Just getting started, it’s just new to me.

Chad:

Especially if you’re in, like, a liberal arts education there’s opportunity to go take classes in the business school, or something like that. Yeah, I mean that is a gap, in some way.

Silong:

Yeah, I think it’s important to know how to do these things. ‘Cause I didn’t know how to do these things and you kind of figure out as you go. But, the business side of it, taxes. ‘Cause, you know, I’ve been freelancing for a couple years now, and you gotta pay taxes on what you bill your clients. That’s all new to me, too. And, you know…

Jp:

Quarterly taxes.

Silong:

Quarterly taxes, yeah. Especially if you own a business. And then, the city that you work in, it would probably require a business license from the state and then the city that you work in, too. I mean, that’s not design, but it’s part of it if you become a…

Jp:

Oh no. These is the important things…

Silong:

That we often overlook.

Jp:

Exactly. Yeah.

Chad:

It’s part of how to design works.

Silong:

I just wanted to touch on that a little bit.

Jp:

This is literally design school, right here.

All:

(laugh)

Jp:

What would be some of the other things that you would say would be important for getting out there and designing?

Silong:

Build your portfolio. Having an online portfolio is crucial to getting work, more important than your resume and cover letter. If you’re doing design work, people are always going to want to see your work. What have you done? Who have you worked with? Are you easy to work with? You know, have references. If you do a good job and people really like, you know, ping them for references. Some people put reviews on their website. I think that’s a valuable thing to do. And also, just learning how to deal with different types of clients. A lot of time, well most of the time, for my experience, the clients really don’t know what they want to see, but they know exactly what they don’t want. So, there’s been several times where I’ve designed capability statements for businesses. There’s like their one sheet resumé. And, they gave me a word document, and I just make it look pretty. And, I try to have a meeting first to see where they’re coming from and what their design style is. Ask them for examples of what they want it to look like, because, you know, you don’t want to do the same work two or three times. So, be upfront, set expectations in the beginning and how many revisions were willing to do before you start charging more. It is always good to over communicate when you’re dealing with a project and a client because a lot of trouble can happen if you’re not setting the expectations in the beginning, and then you’re like 30 divisions in and you say, “Well, I gotta charge you for this.” But, they didn’t expect it. And, just learning little things like that, which can create a huge impact on your self worth, too. Because sometimes you get clients are really difficult to work with. And then, when you design things you like things a certain way. Sometimes the client don’t like the rule of design. They like Comic Sans. Sometimes you just gotta give it to the client. (laughs) I’ve never experienced a client that likes Comic Sans font. But, I just wanted to use it as an example.

Jp:

Yeah.

Chad:

Yeah. It’s an extreme example.

Silong:

You know, some colors go together, some colors don’t. And, some clients like colors that don’t go together. And, you gotta have to compromise with yourself and with them and try to explain to them the best you can. But, at the end of the day you’re creating, whatever you’re creating, for them. So, they are ultimately are the boss and you gotta give it the result that they like. So, that can be frustrating, too, as a creative designer, right?

Jp:

Oh, definitely, Yeah. Speaking of those, like, real life experiences in the classroom, I will often do that to students. We call it creative constraints. Where I limit the type of ability that they have to do certain things. Like, you have to fit it into this amount of pages, or you can’t use color, you can’t do these things. Because, those are requirements that sometimes they will receive when doing a project. When it’s like, “I only got $200 to do this project. So, no color and it’s going to be copy machined and I can’t pay you anything.” And, you know, fill in the blank with everything else. And so, how do you work under those types of constraints?

Silong:

Well, it’s a challenge. Each situation is unique. You have to think about if it’s worth your time, if it’s worth pursuing, you have to look at the overall benefit of the people you’re working with, too. Is this client going to give you more work? Is this client going to refer me? Is this client worth it? I mean, I’ve been in situations where I’ll just cut off a client and not work with them again because they were too difficult. Not because they were difficult in a sense that they were bad people. We just didn’t work along great and it’s good to recognize that early so you’re not wasting your time and their time. Because many people work differently. You just gotta be prepared to use your experience and knowledge because a lot of them won’t give you the information necessary to begin a design. I hear this a lot and it’s it cracks me up, “Make it pop. Can you just make it pop?” Like, what does that mean?

Jp:

I’m not sure if they know what it means.

Chad:

It means they don’t like it, yet.

Jp:

Yeah, yeah that’s true.

Chad:

But, I think when people get familiar with their clients is learning here’s what they’re saying and then being able translate into what that means into design. Put your design hat on and be like, “Oh…”

Silong:

I think that comes from experience. ‘Cause you don’t automatically know how to translate what a client is telling you. You just kind of keep pursuing different types of clients. Oh yeah, yeah. I mean, sometimes when the client doesn’t give you enough information to start a design, that means they don’t know what they want. But, they know exactly what they don’t want. So, it just depends who the client is. Sometimes if you have a deadline, sometimes I just whip something up to tell me that this shit sucks. Let’s take this out, take this out. I’ll take this out. Alright, that’s more direction there. But, it’s difficult. As you guys just learn how to maneuver in it, it just comes from experience. And, you just gotta get it. Get yourself out there. And, I think more important than being a good designer is networking. Getting to know people. Attend events. ‘Cause I’m not the best graphic designer out there, but I know the most people and I built a reputation with my clients. And, they’ll… Usually when you have a good reputation with clients they will always come back.

Jp:

Yeah, I feel like I see you around or I see your name in things. You are everywhere. You’re like the go to person.

Silong:

Yeah, I want to be a good resource for people if I can’t do it. I want to be able to say, “Oh, I know somebody who can provide that for you.”

Chad:

I wanted to circle back to the Red Scarf Revolution and this idea of building a brand to encourage representation of a community that you felt like was a gap. Is that purely for serving the community, or is there any sort of, almost like activist piece to speak outside of that community, too? Or, is it just through representation that happens. Does that makes sense?

Silong:

Yeah, yeah. I think it’s all of the above. First, I want to get my community, the youth in my community, interested. Pique their interest in the history a little bit, or whatever and say, “Oh, wow that design’s cool.” The question I get a lot is, “What does that mean?” And then, it opens an opportunity to start a conversation.

First off, that’s the community I want to hit, right? And after that, we could expand towards that. Because, a lot of people don’t know about the Cambodian history. So, once I quit, our use with the knowledge is easier as a community to go out there and communicate it with people outside of our community.

And, I mean, to go back to your question, a lot of the clothing and design is not very inclusive to, you know, other communities. And, I’m looking to expand that a little more. But, the main goal was, when it first started, is just to create something that can be just for us, right? So, they can feel proud and identify with something that wasn’t available before. But, once we established that, I think is important to use a platform to continue to reach out to different communities as an activism platform and social justice platform, too.

And, that’s what it’s really becoming, is not just clothing, right? The clothing is just one of the vehicles that I used to, kind of, trying to spread the message of our history and how important it is to not forget. Especially honoring our parents and our culture and traditions.

Chad:

It’s interesting, because like a few weeks ago I was having a conversation with some people I went to school with and we were talking about, like, what is design activism? What does that mean? And, how do you define that? Listening to you to talk, I mean, you’re using the words branding and design, and things like that; talking about the community. But, you’re also using the word activism. So, I’m curious about, like, what does the word activism mean for you? And, especially when pair it with the word design?

Silong:

Uh, when you pair it with design? It was just get people to be motivated to take action, not just sit back and be dormant and passive. To be more, I guess, engaged in the issues that affect our community. And, you know, branding and design plays a huge part in that, and social impact. If people like what you’re doing, they’re attracted to your design or the message you’re putting out, it may or may not encourage them to get more active and more engaged in the community. So, I think it’s important.

If you look at designs with Obama’s campaign, with Shepard Fairey doing his poster. I think the impact of an artist making a poster like that, it was huge! Because people look at it. It looks great. But, being more than looking great, What’s the message behind it? You know, that whole poster that he put out. It resonates with you and who you are as a person. Like branding is trying to connect with people, and it becomes an extension of who they are. So, Red Scarf Revolution, that’s one of the main goals is is to become extension of who you are. What do you stand for? Red Scarf Revolution stands for history, bridging the path, and being more knowledgeable, and being able to share that. So, to create a brand and a design that resonates with somebody it’s…

And, the impact that has is huge. ‘Cause then, it is like a domino effect. It keeps on going and it will just continue to impact people in a positive way. And, that’s the ultimate goal.

Chad:

If there is one thing you wish you now that you would have known sooner, what would that be?

Silong:

Man, everything. Just knowing that resources, access to resources are out there. ‘Cause, you know, growing up, being young, you didn’t know what was out there. Graduating high school I was really lost, no guidance. I just wish I knew that the hard work you put in is what you get out, pretty much.

Jp:

I like that one.

We’re trying a different segment for this season. We’re calling it the recommendations. So, if you’re up for it, I’m going to give you a quick fire recommendation questions and see what you get.

So, first recommendation, music to design to?

Silong:

Oh, I don’t have any music to design to. I love music. But, when I when I’m working I like it to be quiet.

Jp:

So, you’re more of the silent type.

Silong:

Silence and ambiance. Outside, obviously, I get inspired by what’s around me. I think music will drown that out and takes it away from me. Then, you know, I like to listen to music. Then, I’ll start focusing on the music. So, I can’t work with music.

Jp:

Best comfort food?

Silong:

Oh, pho, or gathia noodles.

Jp:

Yeah? Who should I follow on Twitter?

Silong:

If you haven’t already, follow Nate Bowling. He’s gotta fun account to follow. He’s a good dude. Who else to follow?

Chad:

Who’s Nate Bowling?

Silong:

Nate Bowling is a teacher at Lincoln High School, here in Tacoma, Washington. In 2016, he was Washington state’s teacher of the year. He serves a lot of marginalized communities that went to Lincoln High School. I went to Lincoln High School, too. And, just overall, good person. Good, dude. And, really smart man.

Who else?

Jp:

He also has a podcast called the Nerd Farmer podcast, which subscribe if you haven’t.

Silong:

Yeah. I’m on that podcast—talked about the Cambodian community and how to, you know, the deportation issues.

Who else to follow on Twitter? This is not on Twitter, but Facebook, my favorite Facebook page right now is Christians Against Weed Drugs. It’s, I don’t know if it’s a parody site. But, if you go on there, it is so funny, so off the wall there. So against marijuana. They would say marijuana will cause you to… It’s so funny. I’m, like, 99% sure it’s a parody site. It’s just so ridiculous.

Jp:

Well, I’ll have to check it out.

Silong:

Christian weed drugs. So funny.

Jp:

Something to watch?

Silong:

Kim’s Convenience on Netflix. If you guys haven’t seen it, it is a show that takes place in Toronto. It’s about a Korean family that runs a convenience store. And, I first watch it, I watched season one, season two, and I got hooked. It’s about, you know, an immigrant family and just trying to build community within the store. It’s hilarious. It’ll make you cry and laugh within a minute of it. So, I’m… it’s highly recommended.

Jp:

Oh, I’ll check it out.

Silong:

I just recently watched the documentary on Quincy Jones, too. It’s very inspiring. Man, he’s a legend, like a living legend. He’s touched every musician’s career that has done great things from, like, Ella Fitzgerald, to Michael Jackson, and Prince. It’s amazing. His career is so amazing. And, he used to live in Seattle, too, for a couple of years.

Jp:

Really?

Silong:

Yeah, 1944, I think is he was in Seattle for a couple of years.

Jp:

Cool. Well, anything that we didn’t cover that you want to cover Silong?

Silong:

No, I think I’m good. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it. It was great talking with you guys, and I’m looking forward to learning more from you guys.

Jp:

Yeah, thanks.

Chad:

Thank you.