"Design is essentially a commercial undertaking, so I have to follow the companies' orders. And some labels are really quite conservative when it comes to design, which can be a drag," he said.
Wind Records and Taiwan Colors Music, by contrast, gave Xiao free rein over the designs for the covers they've commissioned, which allowed him to experiment more liberally and develop the aesthetic that has emerged in the past several years that is so unmistakably his own.
"I sit down with a specific feeling in mind before I create and the design just builds itself layer after layer, starting normally with a photo that I particularly like," he said.
Having hit stride in his design career with the Grammy nomination, he said he now hopes to shift his focus toward painting as the starting point for his designs.
"It used to be a struggle to do this type of design in Taiwan. But now I feel alright with it as a job," he said. "Now I really like to set up a huge canvas, like as tall as me, and start that way, working really slowly just to see what comes out at the end."
RSS