Mili Kuo - Interactive Designer / Developer

Luce Memorial Chapel is a well-known landmark that stands in the center of Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan, where I got my Bachelor's degree in Foreign Language and Literature.

My first apartment in Manhattan was a 3rd floor walk-up building in Spanish Harlem. I walked up and down everyday in the bizarre green painted staircase.

Vino was my very first scooter. It used to be all the rage in Taiwan (maybe it still is). Unfortunately I crashed it, rest in peace forever.

I got my Master's degree in Interactive Design and Game Development at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Savannah is a beautiful small town. I miss spending free time passing by squares and looking at the Spanish Moss swinging in the wind.

The first time I visited New York City was for an English summer program at NYU 10 years ago. The teacher taught us how to sing New York, New York, and we all danced to the song in the last class.

Hello there! I'm Mili Kuo, an interaction designer / interactive developer / interactive artist. If you like my Stuff, please say Hello back ;)

Hello there! I'm Mili Kuo, an interaction designer / interactive developer / interactive artist. Now you are looking at my memory wall. If you like my Stuff, please say Hello back ;)

Rocket is one of the best things that happened in my life. He is a mix of Golden Retriever and American Eskimo, an unexpectedly amazing combination. He is not with me anymore, but I miss him all the time.

Bao Mei and Little Panda are my childhood besties. They went to another world but they'll always stay in my mind.

Taitung, Taiwan is my hometown. This place has beautiful mountains, coasts, and cultivates a lot of rice farms.

This is me.

I started drawing since my preschool years. I would draw my favorite cartoon characters with just one pencil on plain white A4 paper. I still remember that the lines were so simple, kind of trembling, and the characters’ proportion was all distorted, but I didn't care at all. I would spend all day draw the same thing again and again.

I then grew up with passion in imagery. When applying for the undergrad, I participated in the exam for art school but instead I got accepted in the university as an English Literature major. While I was reading novels and poems, I never forgot what I actually longed for. One classmate asked me, “Why don’t you just do something you really like?” And I decided to try again. This tiny moment turned out to be a big influence in my life.

After I graduated, I worked part-time in a magazine publisher in Taiwan. I first touched with web design and was fascinated about the interaction between users and web media. After that I made it to Savannah College of Art and Design in 2004, majoring in Interactive Design and learning what’s behind the scenes - programming. In 2007, I went to New York City worked as an Interactive Designer, officially began my path in interactive design industry.

It’s been 6 years ever since. I upgraded from an amateur to a professional, working on many on-site projects and seeing lots of wonderful websites and applications. Acquiring all these experiences, when it comes to my own portfolio site, I asked myself, “What is going to be cool?” After rotating all the newest technologies and the coolest style I’ve ever seen, I was lost. And I came back to the original question, “What is it to show 'me'?”

Interactive design is essentially the communication between people. Presenting who I am and telling my story should be the first concern. I cleared out my thoughts, opened up Photoshop and started doodling things on a white background. I realized my design always tends to be simple and clean because of my childhood memory.

So this might not be the coolest, but this is me. And I hope you like it.

see my resume