Hey Maxine, What Do You Do?!

Maxine Tsang is a senior designer at Use All Five, working on everything from branding to digital products. In her spare time, she can be found at the beach in Ventura and working on her camper van. A lot of people ask Maxine what she does for work, so we did too.

Do people get what you do? If not, what’s the most often heard misinterpretation?

I think people kinda do. Only close friends and family truly get what I do because I’ll share my work with them asking for feedback. The most common misinterpretation is that I just do capital Graphic Design. Or that I am a web developer, which is hysterical.

What’s your elevator pitch to describe what you do?
I went to a wedding last weekend and realized it still needed a lot of work, but here it is: I do graphic design / digital design / UX/UI. Branding, websites, etc.

How would you describe what you do if it was your best friend asking?
I’m very cool and on-trend, as you know, and I make a living from designing what the people want. Which is 90% of the time a huge struggle involving tears because I’m actually an imposter. But also is satisfying and fun, especially when you consider that surfing the internet is part of my job.

If someone were to ask at the end of a long day at work, how would you describe the day you just had?
This is a trash profession to be in if you’re sensitive, which you inherently are as a designer, and who knows if I’m adding meaning to this world and yes I stare at a screen 40 hrs/week. But alas, there is no perfect job so I’d rather do this one over anything else.