Zeke Kuo's portfolio

ZEKE KUO

Authentic & Genuinely

P F I

O O O

R L

T

01

Porfolio of Zeke Not only a portfolio of work But a track of memory of past few years Just take a look of these pages

me

Full of inspiration and fascinaiting works Delicately to you and myself Enjoy!

Content

Life in IKEA

Fashion Muse

Jobs I have done when I was in IKEA, show diversity to my professions

Co-work with my friend to join a mobile App contest and won.

UE Design / P.07

UE Design / P.13

Win 8 UI

Software Guideline

GUI Work / P.21

GUI Work / P.29

2 proposals for Modern UI, from design story to UI design

3 examples for my clean, simple and neat UI design I call Precis e UI

Mail App

Icon Redesign

A real challenge for an app synchronized with 3 devices.

To create an icon guideline for ASUS, and also redesign current icons.

GUI Work / P.35

Icongraphy / P.41

Z&K Leather It all began with couldn t ďŹ nd the perfect men bags, so we make them by ourselves Hobby / P.45

03

Hi! I am Zeke Kuo I am a designer from Taiwan, love to design. My Friedns think of me is a very independent person and always look after them. I studied multimedia design at the university, and started to work at 2009 right after I ďŹ nished my military service to Taiwan. I am a very ambitious people too, never stay in a comfort zone, always trying to improve myself. Eager to a better life, and enjoy life whenever I have a chance. I have the initiative to be adventurous, and I am also optimistic sometimes. So I can believe I can do anything if I want to.

The world is constantly changing, and I hate to be left behind. so yes, I push myself quite hard.

me

Take a few minuts to see this portfolio I promise you will like it

04 For me, to be an excellent designer has to have extraordinary esthetic and a good heart. I happen to have both, what I need is a chance to shine.

me

I am like a chameleon, it is easy for me to adapt to each environment. I do not usually be number one, but I always ďŹ nd a way to be outstanding.

Path of Memory 2013 is the turning point of my life, I decided to see the world a little more.

This portfolio shows my ambition to the world, no matter what step I take next will be extremely life changing.

Like this photo I took, we are in some way watching our footsteps, and hoping this path will lead us to the right direction.

I’m ready, Are you?

07

Life in IKEA Jobs I have done when I was in IKEA, show diversity to my professions

User Experience Design Customer Experience 2010

My first job after I finished my military service was in IKEA Taiwan. The reason I chose IKEA because of its business ideas and its brand objectives, and I like its products. After I started to work in this international company, I was trained to be an independent designer, and asked to take responsibility for certain area.

UE Design

Although IKEA Taiwan was only partially chained to HQ in Sweden, but it still adopts original business ideas like any other branch in the world, and train their employees very thoroughly. IKEA listens to customer s needs to manage a store with a concept of humancentered, from shopping route to each room setting. We think it is very important that to connect with our customers, so we would run a focus group of people who are our potential customers, and try to find information that we can help with. If we know what they need at home, which furniture they wish to be improved. We can provide a dream home for them together. Together is also a concept in IKEA philosophy. Customers come to the store to buy furniture and Together is also a concept in IKEA philosophy

Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of IKEA take them home to assemble all by themselves, these actions would make the cost down, so IKEA could effect on the selling price.

Because of this work experience, I started to focus on creating solutions to my target user in different project.

Therefore, I know that customers would pay a right product in resonance.

08 Working in IKEA, knowing the objective of company is important. Following the business ideas, IKEA is really about to plan to the development of human-centered, which supports the vision by offering a wide range of welldesigned, functional home furnishing products at low prices. Creating a better everyday life and home for the many people.

From the beginning, IKEA has taken a different path. We have decided to side with the many. That means responding to the home furnishing needs of people around the world: people with many different needs, tastes, dreams, aspirations and wallet sizes; people who want to improve their homes and their everyday lives.

Therefore, IKEA product range focuses on good design and function at a low price. It offers home furnishing solutions for every room in the home.

And we are also constantly trying to do everything a little better, a little simpler, more efficiently and always cost-effectively.

UE Design

IKEA s Objective

09

Hightlight Because we found out that most customers turn right and would skip this area, so I decided to put sale products and use spot lights to hightlight this area.

Exchage

UE Design

Due to this area is a cold spot so I move the little items into this area, and put a big sign to draw attentions. This area sold 20% more after this renovation.

10 This area is the end of this zone, most customer normally moves to next zone directly, we put the secondary items in this area, so we can have more spaces for hot sale products.

Not a maze We often designed in a one-way layout, leading customers along what IKEA calls the long natural way designed to encourage the customer to see the store in its entirety, helping customer to connect every products from your living room, kitchen room, bedroom...etc those home place to every home decorations. So that s why every customers always feel IKEA stores are much bigger.

We always observe the customer s track to understand why they followed these ways to go forward, why somewhere always attract many people to visit and others did not. Those methods can help us to ďŹ x the layout, make everywhere can be visited more balance. It also helps us to learn about customer s behavior and how to convey the right message to them, even in the GUI design.

When we found some problems in those areas, we use light to lead customers, or change the wall color to get more attention. Sometimes, we also replace goods shelves and bring dierent goods to exchange, like components, accessories...something at low proďŹ t.

UE Design

Special Needs

11

Room1 Her A low budget room renovation challenge

UE Design

Room Setting Design Lisa, 34 years old, living single Journalist, loves textile 2011 March

To design a room setting is one of the job when I was a visual designer in IKEA. I was assined to several rooms, Room 1 was one of them. Room 1 is at the entrance of IKEA, and give customers a living room environment, because when you walk in to someone s house, the ďŹ rst place you see always is living room.

I use decorations based on a persona I created, this time, was a Journalist called Lisa who loves textile. After we create a persona, decorating her house became more fun and reasonable.

This is part of user experiece practice I had when I was in IKEA, and it s quite inspiring.

12 A low budget room renovation challenge

Room Setting Design Edward, 31 years old, living single Graphic designer, loves funky stu 2010 Octorber

Actually, the two years I worked in IKEA has renovated room 1 about 4 times.

And this time I change this room into a guy s room, and wanted to be my room that time to be honest.

Working at IKEA will not miss a holiday, because we get to decorate there room when Christmas, Chinese new year, amd sometimes Valentine s day, it was quite fulďŹ lling working there, and I had learned so much special techniques from holding a focus group to painting a wall or using an electric drill.

UE Design

Room1 Him

13

Fashion Muse Co-work with my friend to join a mobile App contest and won.

User Experience Design Mobile App 2012 November

Fashion Muse is an mobile app, which allows users to browse and post ideas of their fashion choices.

First of all, you can take a photo of yourself showing how you style yourself, and how to use Fashion Muse to share it, if the others like your way of styling, they can follow you as their muse. On the other hand, users can easily search cool looks that they like.

My friend and I co-produce this app and we joined a contest held by HTC; The contest is about to create a mobile app that has market values and also innovative.

UE Design

This contest can be conceptual but has to be realistic, so we design the outline, discuss the ow, ďŹ nish GUI design, and we even made a promote video about it.

Share style inspiration and advice with friends and bloggers

16 This app is designed for the people who loves fashion, so we choose a brighter color and also neutral as the accent color, and it should also be very clean and minimal. We also like it to be very intuitive, easy to use.

Context You, me and anyone can benefit from this app because it provides a chance to everyone who wants to look stylish but could not find great references.

Fashion Muse can give them that, easy to get references and also to communicate people worldwide. if you like to share show off your new outfit, Fashion Muse is also a platform where you can post your photo and receive comments, and let people see your style and be your fan.

Impact The users can find out some fashion advises for what they wearing, from everyday wear to fancy dress up, they can spend a lot less time in front of mirror trying to figure out what to wear. Everyone has the experience having trouble to style themselves, Fashion Muse is made for solve their problems.

drawbacks This App requires vast users who are willing to post their photos disregard their privacy, and also receive comments whether it is good or not. It also language issue if this app goes worldwide, or it can just link to your other social media account. And the last but not least, Fashion Muse requires a steady server to host the massive information.

UE Design

Form

17 UE Design Find your own fashion muse, or to be someone elses

18

I also have that shirt too

Everyone has experienced of confusing about outďŹ t : Don t know how to wear before go out, don t know how to match one of your clothes. FASHION MUSE is a mobile app which combines clothing fashion and social platform.

This app provides a platform giving users sharing their dressing style.

You can ďŹ nd your fashion muse and more friends who have tastes as well.

First of all, shooting and tagging your look, It let users easy to search it; Contrarily, you can explore users look according to tags. One clothing can be found thousand ideas which from people s life everyday.

UE Design

Concept

19

Promote Video For the competition, Mobileheroes, I created a UI animation In order to introduce how to use it for juries. It is a new smartphone experience that is easy to use, highly personalized, and visually stunning.

UE Design

http://vimeo.com/50169203

21

be Alive bring on new vital perspectives to encourage pleasant journey of intensified experience

2013

Windows 8 UI Proposal 2 proposals for Modern UI, from design story to UI design

Graphical User Interface Design Conceptual 2011 December

At first, when I heard Microsoft was about to release a new OS system on the tablets. I was quite thrilled because at that time, all 3C devices were all around OSX, and I always like that there can be more competitions to make the industry keep improving.

And after a glance of Metro UI ( Modern UI ), I instantly loved its simple and clean style.

GUI Works

in ASUS, i am usually responsible for delivering GUI proposals, and I always enjoys doing this because I can be very creative and do whatever I like, and whatever I believe its good for the users, and this is quite rare in a big company like ASUS. This project I was based on the exsisting concept in ASUS we called be Alive , its about bring on new vital perspectives to encourage pleasant journey of intensified experience. I figured being alive its all about vitality, and also breathing is one key to maintain living, I like the idea that breathing has rhythm, and this rhythm gives movements, and its naturally exist, moderately and adapting in our Before we know anything about Modern UI , Let s create our own Win8!!

lives. After that, i transformed this idea into more revealing elements that I can use on GUI, Floating Fairytale and the Texture of Air .

Although I still don t like how Modern UI giving users complex behaviour and interactions. but it did brings out a new style of graphical style, a more modern and cleaner UI, and focusing on the information and a more direct way of interface.

I proposed two ideas for this project, and the following pages are the images for lock screen, log-in and the main interface.

22 proposal 1

Floating Fairytale

These four images are the imageboard for this proposal, as you can see, these images represent a certain story, or a place is magical and full of hopes. I took some elements and spirits in this proposal.

This proposal is quite interesting and uniqle for an UI, and also can brings out diversity to a brand, so it might be helpful to a tranditional brand like ASUS.

GUI Works

The ďŹ rst proposal is about fantacy, I want to use bright colours and unordinary images to create a style, which gives users more imagination, and also it can be very eye catching on the user interface.

23 GUI Works

I want this design to be very light and adaptive to background image, will give users a fresh look and a full of story, it s like carrying a storybook on your hand, written with your own story, includes photos, notes from a lecture, messages from your family, etc.

Put more emotions to this device, and link it to your everyday life.

Put more emotion to this device, and link it to your everyday life.

Not only the graphical style should be appealing but it should very user friendly as well. I always think the most intuitive way to a user interface is to visualize the path clearly, so users would not hesitate before they act.

One thing at a time sometimes is an easy way to shorten their time of decision. And using bigger button to draw their attention will also do the trick.

Weather information is always an eye catching item of GUI, and it s easy to show the style and look and feel to the design. This time, I use a soft orange sun to match the whole fairytale feeling, and the oating island and that unusual lighthouse are also the main characters in this design, and bring out more mysterious tone.

proposal 2

The Texture of Air

The second proposal I tend to dig further. The main concept is be Alive , so I imagine how a living thing looks and feels. I think of breathing , not just about breathing air, but how air ows and its rhythm, moderately, continually exits. I like this idea because this is something we always notice but yet very important in our lives.

I name this proposal the Texture of Air , and start wondering what if air is tangible and what it would touch like? I found some images that can show how I imagine it would like, it must be soft and light, and its texture will be like colorful feathers, tingling.

26 GUI Works Start wondering what if air is tangible and what it would touch like?

27 GUI Works

Postscript

I enjoy the whloe process, and to make every pixel perfect

The Texture of Air was chosen in the end because it has more design stories and languages in it. From the inside out, this concepy shows more depth, and it is also more suitable for the market and for the company.

In this project, from the beginning to the end, I played an important role like developing a concept, gathering information about Modern UI, UE side of view, and most importantly the graphical user interface design.

I like the fact that this two designs are both very young and colorful like Modern UI, and I use a lot texture I use on tiles, add with some transparency, they can look light and stylish, and the pinkish colored paper feel is quite interesting too.

Fortunately, my proposal was chosen out of many proposals. Although we couldn t really alter Modern UI to launch this design to our machine, but I got a chance to practiced a valuable process and came up to a result that has improved me so much.

29

ASUS Software Guideline 3 examples for my clean, simple and neat UI design I call Precis e UI

Graphical User Interface Design Windows 8 2012 September

This project is based on Windows 8.

2012 was all about Modern UI, and how people expect Microsoft would jump up to the top, but it never happened. ASUS used to focus on Android based Pad like ASUS Transformers, but after Windows 8 released, we began to develop another software style to fit this new trend, so we had a competition inside design center. In the end, only me and another designer had a chance to the final round, and this what I did that time.

GUI Works

To design an application interface, I usually minimize the decoration, using contents to build frames and layouts, because I believe content is the most important part for users, so these builtin apps doesn t have to be very fancy.

On the contrary, only using distinguish colors to stands out each application.

By each application s features to create different layouts.

To design an application interface, I usually minimize the decoration

Windows 8, Modern UI There are three apps for this proposal, AO-Link, Cloud Manager, My Library, three basic and important default ASUS apps. The following pages I will describe more about this proposal and each app s specifics.

30

AO - Link

AO-link is an DLNA app, allows users to share ďŹ les or transfer contents with each device.

When making a guideline, I usually put emphasis on colors, and components.

They should have cohesive style and the same tone and manner.

In this app, I use brighter blue as its main color, and every response should follow use this blue, so that when users see this color they would realize that they are using AO-Link.

A clean background is also a selling point to this design, avoid using heavy color blocks to make divisions. Keep a fresh and neat looking is also the main concept for this proposal.

GUI Works

Example 1

GUI Works 31

32

Cloud File Manager

Sky blue is also a color that everyone loves, and also the color reminds me of a cloud service.

After log in, users can choose a function to do their task. This layout is designed to scroll horizontally, and unlike the other cloud service apps, I want this app to be very pure visually, using simple elements to create the entire structure.

Sharing ďŹ les with your family and friends can be easy and fun, and most importantly, it can be very stylish.

When I design an UI , I also consider its motion interaction, and use ash to demonstrate to RD, so they can have a perfect understanding of my idea.

GUI Works

Example 2

33 GUI Works

Example 3

My Library

Reading a magazine or a book is also easy on a tablet, although I still like to carry a book to a coee shop to enjoy a Saturday afternoon, but reading with a tablet is very convenient and fast nowadays.

Although I only read magazines or comics this kind of graphical contents on a tablet. but when I design this app, I would stop and think what s the best for users, so I decided to bring the covers to the top, so users can easy to choose what they want to read, and it can light up the UI, make it more appealing,

Online bookstore is a huge market to develop too, according to NYtimes, 24% of people whose last book was bought on an online retailer. Although this proposal was only conceptual, but someday I will have a chance to design a huge public oriented service app.

That should be very interesting.

34 In the end, this design did not go through implementation because Modern UI really has a lot of restrictions, so we had to toward to another direction, but I really like this design, and by that time, at design still not as popular as it is now ( mid 2013 ), so when I look back to this design, I can say that I was a trend setting designer, or maybe I just absorb Modern UI style very quickly.

GUI Works

Postscript

when I design an app, I would stop and think what s the best for users

35

ASUS Mail App Redesign A real challenge for an app synchronized with 3 devices.

Graphical User Interface Design Andriod 2013 May

Mail Appllication is a very basic but necessary app to a device, nearly everyone has more than one mail account, so how to organize or manage numerous mails becomes this app s ďŹ rst priority. How to view the mail content eortlessly is the main key for users to like this app. I also want this app to looks cool, special, but in the meantime, it has to be very intuitive and fast to access each level.

GUI Works

To design an mail app looks simple but there are so many details have to notice, for instance, several accounts in one inbox view, how to seperate each account, and how to ďŹ t so many icons and texts to one signle mail item especially in a 5 inch phone screen. My job is to achieve a good user experience and also improve its brand identity at the same time.

Give users only necessary options so that they can fast make their decisions

After I surveyed all other competitors mail apps, I found out they are all very formal and boring, just simply doing what mail apps supposed to do. Then I started to rearrange all the priorities of every functions, trying to add more fun elements in it. I meant to make this app to be very distinguishing, so I use black combines bright colors to create contrast instead of white and grey., ansd the contact photos are like the accent color to this design.

As usual, I believe less is more, give users only necessary options so that they can fast make their decisions. The following pages are the outcome images, which I am quite proud of.

GUI Works

36

37

Postscript ASUS Mail App in the end, unfoutunately has become an ordinary mail app, due to some politic reasons. I think this problem is a big part of reason why I left ASUS, a company only saying inspiring Innovation , but never do so. Despite all the things I ve said, I still hold gratitude for this chance to work in this international company, and believe in time, ASUS will be the ďŹ rst choice to its market. I have learned and improved so much thanks to my superior Parks Tzeng.

41

ASUS Application Icon Redesign To create an icon guideline for ASUS, and also redesign current icons.

Graphical User Interface Design Design & Refine

Icongraphy

2013 June

To quote Android 4.0 guideline An icon is a graphic that takes up a small portion of screen real estate and provides a quick, intuitive representation of an action, a status, or an app.

So, Icons should get people s attention and can be much more efficient than words.

Icon sketch is a good way to express a coherent style. This time I was assigned to do this renovation of ASUS application icon on our Android devices. After several rounds of proposals, from a complext full of details style to a flat, zero-decoration, simplicity style, in the end, I finally created this set of icons that can represent a new direction to ASUS, hopefully can change the stereotype of the majority users think of ASUS which is quite serious and stiff.

Every GUI designer loves to have high-quality icons, and for me it is also a nice way to reduce pressure and to relax, because when I focus on every pixel to be perfectly on grid, I keep my mind off other stressful matters.

Icons should be much more efficient than words

App Icons should combine beauty, simplicity and most important of all,purpose. Icons are supposed to make the UI more user friendly and be easier to understand, and never overwhelm with too many details.

When people use your app for the first time, they should intuitively grasp the most important functions. These principles are actul rule to apply to our icon guideline.

42 Change for the better

Few years ago, we expected skeumorphism on the screen, nearly every GUI designer follow the apple bible to create a lifelike icon. In time, like there s a trend on the UI (as fashion to clothes); People start to like a simple, clean user interface. ASUS has a plan for the upcoming years, they decided to predict the trend, so they can be prepared, the advanced project is called ISOI ( in search of incredible ), main goal is to design a pure product that everybody loves. UI is a big part of it, especially icons. In the progress of redesigning this set of icons, I kept most of the composition to remain the meaning, but reduced the confusing elements.

Icongraphy

In search of incredible

GUI Works 02

44

Postscript

A process is always interesting, you might feel it was perfect, but through someone elses eyes might still need some improvement. In this project I had some experience to lead a gruop of ďŹ ve, to coach them to follow the guideline I created, and direct them to design icons with equal quality. I believe I have showed my leadership when they improved their skills and esthetic.

45

Z & K Leather Branding It all began with couldn t ďŹ nd the perfect men bags, so we make them by ourselves Leather goods design hand made 2013

Z & K is a small brand I started with my friend Kevin. We learned leather craft from a further study program, and then started to design leather bags.

In March 2013, we opened a page on facebook and started to promote our ďŹ rst product, an iphone leather sleeve.

It was never intend to make proďŹ ts, we just wanted some adjustment from our boring work life. the business started okay, we were manage to earn a little money after covering the materials we use to make the products.

Hobby

It is very fun to design the visual ads for our own product and it is happy to receive feedback from the buying when they tell you how much they like our products and how they admire young designers.

Share style inspiration and advice with friends and bloggers

We only provides quality goods

47 Hobby

Cow leather (embossed), black nickel metal hardware and bucles, YKK zippers / interior pocket used micro suede, vermilion color

48 Hobby

Silent Tote Bag 460 x 400 x 480 x 150 mm ( top width x bottom width x height x depth)

We love tote bags : easy access, no sweaty back, easily removed. As a top loading bag it can also handle oversize objects, yet it also has adjustable front straps as well. Handhold it, wear it on your shoulder, or carry it on your back, this bag could be your new everyday bag.

49 Hobby

Calf leather (grained), silver metal hardware and buckles, YKK zippers / interior pocket used micro suede, Peacock blue

50 Hobby

Depend Shoulder Bag 350 x 160 x 400 x 180 mm ( top width x bottom width x height x depth )

Featuring a tall, rectangular shape, the bag s only strap comes courtesy of a side strap with the bag resting on a diagonal tilt when carried. The bag s simple construction also features high-quality supple cowhide leather. This shoulder bag has a single strap at side, detachable key fob and zip-fastening purse and an internal pouch pocket.

Sleeves Phone Sleeve

Our ďŹ rst product in Z& K, also the best selling product we have. We treat our products very carefully, and take care of every details, because we know that is what we want when we buy a product.

52

Pause

We had to pause the business because Kevin and I both are planning a huge change for this year, so couldn t be able to deliever nice good products to our fans. but we promised them when we both are settle down somewhere in the world, we will be back.

Thank you

Thank you for taking a moment to review this portfolio. It represents just a few examples of years work. I hope you ďŹ nd it interesting, pleasing, and inspiring.

Contact +886 988 258531 kzeke@hotmail.com Skype : kzeke321 Line : zekekuo321 Facebook: Zeke Kuo