My story

I’ve been an advertising art director for more than 20 years and it all started in Toronto after graduating from the Ontario College of Art & Design. I originally wanted to become a cartoonist or a comic book artist when I applied to OCAD but I quickly fell in love with the conceptual creativity of advertising. It all made sense to me seeing art having a real purpose in the commercial world.

After cutting my teeth for over 7 years in the big smoke, I landed on my dream job at Rethink in Vancouver so I packed all my stuff and moved across the country in hopes to accelerate my advertising career. During the first few months living and working in Vancouver, I was at unease with the whole notion of work-life balance. I was now leaving the office at 5pm and I had the entire weekend to myself! It was a difficult concept to embrace at first because I was conditioned to work 70+ hours per week back in Toronto. With all the free time I had to myself alone in a new city made me rekindle my love for illustration and discovering photography.

Soon I decided to start an experimental workshop to fuel my hunger for creating fun art projects that had no purpose other than being fun. This is when I started my company Chairman Ting Industries. It’s a silly name which is exactly why I loved it. I wanted a silly name that I could work under and not take myself too seriously. However, it didn’t take long until people started noticing my work online that I started getting illustration projects from around the world. I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked on brands like Microsoft, adidas Originals, Infiniti, The Cartoon Network, Hootsuite, Telus, Sport Chek, Canadian Tourism, Kidrobot and more.

I now run my own art and design studio called Chairman Ting based in Vancouver. We work on everything creative from murals to animations. I am also part of a tech startup called Votee with my brother Pak from Hong Kong.

I currently live in beautiful Vancouver. B.C., Canada with my lovely wife Denise, and two kids. Thanks for checking out my work and feel free to contact me for any project inquiries.

Awards and recognition

Cannes Cyber Lions – Bronze
One Show Interactive – Merit
Gold – Marketing Awards
Communication Arts | Advertising and Design
Communication Arts | Illustration
Communications Arts | Interactive
Marketing Awards – Gold
Applied Arts | Photography and Illustration
Applied Arts | Advertising and Design
Applied Arts | Illustration
ADCC, Advertising and Design Club of Canada – Gold
New York Festivals – Gold
London International Advertising Awards
Lotus Awards – Gold
Luerzer’s Archive
200 Best Illustrators Worldwide by Luerzer’s Archive
Top 5 Most Creative People in Canada by Marketing Magazine, 2009

EXTRACURRICULAR WORK

Speaker at the RGD’s Virtual Creative Directions Conference, April 2020.
Inspired By Talk for the Advertising and Design Club of Canada, July 2019.
Keynote Speaker at The Western Washington University’s 2019 Senior Design Graduates.
Speaker at RGD, Design Thinkers | Annual design conference. Vancouver 2018
Speaker at Blendfest, A motion design and animation conference in Vancouver 2017
Speaker for Creative Mornings in Vancouver. 2014
Guest art curator | Panel Expert for Computer Arts Magazine’s illustration annual in the U.K. 2014
Guest lecturer at the Monserrart College of Art and Design in Beverly, Massachusetts. 2013
Advertising judge for the ACE Advertising Awards in Edmonton, Canada. 2011
Advertising judge for the Ad Rodeo Adverting Awards in Calgary, Canada. 2012
Speaker for Pecha Kucha, Vancouver. 2011

WORK EXPERIENCE

2016 – Present
Partner and creative at Chairman Ting Industries Inc. and Partner at Votee

2012 – 2017
Freelance art director.
Freelanced at: Rethink, TAXI, DDB, Camp Jefferson, NFB, Creature Seattle, Edelman and more.

2011 – 2012
Senior art director, Blast Radius Vancouver
Accounts: Nike Jordan

2007 – 2011
Art director, Rethink Vancouver
Accounts: Science World, BCAA, Coast Capital Savings, Mr. Lube, Avigilon, Dayton Boots

2005 – 2007
Art director, Dentsu Toronto
Accounts: Lexus, Toyota, Canon and Vespa

2001 – 2005
Art director, Due North Communications
Accounts: Workopolis.com, SONY, Goodyear, Dunlop, Diageo

November 2001
Art director (contract), Grey Toronto
Accounts: Sunoco and Spin Master Toys

1999 – 2001
Art director, Ambrose Carr Linton Carroll
Accounts: Honda, Acura, Harveys, Toronto Sun, Hersheys and Honey Well.