Who the hell is Shirley Wang?

DixonBaxi is many things, but we aren’t an entity: we’re a group of people. And we think it’s time we introduced ourselves. Join us as we catch up with the creatives who make up our studio to learn what makes them who they are. This is Shirley, a motion designer with a biology degree and a love of typography.

Who are you and what do you do?
Hi! I’m Shirley, a motion designer. I bring brand stories and ideas to life through motion.

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What’s your story?
I was born in Melbourne and grew up in Hong Kong. I moved to the UK to study biology but after graduating, I realised I really missed being creative in a more visual sense (fine art was one of my favourite subjects in secondary school). I spent some time soul-searching and figured out I wanted to do design, so I moved to New York in 2018 to study Graphic Design at Parsons. After graduating, I freelanced for beauty brand Clinique and spent a year at Pentagram London as a brand and motion designer. I had so much fun animating there that I wanted to do motion full-time, which is how I ended up at DixonBaxi!

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TLDR: I’ve lived in a lot of different places and have a bit of an unconventional background for a designer.

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What are you working on right now?
I’m working on logo animation explorations for an iconic entertainment brand, experimenting with different ways to communicate the story and concept behind each logo option. It’s been really fun and exciting. I love that motion is such a big part of what we do here and that I get to animate all the time now!

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“I think what drew me to graphic design is that it allows me to pursue what I love about both science and art—it’s a blend of problem solving with visual creativity and storytelling.”

Describe your working style in 3 words.
Considered, intuitive, and collaborative.

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Tell us about some of your interests. What are you into?
I’m really into nice typography and art direction, so you’ll often find me swooning over books and magazines with beautiful type and photography or geeking out over title sequences for movies and TV series with interesting type animations. I also love trying new restaurants and Formula 1 (Drive to Survive, anyone?).

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Do you think design can change the world? How?
I think design is currently and will continue to change the world. Design, especially graphic/communication design, can inspire, entertain and educate people, helping us open our minds to new ideas and broaden our horizons, so yes for sure, design can change the world.

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If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
Less narrow-mindedness.

What’s the last song you listened to?
SeeSaw by Jamie xx and Romy.

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Why do you do what you do? What motivates you?
I think what drew me to graphic design is that it allows me to pursue what I love about both science and art—it’s a blend of problem solving with visual creativity and storytelling. I love motion in particular because of how it can elevate and add depth to visual storytelling, making it more impactful. I love being a designer because it makes you pay attention to the details of the world around you that usually go unnoticed and that it pushes you to be constantly learning.

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What’s your definition of good design?
Good design solves a problem and enhances experiences for people.