The UTS BUILD (Beyond UTS International Leadership Development) Program, UTS International and the UTS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) proudly presents, a fun, high energy, inspiring and thought-provoking talk with Yiying Lu who integrates her ten years of experience in the Art, Technology, and Business world for an inspiring storytelling journey. She uses bridges as a metaphor to inspire and empower audiences to be global citizens to bridge divides, bring people together, and engage with cultures from around the world.

Come along for a chance to WIN a one-of-a-kind artwork giveaway from Yiying! 🎁

This event is open to ALL UTS Students, staff and Alum to attend. There will be an opportunity to network with other participants, as well as with Yiying after the presentation. Refreshments and drinks will be provided.

BUILD members will earn 5 elective points for attending the speaker event.

As Yiying shares her experiences and design case studies that make you cry — and laugh, you will discover:

Bridging Function & Fun: her story about being the artist of the “Twitter Fail Whale,” and Web 2.0 icon seen by millions; and her cross-cultural redefinition and a new mindset about “Fail,” which enables and empowers you to look beyond the conventional meaning of failure, encourage and inspire you to create something new.

Bridging Tech & Art: her creative journey of creating the Dumpling 🥟 Boba Tea emojis used by billions of people.

Bridging East & West: her creative process behind the localization campaign for a global company Disney in its new market, China, which successfully recruit 100,000 new employees for its opening in Disney Shanghai.

Bridging Business & Culture: her design process by using creative building blocks — colour, typography, and iconography that helped make localised identities for a global VC firm in India & Korea that transcend linguistic barriers.

Bridging Work and Life: How she turned her passion project of making emojis into an educational and business opportunity by collaborating with the Japanese company NTT (a Japanese Telecommunication company that invented emojis in 1999) and launching the World Emoji Day event to celebrate diversity, inclusion, and equity, and transformed a business center into an engaging emoji art gallery: Turned life passion into a profession - the work you enjoy!

About the presenter: Yiying Lu

Yiying Lu is an award-winning artist, entrepreneur, global educator, and TEDx speaker.

Named “Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business”, and a “Microsoft Leader in Innovation”, Yiying has created iconic art and campaigns for corporations from Apple to Google, and built brands for hundreds of companies during her time as a creative director at Silicon Valley based Venture Capital firm & Startups Accelerator, 500 Global.

She is also the artist behind the Dumpling and Boba Tea Emoji, the “Twitter Fail Whale," and the Chinese paper-cut style Mickey Mouse for Disneyland Shanghai. She now runs her innovation studio in San Francisco and serves as a San Francisco Arts Commissioner.

Her life purpose is to bridge the gap between Art & Tech, Business & Culture, Work & Life, and East & West.