A Few Small Illos

Victo Ngai

Here are some small illos I did in between bigger projects, I had lots of fun with them and it’s quite refreshing to work with organic forms! 

“Tai-Chi, the moving meditation”, a half page for the St. Louis Magazine. Thanks AD Rachel Harris!

“Funny money”, a spot for a very interesting story about all the confusions and problems before U.S. currencies were united forBank Simple Blog. Thanks AD Mae Saslaw!

“Code for America”, a spot for Honolulu Magazine. “Code for America” is a new kind of public service which helps the governments of it’s partner cities work better with the power of web. Thanks AD Cody Kawamoto!

Posted 1 week ago
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Tagged: Victo Ngai, honolulu magazine, St Louis magaziine, Bank Simple, Illustration, .
Meltdown in Motherland for the NYT Victo Ngai I did this quickie (one day turn around) for the New York Times Op-Ed anxiety section the past Friday. The story is about postpartum anxiety/depression, you can read the story here. It was not the happiest story/image for the Mother’s day weekend, but I really wanted to give my mom a hug after I finished this piece. A big shout out to all the moms: thanks for everything, you are the best!  Many thanks to AD Alexandra Zsigmond!

Meltdown in Motherland for the NYT

Victo Ngai

I did this quickie (one day turn around) for the New York Times Op-Ed anxiety section the past Friday. The story is about postpartum anxiety/depression, you can read the story here. It was not the happiest story/image for the Mother’s day weekend, but I really wanted to give my mom a hug after I finished this piece. A big shout out to all the moms: thanks for everything, you are the best! 

Many thanks to AD Alexandra Zsigmond!

Posted 2 weeks ago
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Tagged: Victo Ngai, new york times, love mom, postpartum anxiety, illustration, .

My first sensual experience with the New Yorker

Victo Ngai


How often do one get to draw a full page sensual piece for the New Yorker magazine?I feel super luck-out being ask to illustrate this piece for the fiction “Sweet Dreams” by Peter Stamm. The story is about a young couple living together in Switzerland. This is the scene I was given to work on:

She went to the bathroom, filled the tub, and got undressed. The mirror misted over with condensation, and the smell of pine needles filled the air. She turned off the water, and the apartment suddenly seemed very quiet. Then she heard footsteps, and Simon’s voice through the half-open door. He said, I’ll just go downstairs for the bottle of wine. I thought you’d gone already, said Lara, and she poked her head through the crack, and he kissed her on the lips and tried to barge the door open, but she held it shut. They kissed again. See you soon, said Lara. It was odd, she still felt a little ashamed in front of him.

I had so much fun and I think this is one of my recent favorite works. Big big thanks to AD Jordan Awan and Chris Curry!!
Posted 3 weeks ago
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T cell for The New Yorker

Victo Ngai

My first piece for the New Yorker magazine!! This image is for an article by Jerome Groopman about how T-cell from our immune system could be the game changer in fighting cancer.
The New Yorker has always been one of my dream client, I can’t possibly tell you how thrilled I was when AD Chris Curry gave me this assignment!! Thank you Chris!  
Posted 1 month ago
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Tiger Hunter for Plansponsor
Victo Ngai

This piece is in the latest PLANSPONSOR April issue. It was originally a personal piece but I submitted it to AD SooJin after I finished. She liked it and found an article that fits with it. This is how AWESOME SooJin is!!  (I really like how the layout design carry the eyes from the image via arrows to the text!)

Incredible lineup of illustrators in this issue, including Sam Bosma, Dadu Shin, Nick Iluzada, Josh Cochran, Joohee Yoon, David Jien, Chris Silas Neal, Marc Rosenthal, Red Nose Studios…!

Thanks again to SooJin for being amazing!

Posted 1 month ago
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Crazy Eyes, New York Times. Victo Ngai I drew some crazy eyes for New York Times’s Sunday Technology page. The article is online now and will be in this Sunday’s paper. (March 18th). Many bifocal glasses wearers have to bob their heads up and down for the right focuses when looking at computer screens, a new type of lens is introduced to ease this strain. Due to time constrain, AD Minh and I started working on this piece before the article was written. So we only had a rough concept to work with. Minh liked what I did with the “The ghost of tax return” for the NYT a month back and suggested we could use a similar approach to show someone staring at the screen with their head bobbing up and down. I usually like to come up with my own ideas, but this time I found the idea suggested very fun and was happy to play along. It turned out to be a great collaboration, thanks Minh for all the insightful inputs! 

Crazy Eyes, New York Times.

Victo Ngai

I drew some crazy eyes for New York Times’s Sunday Technology page. The article is online now and will be in this Sunday’s paper. (March 18th). Many bifocal glasses wearers have to bob their heads up and down for the right focuses when looking at computer screens, a new type of lens is introduced to ease this strain.

Due to time constrain, AD Minh and I started working on this piece before the article was written. So we only had a rough concept to work with. Minh liked what I did with the “The ghost of tax return” for the NYT a month back and suggested we could use a similar approach to show someone staring at the screen with their head bobbing up and down. I usually like to come up with my own ideas, but this time I found the idea suggested very fun and was happy to play along. It turned out to be a great collaboration, thanks Minh for all the insightful inputs! 

Posted 2 months ago
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Tree Shields This illo is for February’s Utne reader. It’s about the “Great Green Wall” project in Africa- an attempt to  stop desertification and protect farm land by planting trees at the edge of Sahara desert. I thought it would be cool to depict the trees as umbrellas shielding the people and livestocks from the sand storm.  This is the last illo I worked with AD Stephanie Glaros before she leaves Utne for Experience Life magazine. Thanks to Stephanie’s handwork and passion for art, Utne has been one of the few publications out there filled with fabulous illustrations. Stephanie was also one of the few ADs who replied to my promos when I first graduated from RISD. I still distinctly remember how happy and encouraged I was when I got her email!! Thanks and all the best to you Stephanie! 

Tree Shields

This illo is for February’s Utne reader. It’s about the “Great Green Wall” project in Africa- an attempt to  stop desertification and protect farm land by planting trees at the edge of Sahara desert. I thought it would be cool to depict the trees as umbrellas shielding the people and livestocks from the sand storm. 
This is the last illo I worked with AD Stephanie Glaros before she leaves Utne for Experience Life magazine. Thanks to Stephanie’s handwork and passion for art, Utne has been one of the few publications out there filled with fabulous illustrations. Stephanie was also one of the few ADs who replied to my promos when I first graduated from RISD. I still distinctly remember how happy and encouraged I was when I got her email!! Thanks and all the best to you Stephanie! 

Posted 3 months ago
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Tagged: Victo Ngai, Illustration, utne reader, great green wall, agroforestry, .
Source: victongai

NYT SundayBiz illo-Lonely Cubicle

I have a piece in the New York Times Sunday Business section today. It’s about loneliness at workplaces. The saying “no man is an island” by John Donne came to mind when I was brainstorming for ideas. 
I deiced to make the girl much bigger when I went into final. I think it makes a nicer composition and helps to emphasize the uneasy and repressed feeling of being trapped in the tiny cubicle. 
 Big big thanks to AD Minh D. Uong!!

Posted 4 months ago
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Tagged: Victo Ngai, new york times, Illustration, loneliness, .
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Happy Dragon Year Poster for McDonald’s.

FINALLY I can share this! I did this exciting job back in June 2011 and it has been a long hard 6 months observing the non-disclosure agreement. I was contacted by Benjamin Milam from Leo Burnett  to develop a design for the McDonald’s vestibule poster and trayliner celebrating the Year of Dragon. I want to do it because the project seems like a perfect fit. 
Asian Lunar New year is an important holiday which brings together families and friends as they welcome a new year filled with hope and optimism. The idea of lighting red lanterns was chosen to express the festive mood and the spreading of good luck and blessing. Flowers are a huge part of Lunar New Year, I drew someChinese peony (symbolized prosperity and wealth) andChrysanthemum (symbolized longevity) in this illustration. 
I have been told that usually advertisement clients are a pain in the neck - greater money comes with greater restrictions, but not with this project. I enjoyed much creative freedom and was given a lot of insightful feedbacks. It was a great pleasure. Big thanks to producer Benjamin Milam, AD Jason Fisher and all the designers and good people at Leo Burnett! 
龍年快樂，身體健康，萬事如意，恭禧發財！
Happy Dragon Year!

Posted 4 months ago
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How could life be possibly better than drawing a REALLY REALLY FAT CAT and be paid for it? This is a piece I did for PLANSPONSOR Jan 2012 issue. The phrase AD SooJin gave me to work with was “sorting out complicated things and getting it straight”.

I once baby-sitted a really really fat cat for a summer. He was a 30lbs mixed maine coon named Pinkus. He had the coolest attitude, love to eat and occasionally ponder about life with a cigarette.

Posted 4 months ago
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Tagged: really fat cat, Victo Ngai, Plansponsor, Illustration, .