I am an independent French designer and art director based in London, working primarily for cultural organisations, publishing houses and entertainment brands. I love coming up with surprising concepts, crafting striking design solutions, and collaborating with other creatives to produce work that captures audiences’ imagination.

Inside and outside of work, I am passionate about making the industry a more inclusive place. I co-founded and ran for 7 years the Ladies Wine & Design London chapter, a popular community group for women and non-binary creatives. Events I helped organise included portfolio review events for D&Ad New Blood, and talks about Women of Colour working in the Creative Industry, Working In-House and Changing Careers.

I regularly give lectures at universities, and I have a video course on art direction called Generating Memorable Ideas available on Domestika (trailer below)
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Say hi/bonjour:
hello@emiliechen.com

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Instagram: @spottedbyem

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Worked previously at:
National Theatre
Penguin Books

Clients include:
Netflix
Barbican
BBC
Almeida Theatre
Young Vic
Somerset House
Henry Moore Foundation
Goldsmiths University
Wimbledon

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Domestika course trailer:

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Awards
3 Silver at Graphis 2025 Poster Awards

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Selected Press
Creative Review – Profile
Design By Women – Interview
Creative Lives in Progress – Interview
Campaign Magazine – Creative Equals Future Leaders 2021 List (‘One to watch’)

It’s Nice That – Graduating in a Downturn advice column

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Work featured in:
The Graphic Design Bible by Theo Inglis (Hachette)
National Theatre Posters: A Design History by Rick Poynor (Unit Editions)
The 3D Type book by fl@33 (Laurence King Publishing)

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Selected Talks
Birmingham Design Festival
Typocircle Supercondensed Conference
Creative Mornings London
Rye Here Rye Now Doodle Talks (as part of London Design Festival 2021)
General Assembly ‘Kickass Women Slay Together’ panel
Fail Better Talks

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Guest lecturer at Central St Martins, London College of Communication, University of Creative Arts, Chelsea College of Arts and Ravensbourne