Jensen Teng has been crowned the winner of the 2020 Chicago Sky T-Shirt Design Contest.
Over 20 designers submitted t-shirt designs for the second annual online contest. Jensen, a Taipei, Taiwan native, is a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago studying photography and visual communication. Of the eight finalists, Jensen’s two designs made it to the final round.
Q+A with Jensen Teng
Chicago Sky: The 2020 T-Shirt Contest had 2 of your designs in the contest. What was your inspiration for both and how did you encourage your friends and family to vote?
Jensen Teng: My inspiration of the designs are from Kanye West’s album cover “life of the Pablo” I think I can use a younger and minimalist design with just text and logo to create a clean and simple look.
I didn’t really encourage my friends and family to vote that much because I don’t want to make it into a social media game of who has the more followers win. I want to let people choose on their own without being bias to vote for me. That’s why I didn’t announce that I designed them on my social media until both my designs went into the finals.
Chicago Sky: While at SAIC, how has your love for sports and design intertwined?
Jensen Teng: During my time photographing UIC men’s basketball, I tried to look at the game with fine art and creative perspective instead of just capturing the moment of dunking or shooting. It later became a really interesting practice of mine to distinguish my shots with other people’s. So, I think instead of taking photos, I like to call it making photos, finding the connection between players and those moments that aren’t usually seen in the game like emotions and so on.
Chicago Sky: Do you have a favorite athlete and what is your earliest sport memory?
Jensen Teng: My favorite athlete is Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets, his game is creative and beautiful to watch as well as his artistic personality. It will be my dream to meet him in person one day in my future career.
My earliest sport memory will be my high school varsity career, that’s when I first fell in love with the game. I was never the best or most talented player on the court, but I do whatever I can to know better about the game and it brings me lifelong friends and memories.