Daniel Young - Visual Interaction Designer

Daniel Young is good at making connections between seemingly unconnected things. He’s studied many different subjects, such as music, psychology, graphic design, information technology, and languages.

- Peg Lopata

Currently, he’s a senior interaction designer at Google Switzerland. His job involves “making it easier and more enjoyable to buy things on Google.” But he’s also an artist whose creations connect art and data. That may sound complicated, but Young says his work is about making things simpler.

DO YOU COMBINE ART AND DATA IN YOUR JOB AT GOOGLE?

Yes. For the past five years I’ve worked as an interaction designer with Google. I draw the user interface—that’s what you actually see on a device screen.

SO WHEN WE’RE SEARCHING ONLINE, YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT HOW THE PAGE LOOKS. WHAT LED TO YOUR INTEREST IN THIS TYPE OF DESIGN?

I am fascinated with the idea of technology being a part of the creative process in art and design. My first graphic design project was an interactive sign for an event. When a person approached the sign on a screen, the individual pieces of the design moved and came together to form a logo for the event.

YOU HAVE ANOTHER PROJECT CALLED “GREEN EGGS” BASED ON THE BOOK GREEN EGGS AND HAM BY DR. SEUSS. HOW DID YOU GET THE IDEA?