My design career started in Japan. To supplement my income as an English Teacher, I helped small businesses re-translate their websites and marketing material from Google Translate English to real person English. 

The language barrier, and my poor reading skills in Japanese meant I often relied on the design to gain meaning. For example many websites had the phrase “Please regard us favorably” which is confusing and a little off-putting for native English speakers, but is a common phrase in Japan. By taking in the meaning from the design, I would either re-translate that as “Welcome”,  “Please enjoy your visit” or “We look forward to doing business with you”.

I also got to deep dive into design principles by trying to re-create the same feel for Western visitors as Japanese visitors. What looks chic and sophisticated to Japanese people, often looks clunky if simply translated for a Western audience.