2026-11-04
Eric Calloway
Design Dispatch, New York
Nethathai Chanajon is a Creative Designer, illustrator, author, and visual storyteller who is originally from Thailand and now lives in California. Her formal training began with a Bachelor of Film and Digital Media from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in Bangkok. After relocating to the United States, she studied Multimedia Arts and Illustration Design at Berkeley City College and later completed intensive UX/UI design training through Springboard, where she added user research, interface design, and prototyping to her creative toolkit.
Chanajon’s early career was rooted in Thailand’s film and commercial production industry. Working as an Assistant Director with Phenomena Company Ltd. and Sampeng Grand Plus Production House, she learned about turning creative concepts into finished visual work. That production experience strengthened her skills in collaboration, organization, storytelling, and creative problem-solving, leaving an imprint on the way she approaches design and narrative today.
At iHere TV in Bangkok, she worked as a Creative Director, contributing visual identity, motion graphics, and creative direction for digital content. Those roles reinforced a multidisciplinary practice, one that moves between film, motion, illustration, and graphic work rather than staying confined to a single medium.
Since moving to California, Chanajon has continued to blend motion, illustration, and graphic design. She contributes graphic design, illustration, and motion graphics to San Quentin SkunkWorks, creating visual pieces that support storytelling and help communicate ideas through character work and narrative visuals. Her character-focused work reflects the way film training informs her thinking about composition, movement, and pacing across formats.
Her portfolio includes a digital illustration for Royal Studio’s Spooky Mansion game project, featuring character design and environmental artwork for a supernatural-themed scene. The work brings together visual storytelling and the creation of an environment for interactive media.
In addition to creative collaborations, Chanajon takes on independent and client projects that span illustration and character development. Her work also includes character-led graphic design and an IPA can concept combining original character artwork, typography, and visual effects. These projects reflect the range of her practice, from packaging design to digital visual development.
An important channel for Chanajon’s independent work is FromEyeii.com, a site she uses to develop and present personal design and illustration projects. In 2025, she wrote, illustrated, and designed her original children’s book, Ski With Dad. She led the project from concept to final execution: story development, character design, illustrations, page layouts, typography, cover artwork, website, and promotional materials.
Inspired by skiing, outdoor adventure, and life around Lake Tahoe, Ski With Dad brought together many parts of Chanajon’s practice. Illustration, graphic design, storytelling, publishing, branding, and digital marketing all played a role in bringing the book to readers and the community.
What defines Chanajon’s work is the deliberate combining of disciplines. Film shapes how she thinks about pacing and movement. Illustration supplies characters and visual personality. Graphic design and UX contribute to how she considers the audience’s experience. Whether she is designing packaging, developing a motion piece, or laying out a children’s book, she considers both the creative idea and how a viewer or reader will experience it.
Her training in UX/UI and ongoing practice across fields inform work ranging from page layouts to interface prototypes. That versatility gives her ways to develop visual stories across print, digital media, and motion.
