Jack Yan

Jack Yan (甄爵恩, Pinyin: Zhēn Juéēn) is a publisher, designer and businessman, born 1972 in Kowloon, Hong Kong. A descendant of an early Chinese sage emperor and Chinese nationalists, Jack Yan emigrated to Wellington, New Zealand with his parents in the mid-1970s, and graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with business and law degrees. Jack Yan founded his own company in 1987 while a teenager and grew it, initially, into the region's leading font software firm, claiming to be the first New Zealander to design digital typefaces. He created over 100 typeface designs himself for the firm. In 1997, he founded Lucire, a fashion magazine that made the move from web to print, and serves as its publisher. He also helms a consulting firm, where he wrote of the connection between business and spirituality, and is a member of the Medinge Group think-tank.

He is a distant relative of Chinese American TV chef Martin Yan and believed to be related to author Leslie Charteris (b. Leslie Bowyer-Yin). Many Australians know him for his regular columns in Desktop magazine, which he began writing for in 1996.

Yan speaks Cantonese but considers his heritage to be Taishanese.

Books

• Beyond Branding: How the New Values of Transparency and Integrity Are Changing the World of Brands, with Nicholas Ind (editor), Malcolm Allan, Simon Anholt, Julie Anixter, John Caswell, Thomas Gad, Sicco van Gelder, Tim Kitchin, Chris Macrae, Denzil Meyers, Alan Mitchell, John Moore, Ian Ryder; 2003, 2004 reprint edition, Kogan Page, ISBN 0749441151.
• Viewpoint: Perspectives on 21st Century Branding: User Seductive; 2004, Wai-te-ata Press.
• Typography and Branding; 2004, Natcoll Publishing.

External links

• IMDb entry on Yan
• Interview with Yan on his type design career (in French)