Tokyo · 2023 · a rare quiet moment
✦ Designer
Profile
Who is Ross?
"Grateful for those who left, cherishing those who stayed. Thank you, past, present, and future. And I hope this moment lasts forever."
I grew up in the city named after Uncle Ho, Vietnam, where it rained more often than the sun came out.
Today I'm a university student, a designer, and every once in a while, a writer. I take photos to hold onto the small moments people usually scroll past. I write code to make things that feel a little alive. I design because I've learned that how something looks is its own kind of kindness to whoever's looking.
This is my story so far, and it's probably going to be a long one.
Story Mode
The chapters
From Vietnam to the world, six chapters of figuring myself out
Chapter I
Homeland · Vietnam
I grew up under a sky that cried a lot. The monsoon taught me early that beauty and intensity travel together. I learned to spot stories in ordinary things, an old man's smile, the hum of a motorbike passing by. Creativity, for me, started as a way to hold onto moments before they slipped away.
Chapter II
The Leap · Arrival in Japan
Sixteen years old, one backpack, and a head full of questions I couldn't explain in any language. Loneliness felt like a blank page back then. Slowly, I started filling it in, with new friends, new words, and the quiet realization that maybe I belonged somewhere I never expected to.
Chapter III
Prime Time · High School Years
High school was where I figured out I could live two lives at once. Calculus by day, writing stories nobody would ever read by night. I shot my first roll of film, built my first website, tiny little universes, but they were mine.
Chapter IV
A Clean Slate · Cybersecurity Volunteer
For three years, I stood between everyday people and the ones trying to take advantage of them. Nobody made me do it. I just believed technology should protect people, not be a tool for exploiting them. It taught me that engineering, at its core, is ethics you practice every day.
Chapter V
Scholar · University
University taught me that design isn't about making things pretty, it's about making someone feel seen. I still walk these halls, notebooks full of ideas somewhere between code and poetry.
Chapter VI
Horizon · What's Next
I'm getting ready to take what I've learned out into the world, not as an expert, but as someone who still believes curiosity is the most useful skill there is. New cultures, new people to walk alongside and collaborate with, and a future where a designer doesn't have to care about borders.
Selected Work
Projects I've built
Here are a few things I've made, each one taught me something about design, code, or people.
Think Fraud
Helping over 50,000 people avoid getting scammed online.
I used to know exactly how to scam people online and take their money. But that past isn't a stain on me, if anything, it's exactly why I ended up helping over 50,000 people avoid getting scammed. Understanding how scammers operate was the only way I could stop them.
Status: CompleteRestaurant Cashier
Three years handling the register and the books at a ramen house.
Three years of auditing, counting every single cent. Every shift taught me a little more about responsibility. Getting every cent to match wasn't about being perfect, it was my way of showing I cared about doing it right.
Status: CompleteGlobal Elite
Reaching the top through talent and relentless practice.
If you think knowing how to hold a mouse is enough to play games, come try CS:GO (CS2), it'll change your mind fast. You'll need real talent and a mountain of grueling practice. Reflexes plus stubborn practice are what got me here.
Status: ActivePolyglot
Four languages, endless connections.
7+ years living abroad, three languages down, working on a fourth. To me, language isn't just vocabulary, it's a door into someone else's world.
Status: ActiveAbilities
Unlocked skills
Cinematic Journal
Frames of life
Get in Touch
Open channel
Collabs, freelance work, or just a chat, I'm always up for it.