As a toddler scribbling and doodling on the walls of her home with her first ever pack of crayons, senior Margaret Lu had no idea that the action her parents discouraged would translate into something much bigger: a future in art and design.
Lu’s interest in art was sparked at a young age by coloring books and small packs of crayons at restaurants she went to, giving rise to the curiosity she had for art and design.
“I got my artistic background from my dad, who was an artist,” said Lu. “However, he wasn’t allowed to pursue art because of his parents, so he was kind of forced to not be an artist. When it came to me, I was given the choice of pursuing art or pursuing STEM.”
Lu began taking traditional art classes in elementary school, starting with the basics: sketching, oil painting, watercolor and ink drawings, and progressed to more formal art courses in the preceding years. In junior year of high school, with the prospect of college applications just one year ahead, Lu began to prepare and assemble her art portfolio. Most of Lu’s work is digital, so she tends to use Photoshop the most. When it comes to video-based work, Lu utilizes Adobe After Effects or Adobe Premiere Pro. When Lu initially began using these applications, she relied mostly on experimentation and online tutorials to guide her.
“The first program will always be the hardest, but the learning curve won’t be too steep by 3rd or 4th program,” said Lu.

Through years of training, classes and practice, many artists develop a style of art, but Lu believes that she has yet to adopt a particular style of art. Lu imagines that not having a distinct style has allowed her to push and expand her creative boundaries, as she is able to experiment with new styles of art. Lu tends to sway toward an intellectual or theoretical-based theme to reflect through her work, an analysis of a concept rather than an emotional stance.
“I respect [Margaret’s] art for being minimalistic and universally understandable,” said senior Rhee Kang. “She does a lot of graphic design related artwork, which means that the ubiquity of understanding is extremely crucial, and she is able to achieve that with effective color schemes and her own stylistic nuances.”
Apart from creating an art portfolio, Lu has also undertaken various side projects. During the staff homecoming of 2016, Lu was interested in creating a design for apparel for the staff’s Wild West themed apparel, and approached art teacher Matthew Reynolds, who had mentioned that the staff was looking for student-based designs. Despite the contest being open to the entire school, Lu’s design was ultimately chosen to be displayed on the staff t-shirts.
In October 2017, Lu decided to take advantage of an “art block,” a period of time when she did not know what to create. She pushed her boundaries by creating unique designs for clothing items, such as t-shirts and hoodies, through RedBubble, an online marketplace for people to purchase merchandise designed by artists who submit their artwork.
Lu has released two clothing lines since starting her RedBubble account, one called “Stress Culture” and the other called “SubtleT.” “Stress Culture” is inspired and influenced by the environment that surrounds Lu, the excessive amount of stress people are under due to competition, technological advancements and the strive to be successful. Lu’s “SubtleT” line is geared toward fandoms, which are communities of fans. “SubtleT” is also a reflection of her personal interests, consisting mainly of anime and Korean pop music. The designs are created so that only people in the fandom understand the concept behind the design, allowing for a more personal connection between people in those communities.
For Lu, art has proven to be more than just a hobby or an activity to pass time, it serves as a passion and a creative escape. Artistic success comes in all styles and forms, and Lu’s journey began with a pack of Crayola crayons.