I'm a multifaceted designer with 7+ years of experience in South Korea and the U.S.,
blending visual and business design to create both aesthetic and strategic solutions.
My work spans beauty, retail, and community sectors,
reflecting my commitment to design’s impact at every level.
Each project in my portfolio follows a design-thinking approach
—starting with visual narratives, deepening through brand substance,
and anchoring solutions in business values.
My international experience has reinforced the power of cross-cultural insight,
collaboration, and strategic creativity in driving meaningful design.
After I graduate my college,
March 02, 2016
Back then, I had to be sensitive even to the thickness of pencil leads. I mainly used 2H for sketching and chose up to 6B depending on the purpose. Frequent lead breaks meant the pencil was getting old. Some days I liked Tombow, other days Staedtler felt right. The ones I liked quickly became short. Back then, you could just attach an extender. I preferred ones that didn't leave a smell on my hands when gripping them. Sometimes, after holding them for a while, some would give off a metallic scent. After a stub came a new pencil. There was always a slight tension when first putting a knife to the hexagonal-coated wooden stick. The angle of the blade and the pencil lead mattered. It felt good to smoothly peel away the wood and neatly trim the graphite core.
The same went for erasers. Pressing a new eraser's edge against paper was almost reverent. After using it until the edges became round, I had to cut them with a knife to make them sharp again, ready for immediate use. For paints and brushes, imported ones were better than domestic. Domestic ones were fine, but brands like HWC or Barbara certainly had that special something. Occasionally, squeezing out an HWC paint tube onto the palette or getting a Barbara brush was a gift I could give myself.
The front and back of drawing paper mattered. Running your hand over the paper's edge – the smoother side was the front. When hands weren't sensitive enough, holding it up to the light was another way. If the sides got switched, it felt uncomfortable throughout the drawing process. Both sketching and coloring were much easier on the smooth front side. Among colored pencils, I used black and white the most, needing to keep several extras of each. A pencil would quickly wear down to a stub after finishing each drawing.
Sharpening regular pencils and colored pencils was different. For colored pencils, I used an automatic sharpener. Nothing was handier – just push the colored pencil head down firmly, and amid the loud noise, it quickly produced a sharp point. Regular pencils, though, had to be sharpened by hand. All these tools – pencils, erasers, paints, colored pencils – were meant for a single completed drawing. Completion was crucial. Each day's task was to complete a piece within the given time according to the assigned theme. Completion meant many things. After completion came evaluation. Scores were given, and skill levels were determined. From the summer when I was twenty-one until the beginning of winter when I had just turned twenty-two. That's how I lived back then. After not remembering it for a long while, now that I'm a senior, it all comes back as if it happened just recently.