I have participated in MoCCA Arts Festival this year and I completely forgot to take pictures of my table and myself. :) I just wanted to THANKS everyone who stopped by my tiny table enjoy what I anxiously put out there. IT MEANT SO MUCH! I’m not a professionally trained comic artist nor a cartoonist however, I’ve been really loving drawing these silly comics and sharing it on my IG and got overwhelming amount of respond and love, which has been quite encouraging. So I was able to come this far because of YOU. So I thank you, THANK YOU. Please stay tuned since I’ll get back in the saddle of creating comics hopefully soon!

Yes, this happened!! I had an amazing opportunity to work on cover pieces for The New York Times, Weekend Arts section. As an illustrator, working for The New York Times is one of the goals that you’d love to achieve (or at least it was for me) and I honestly didn’t think it would happen to me since I worked with lot of advertising clients, sometimes I feel insecure in regards to editorial illustrations. It was a perfect experience from the beginning to the end and I enjoyed every single moment. I can’t thank Paul enough to take a chance on me and being not only so encouraging but also giving me so much freedom. I’m going to frame this issue of the New York Times and put it on my living room wall! I know it maybe lame but I don’t care! I LOVE it. :)

I used to struggle a lot when I work on an editorial assignment(not that I got much better or anything…still struggle) and it was mainly because I didn’t quite establish how I can approach to a specific topic I wasn’t familiar with or that I never drew before. The more I got a chance to work on various assignments over time, I found sort of my own way to approach articles for the first time and digest it and process into a visual execution that I feel comfortable with. Anyway, the point I wanted to make (sorry it took so long) is that I really appreciate the AD Tam at Ad Age who saw my strength in illustration and has been helping me to embrace that by giving me all these assignments on a regular basis, which is a real trust and now I’ve been in this business for a while I realised how valuable that is. :)

I did work on the Artist Series with coffee brand Cafe Bustelo on their new cans and they’re finally hitting the shelves at supermarkets and retailers. I was so excited when I saw them in my local supermarket in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and I just wanted to tell people nearby that I did this like a real crazy person, thank god I did not do that. :) I had very positive responses from people I don’t know on social media and told me how much they liked it, etc and it made my really happy. Thanks again Cafe Bustelo team for letting me work on this and allowed me to be so me. Also come one $3.99 is a damn good price for a can of coffee!!

Okay, I’m going to share the end of the story first, which is this NYT job was unfortunately killed in the end so I don’t have the finalised illustration to show you however I still wanted to share the sketches and talk about a slightly unhappy ending but why it is also important and still worthy trying. It’s sad when assignment get killed and since I’m a nowhere near perfectionist but more like a client pleaser, I deeply tend to blame myself for not doing a good job. However, it is also good to be aware that it has got nothing to do with your ideas or sketches (or sometime it is) and sometimes the article gets killed or clients decide to change a direction or there’s someone who is a def better fit for the project than you’re and I know whatever the reason it might make you feel insecure but at the end of the day, you also have to remember that you’re considered and they thought of you, which I always appreciate it and if you’re considered once and do your best and I believe the client would recognise that and come back to you for another project in the future. Anyway, thanks again for the consideration and I’m hoping NYT will come back to me soon. :)

Another collaboration I did with Dr.Jart+ for this year’s limited holiday package finally arrived at Sephora! The theme is all about heroes and I got to create bunch of hero characters associated with their products, which I alway have fun with. I’ve been so fortunate to work with them for the past couple of years on this holiday projects regularly and it always makes me so happy to see them in person at Sephora and I want to shout that I illustrated it, which I wish I could but I’m too shy. :) Thanks to Dr.Jart+ for the trusting work relationship, which is rare to find.

I know it’s been ages since I posted my last project. Just wanted to let you know that I’VE BEEN SUPER BUSY and HAVE A LOT TO SHARE so I’M BACK! :) And I’m super excited to start my new post with this amazing collaboration I did with Under Armour for their customized sneakers. I’ve always wanted to dream about a project like this since I began my career and it finally happened.(HOLY COW!) Plus I got a pair of free sneakers. YAY! I don’t think I’ll ever wear them since they are too precious for me. What makes this project so memorable for me was the people I worked with and the client I met on set for the video shoot. It’s nice to be reminded we’re all here because we do care about what we do and we care about each other. THANKS again to Movement Strategy

It was so nice to hear back from AD Sarah who I worked with a while ago for the Time Out New York, but for something different this time. I always learn something new when I work on editorial pieces, which I found it fun. I haven't been to Portland, Oregon but this article made me search for all the hot spots I can visit if I ever go there! :)

I got to illustrate another map for Ad Age and this time was London. It was very nostalgia because I used to live in London and it's been almost 10 years since I left. I forgot a lot but also lots of memories of places I used to go all the time came back when I illustrated this map. I can't thank enough AD Tam who reached me out for another map. Hope you like it! 

I'm excited to share this video featuring my sketchbooks and you'll see how messy and all over the place my brain is. :) Thanks for watching.

I had a chance to work on a holiday card for Richmond family who was my professor at SVA MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program, also director at Adobe XD which meant so much to me. I remember fighting so hard not to fall asleep in his class- he is an AWESOME teacher, don't get me wrong. It's just his voice was so relaxing and the classroom was warm and dark enough. Anyway, it felt so honoured to illustrate personal and intimate family stories of 2017 and so much fun to be a part of Richmond family. Thank you Matthew Richmond and Lori Richmond. 

It's always so rewarding and wonderful when the client you worked with wants you AGAIN. I went back to FCB CURE with Rumi who is always up for helping me out (and not possible without her help) to work on an additional mural that was all about my favorite subject matter - food, dog! :) Thanks again for bringing us back and it meant so much to be wanted AGAIN! 

It's always so much fun to work on a mural - I really like being in an environment creating a mural that changes up the space instantly. 

Excited to share another awesome collab with Dr.Jart+ for their holiday products, didn't get a chance to see them in person at Sephora stores but people seem to really like it and told that it sold very well, which makes me so happy. YAY! :)

Also a series of GIFs for their social media with a great help from Shin who is a super talented illustrator. Please see the full images here www.heyheysu.com/drjart

I LOVE books - although I should read more books! And this project was one of the projects that I always wanted to do if I was given a chance and it did. It's totally understandable when people categorize your work and call it as a certain style that they think what it is and of course mine gets into "children friendly stuff" often although I don't do whole a lot of work for a children's market.(maybe I should?) So when this assignment was assigned to me, I was super excited but also appreciate the fact that the CD sees the possibility how to embrace my strength into rather adult-ish but sophisticated context and make it different and fun that anyone and everyone can enjoy. Hope you like how it came out and there's no need to catergorize styles all the time because then it limits the beyond possibilities before it begins. :) Hope that makes sense!

Yes, I got to do this fun map for Ad Age! Sometimes there's a project I want to do for my portfolio and maps are always something I wanted to try but had a hard time doing one as a personal project. So this was a great opportunity for me to jump in and get one done like I always planned to. Hope you like it. 

This summer has been real hectic and crazy dealing with a lot of exciting news and stressful personal matters plus fast turnaround deadlines on top of that, don't get me wrong - they are all very great stuff and I'm feeling greatful however, I can't help feeling so overwhelmed by it. And I had no time to do any personal work or even doodles, which made me forget how fun to just draw until I had this assignment for Poetry Foundation about the work poems. Thanks AD Cassie for being so understanding and going with my stick figure sketch and I had such a great time working on it. Hope you guys like it, too. 

This is going to sound so cheesy but I like SAMSUNG and you know why? Because I'm Korean and Samsung is a Korean company. - hope that wasn't a reason why I hired to do this project. :) Anyway, got to draw some fun, fun, fun stuff. It was a very tight turn around assignment with several revisions, which can be a bit stressful and intense but I kind of do like a chaos. I would say I thrive in chaos! Hope people enjoy these silly characters.

BEFORE

AFTER

Yes, I'd like to call this HAPPY VIBE TRUCK! :) Last year, I had a great chance to paint this Solidarity Movers truck, which you can check here. Unfortunately someone tagged the whole truck recently so Zak at Solidarity Movers asked us to come back and paint with a brand new graffiti. Hope you like it! Please do NOT tag over it because it is not nice...! :)

One of my new years resolution goals for work was a work trip. I know it may sound dumb but for someone like me who hardly leaves their cave drawing and drawing until they meet the deadlines, it is just a perfect situation that combing of getting out of their cave and getting work done. And I got to do that recently for Microsoft for their partner event took place in Washington D.C. this year. I did a live drawing for 4days using the Surface Studio creating a DC map as well as portraits of people I met and saw at the event. It was a lot of fun and my first in DC enjoying a bit of being a tourist. Thanks to Maria, Kalin, Parker and Dale at Microsoft!