Archive · Graphic Design

Graphic Design 2012–2017

Five years of early-career exploration: illustration, collage, poly art, album covers, and a few things I made just because I could.

Role: Graphic Designer
Timeline: 2012–2017
Team: Solo
Tools: Illustrator, Photoshop, Procreate

This is where it started. Before product design, before UX, before design systems, I was making things because I wanted to see what I could make, no brief and no client, just curiosity and whatever software I'd just figured out how to open. Poly art, collage, typography exercises, album covers for friends. A lot of it was me figuring out what I liked, by making a lot of what I didn't.

Some of it holds up. Some of it was a phase. All of it was formative, and I'm not editing any of it out.

Kid Sawing Up a Teddy Bear (I promise I'm not a psychopath)

Cute animation characters on Illustrator

Collage on LG Smartphone — Abusing a collaging app I found on my LG Smartphone

Leftover acrylic exploration — Leftover acrylic from a paint class

Glow effect on Illustrator — Abusing glow effects on Illustrator

Three favourite works from this era — Honestly three of my favourite pieces from this era

A white grid cut over a black-and-white city photo — Whoa, what?

Pencil and watercolour drawing of a llama — Felt cute, might delete later

Layered photos of blue bird wings — Wow, Photoshop!

Four colour blocks, each with a small figure and its reflection

Tributes to cartoonist 김재환 and his comic 알게뭐야

A pink heart illustration with the Korean title 마음 가는 대로

The Facebook f drawn as a face, with a thumbs-up

The Facebook f face in the colours of the French flag, captioned prier pour Paris — Playing with Facebook's branding

The Facebook f face over a red circle, captioned in Japanese: praying for Japan

A desk with a figure illustration and a laptop showing flowers — Standing Egg

A pencil portrait sketch on a desk beside a laptop — Park Hyo Shin?