Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabelle Lim (Descent Magazine).
Isabelle, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Despite creating art both personally and professionally for 21 years, I’ve always hesitated to call myself an artist.
Part of that can be attributed to growing up as an ABC (American Born Chinese) in the Boston suburbs, where art was primarily considered a solo hobby. Emphasis on hobby and bonus points you used said hobby to pad your college application.
In risk of being a cliche, moving to LA in 2021 for business school completely changed my perspective on art. I was (and still am!) deeply moved by how driven USC’s creative communities were to create and uplift one another through their work.
Until sophomore year, I’d been caught up in the business major grind: applying to every single consulting club under the sun, bouncing between startups I weren’t passionate about, and generally just doing what I thought would bring me “success” as a college student. So when my soon-to-be Co-Editors asked me to join Descent Magazine. I realized how much I missed creating to create, without any lurking career motivation or “connections” to be gained.
I’d love to say I felt intensely passionate about Descent right away, but that wasn’t the case. When I joined as a junior designer, the magazine operated primarily on Zoom. I hadn’t met any of my teammates in person and had no clue what the final product would look like. But everything clicked for me at our end-of-year launch party when I met everyone in person for the first time. Holding a tangible, collective body of work in my hands reminded me that the root of Descent’s mission was amplifying Asian American creatives from diverse walks of life. I remember thinking, “How can we build a community around this that encourages students to create simply for the joy of creating and sharing Asian American stories?”
From there, my Co-Editors and I poured many late nights and calls during school breaks into expanding Descent into a creative collective. What started as a group of students passing out magazines in a classroom has now evolved into a biannual gallery in DTLA, featuring over 100 young creatives, vendors, and brand partners. I hope we can continue reaching artists in non-creative fields and connecting them with LA’s greater Asian American creative community.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As our community has grown, I believe our biggest challenge has always been keeping new projects aligned with our original mission.
When I look for community partnerships, I’ve always focused on working with Asian-owned brands and creators that share Descent’s values. This felt straightforward in the beginning, when we were the ones actively searching, carefully selecting, and reaching out to others. But as we’ve grown and more people have started approaching us, we’ve had to become more intentional about evaluating whether these opportunities are the right fit. Would our community agree with the values of this brand? Would they actually wear, use, or engage with the brand if we introduced them? Is this a creative project our members can contribute to meaningfully and gain value from? Does this brand genuinely view students as equal creative partners?
When your team has been working tirelessly to get others to take a chance on such a young magazine, it’s thrilling when they finally do—and suddenly, you’re flooded with offers for collaborations and promotions. I think everyone’s first instinct in this situation is to say yes to every opportunity. But at the end of the day, I never want to lose sight of why our community engages with Descent in the first place.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Aside from being Co-Editor-in-Chief at Descent, I’m also the Director of Visual Design. Which means I design our covers, select photography or writing spreads, and format everything for print.
But outside of Descent, my one true love is digital and traditional illustration. I’m particularly interested in drawing people because it allows me to creatively translate something as intangible as energy and emotions into a 2D piece. I learned to draw realistically, but I’ve had to push myself to move beyond literal depictions to create more emotional and interesting work. I think my whimsical illustration style, with horror and fantasy elements, is my greatest strength. In a world where we’re visually overstimulated 24/7, it helps to have an interesting style that stops the viewer and evokes emotion.
I’m most proud of my work that folds original illustrations into graphic design. The ability to conceptualize an idea, render it visually through illustration, and then bring the full message to life with proper formatting is so powerful. Don’t ask me to choose a favorite piece, though.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I’ve been working in music industry marketing for the past 7 months. While most people probably wouldn’t consider that a risk, I do. Even as I’ve gotten more involved in Descent, I’ve always tried to stick to being a “good business student” and only apply to very technical roles. I spontaneously applied to my current position because I’m a huge music nerd who spends her nights surfing Spotify for new artists and lurking on music industry forums. That risk worked out, though! I love staying chronically up-to-date with pop culture and blending that with my design abilities.
I’ve never been much of a risk-taker. I’m more into calculated risks—so maybe this counts. I do think it’s really important for students to take risks, though. You’ve got much more room to figure out what makes you happy now than you might when you’re 45, married with two kids, and tied to a desk for 40 hours a week.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ixlim9.wixsite.com/design
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isabellelim17/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabellexlim/
- Other: https://www.descentusc.com/
