Today we’d like to introduce you to Gryun Kim.
Hi Gryun, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I like my name because it’s one of a kind. It literally means ‘drawing well’. My parents were art teachers in middle school and high school so they decided to name me ‘G Ryun’ because we have a lot of artists in our family. (additionally, My older sister’s name is Geu Rim that means ‘drawing’. I’ve proud of my name and grow up following my name by doing creative activities. Most people my age like to play games but I prefer to make games rather than playing. I’d been very happy and satisfied when I saw my website, graphic design, drawings to my friends.
From element school student, I’ve been into making web design, game design, and graphic design. So I decided to major in Visual Media design at University. Especially, I had an opportunity to learn interactive design and I thought It’s very fascinating. The biggest reason I like interactive design is that I can not only show my ideas and stories in my design but also I can see the audience’s stories. When I had to decide on the company I will work for in my graduating class, I couldn’t find the right company related to interactive design.
Eventually, I decided to master motion graphic design that is my second favorite design because I thought it is the best way to express my thoughts and ideas. and I was able to start working in ‘Giantstep’ which is one of the best post productions about advertisement in Korea.
Working for four years in Gianstep, I’d learned so many things about Motion graphic design. Because of Strong work intensity, I had to spend lots of time in the company and was able to learn quickly. If I have to choose one of the best works I worked on in Giantstep, I think it’s ‘Homage to 007 Skyfall title sequence’. It was my first title sequence project. Compare to most of the projects I worked on in Gianstep, Title sequence is a more poetic version of the motion graphic so that it should make people anticipate. After I finished that project, I was really into making title sequences and even after finishing working on that project, I was eager to know more about the title sequence and was able to make my personal projects. I was greatly satisfied with my first title sequence and that made me realize to make more for people to definitely anticipate. It was like putting my blood, sweat, and tears that I didn’t go home after work just to grasp more on what title sequence is and how they work.
https://g-ryun.com/homage-to-skyfall-title-sequence-making-of-gryun
I really like to have new experiences by meeting new people and by changing environments. After I started motion design and uploaded my portfolio on design well-known website called ‘behance’ and ‘vimeo’, I found out people like my art and keep in touch with talented artists.
So I realized in order to broaden my perspective and develop my abilities about art, I need to change my environment by moving to other countries. At that time, I got the message from Elastic which is the best title sequence company in the world located in LA. and they wanted to hire me to support O-1A(Artist) Visa with great working conditions.
It was unbelievable to me because it was perfect timing. So I replied without hesitation I want to work in Elastic and I was able to prepare to move to LA.
While waiting for my visa, I needed to study English more and studied English at English Academy. And I met my wife first there. She also really wanted to learn more about various experiences by moving to another country. So we decided to get married quickly. Finally, it was meant to be for us to get married.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I didn’t think I had felt many struggles. Indeed, I always try to change obstacles to chance. The biggest reason I moved here to LA is to do more challenging things by turning stable circumstances into unstable circumstances.
To be honest, Living in LA is still unfamiliar, inconvenient, and awkward to me. But I like the fact that they make me learn more.
The most difficult thing now is English and the most necessary thing is also English. I had been studied English in Korea too but at some point, I thought I need something new to learn English more quickly and it was hard to improve my English skill in Korea.
After I moved to LA, I have a lot of opportunities and necessities to learn English more such as causal talking, giving a seminar in English, and interviews. Now I’m practicing an upcoming presentation in English for Motion graphic Artists at the end of this year.
I’ve been learning English to communicate with more people and want to explain my art more fluently and know other artist’s stories.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Since when I was younger, I’ve enjoyed that people surprised by watching what I did. And that’s how I started my first hobby, “Pen Spinning.” The beginning of it was just from a curiosity of having a unique skill. However, somehow it led me to be a leader of the biggest Pen Spinning Crew(Circle) in Korea and have an opportunity to be on TV. Furthermore, I learned diverse hobbies such as Magic, Beatbox, Moonwalk dance, etc. Then one day an episode opens my eyes delve. It was that I won the “Best Video Prize” by the video combined with my own hobbies, beatbox, and pen spinning. Through these experiences, I realized I have a special ability, developing my skills faster than others, and how special I can be depending on utilizing my abilities. The combination of both my hobbies can be applied to my professional field. If you ask me how it works, utilizing my hobbies is like utilizing my work abilities to perform better. I am creating artworks with various genres that nobody hasn’t done yet. The artwork I’m focusing on is a new form of art, called “An Interactive Motion Graphic Art”, which is made by not only me but audiences.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://g-ryun.com/
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/kimgryun
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gryun.kim/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ytok1030
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/kimgryun
