Conversations with YJ Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to YJ Park.

Hi YJ, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve actually never imagined myself as a designer. I’m currently working as an Associate Visual Designer at GOAT Group, and like I said, seeing myself working as a designer in Los Angeles still feels like a dream to me.

I was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. I remember when young, I wasn’t the artsy type of kid who is extremely talented at drawing, painting, singing, or dancing. But I was definitely a kid who wasn’t afraid of newness, new challenges, and experiences. Thanks to my guts, I went through a series of events in my life and it encouraged me to become an artist today.

When I was 12, I went to study abroad in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for two years with my mother and brother. (My father had to stay and work in Korea to support us financially.) Those two years have influenced me significantly in many different ways. It was my very first time in an international educational environment. Not only in terms of learning a new language but also interacting with friends from all four corners of the world, encountering different cultures encouraged me to grow my interest and passion in cultural interaction and communication which is also why I decided to study International Studies in Yonsei University.

International Studies was a field of international relations, economics, and politics. I was certain that for me to work in the area of cultural communication, International Studies was what I needed to dig in. I honestly didn’t know what I would become after I graduated, but I did my best to make the most out of my university years. During my junior year, I did my first internship at Korea Furniture Museum. I guess this was my first career in the creative field and it was an awesome opportunity to learn Korean traditional architecture and art. While my friends were interning or doing extracurricular activities at big companies, I was indulging myself in the realm of art. I wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do at a point where I had only one year left till graduation, but I was happy.

During my senior year, I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. So, like any other senior, I started applying for hundreds of jobs in big Korean companies such as Samsung, LG, and others. After submitting tons of job applications and going through interviews, I got the final offer from Shinsegae incorporation which has been a leading retail business in Korea related to fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and F&B industry. I worked as a retail manager and then a digital marketing manager at the company, and this was when I gained rich experience in branding and advertising. My main responsibility was to manage Shinsegae Department Store’s official social media channels and supervise digital advertising creative for high­-end brands including Prada, Burberry, Tom Ford, and Sacai. Naturally, I had many chances to work with designers and producers, and at some point, I realized I really wanted to become a designer and be able to create things with my own hands instead of merely collaborating with them as a marketer. This was the eureka moment for me. In my late 20s, I was beginning to realize what I wanted to do.

I started taking art lessons to prepare portfolios for art schools in the United States. I wanted to make a dramatic change in my life and moving to a place where I could keep my head down and learn art and design was one of the plans. While working at Shinsegae Inc., I was preparing design school portfolios at the same time. It was very overwhelming in terms of schedule, but I couldn’t just quit my job. After such a busy and somewhat painful year, I applied to 5 design schools in the States and got an offer from four of them. One of them was the School of Visual Arts in New York, which was my dream school. They also offered me a scholarship and allowed me to study from a sophomore year which was such a rare opportunity. I was a fool not to seize this chance.

Then I moved to New York and had the most intense three years at the School of Visual Arts. I didn’t know anything about design or using a Macbook. I was in my late 20s, and I had to start everything from scratch. After graduating from SVA, I worked as a design intern and a freelancer and now I landed working as a full-time designer in GOAT Group in LA. These last four years really have been a crazy yet amazing journey.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
As I said briefly, starting as a BFA student at the age of 28 was not an easy decision. I still remember my very first year at SVA. I was completely lost. Learning how to use Mac and Adobe was just a technical part. Since I got transferred to a sophomore year, I started right away with graphic design classes without freshmen year. I was really struggling back then. For three years, most of the time I was deprived of sleep and spent most of my time working on design assignments. I had a massive pressure that I had to make great work. This led me to serious panic attacks. When thinking back, I don’t know how I managed all those. I’ve never regretted my choice of coming to New York to change my career path as an artist/designer, but sometimes when I was burnt out and extremely exhausted from New York life, I did imagine what it would have been if I had just stayed in Korea and continued to work as a marketer. I would have had a stable life with a great career, maybe even married someone and started a family. I would have had a better quality of life compared to what I was going through in New York. But still, that lifestyle was not what I was looking for, and it wouldn’t have made me happier.

Now I think of it, the decision to quit my job and start a new journey is indeed one of the worthiest and best ones I’ve made so far in my life. There always are those – could’ve, should’ve would’ve – but on this one, there aren’t any.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I call myself a logical rule-breaker who seeks to disrupt and redesign perfectly controlled systems. As a designer, I love breaking certain rules but in a logical and reasonable manner. I’ve learned that as a designer, I should always have my reason and thinking behind every design decision I make.

I create experimental and conceptual design work and I try not to limit myself in a certain genre. I have created work in branding, motion, video, photography, editorial, and many others. I think it’s better to show my work instead of describing them with words. If you visit my website (https://yjpark.co), you’d be able to see a collection of my work that reflects who I am.

I’ve been working as an Associate Visual Designer at GOAT Group since last December and with my team, I mostly work on branding projects. I certainly do feel the brand identity of GOAT Group is very close to my design style and color, which is very important when working as a designer. It is like you are walking and running with a sneaker that fits you perfectly. I’m truly excited for future upcoming projects at work but I recently started a small design workshop with my SVA friends to create my own artwork which I can art direct myself and reflect my taste 100%.

Sometimes I do miss making my very own design work which is one of the main reasons I organized this workshop. The main goal is to have fun and expand my realm of art and design and also catch up with my artist friends. I’m also very excited about the projects that I’ll be making at the workshop.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I believe that knowing myself, knowing what I want, and taking action right away without thinking too much are the most important qualities in my journey. There have been and will be moments in making decisions about my life, either big or small. If I’ve made decisions based on what others have said, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. I think sometimes it is important to block unnecessary voices from the outside but to listen to myself and pursue what I’m aiming for without being hesitant. Everyone is different and unique, and we walk on our own different paths, and we shouldn’t be afraid of the fact we are doing something different from others. It is totally fine to be different and to be ourselves and make our very own decisions.

Knowing oneself is actually very difficult. Through various experiences, we gradually get to know ourselves. So, let’s chin up, open up to whatever challenges are about to happen in our lives, and just be ourselves.

Contact Info:

• Email: yjparkworks@gmail.com
• Website: https://yjpark.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yjpark______/

Image Credits:
Binary photography: Credit to Dyne Jeong and Byung Jun Kim.