Life & Work with Isaac Lee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaac Lee.

Hi Isaac, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Growing up can be super awkward and very sad, LOL.

I grew up trying to fit in school, random Korean churches, and my extended families circles, but always ended up either not-liked, ignored, or bullied. It got bad enough to where I stopped trying to do anything new, and I just stayed home playing Final Fantasy, watching anime, and doodling to try and cope with the pain if I wasn’t harming myself physically.

My childhood friend John was starting to transition out of his Asian gang phase and asked me to help him make stencils for graffiti, so I pirated Photoshop off Limewire and learned how to use it a little bit. John also introduced me to streetwear and street art, so I got sucked into that culture since I was already lurking online and loved art.

Mini fast-forward, I wanted to end my life in high school since my situation and mental health grew worse, but I believe I had a spiritual encounter that kept me from making that decision. That was cool, but I was also freaking out since I didn’t plan to go to college, and I had to pick a major lol. All I had was a pirated Photoshop and a love for streetwear. The closest thing I could think of was Graphic Design for a major, and my parents were affected by the housing recession at the time, so I only felt comfortable applying to Cal State Long Beach since art school is crazy expensive. (just immigrant things) I’m so grateful for my time in the Graphic Design BFA. I finally learned what graphic design was, met extremely talented and great peers, and felt like my life had a direction.

My career feels very scattered and random, but I’m so grateful in hindsight for it all. During college, I was deeply involved in a Christian fellowship, so I never had the time to really pursue internships and serious freelance opportunities. My first position out of college was an internship at a Korean entertainment company called CJ. Fun fact, I can’t speak Korean as a Korean man. I’ve suppressed all interest or knowledge in Korean entertainment, and here I am, lol. I worked with a very small team on their concert/convention event and we all had to panic and do literally anything and everything, which really became a blessing in disguise since I was able to touch all types of projects and had to learn things as quick as I could (or else some higher-ups in Korea would hate me forever).

During one of those years, there was a crazy talented designer named Phillip Kim would give me the realest talk another creative has ever given me, He was the push I needed to believe in myself as a creative and pursue a career in the agency/design firm space. Phillip also introduced me to all my favorite design houses and brands that I still love til today.

It was really difficult for me to switch careers since all the design houses had very forward-thinking pieces that were really tasteful and elevated, but all I had was bright, poppy illustrations and very basic ads from working at that K-pop company. I felt like I needed to start over.

So I decided to live on my friend John’s floor for 6 months, worked every day in a coffee shop called BLK DOT in Irvine, and redid my whole portfolio and started to work on a fake magazine called LAMENT. I felt like pop-ups were the craze at 2017 with every brand or frustrated designer making their own event and/or cool magazine to pair with it, so I decided to fake my way and showcase my skills that way. I asked for favors and pumped a lot of time, money, and design brain cells into making an event and products.

As I was getting closer to the end of the project, I got an interview for an agency in NY/LA called Day One Agency. I’m still so grateful for Dan and Celina from Day One Agency in believing in me and seeing that hunger in me and for allowing me to join their team. I feel like this was honestly the start of the current design arc that I’m in (the agency circle arc). Working at Day One was so inspiring, insightful and helped me to grow professionally and personally. I felt like everyone had such grand creative dreams and side hustles they were pursuing on their own while delivering such high-quality products at work it really kept me driven to do the same in my own life.

Eventually, I was reached out to by a recruiter from a Portland agency called Instrument and now I’m working there for the past two years! So now life looks like, working in the day, maybe bouldering at night and then working on my own personal project called Late Bloomers for all the designs that companies will never pay for LOL

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
At the time, I felt like the road was so rough and I was so aimless and desperate. lol

In hindsight, so much of my struggles were internal and mental. I struggled a lot with comparing myself to my colleagues that were all killing it in their respective fields, feeling very uncool next to influencers while I was living in Los Angeles for the first time, and still dealing with a lot of my past hurts. I kept trying to relive past versions of myself and still operating out of hurt people pleasing functions without taking the time to really discover my identity and embrace it with love. I learned the hard lesson of freelance, clout, and exposure dollars during that time too. It’s sad that it honestly did help me to get where I am. I hate that there’s a lot of people out there who want free or cheap work while demanding so much time from you, but I’m so lucky as my name got out there nicer people found me,

Now when I look back, I’m so thankful that the road wasn’t smooth. If I didn’t feel the dissatisfaction with my day job, the hurt/betrayal from sketchy freelance jobs, and raw emotional reactions from life, I would never have the drive/hunger to pursue or dream of anything higher in my life or for myself.

Also, money SUCKS. It’s so scary and so frustrating how much money can limit us. Honestly, my favorite memories always come from a place of lack in my life, but still taking the risk to actualize my creative dreams always paid off in the biggest ways.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
It’s funny because during college, I was one of those people you’d roll your eyes at making corgi stickers and a very simple illustrative style with basic typography. I feel like people started to really enjoy and pay attention to what I created during my angsty Koreatown phase (post-Phillip pep-talk phase).

It was starting at that time I really started to experiment with textures, layouts, and custom typography and embraced my natural maximalist taste from graffiti/street art. Nowadays the subject matter is happier, but I think I’m still known to draw wild letters and make very dense graphics and merchandise.

I’m honestly so proud of all my personal projects. I would use each project to help me practice different graphic techniques and styles while processing trauma haha. They’re each like my children so it’s hard to pick one, but my current favorite is the one I’m working on called Late Bloomers~ It feels like a full culmination of all my tastes, but now with way more fun instead of full angst.

I feel like what sets me apart from others is my vulnerability in the stories I share and willingness to make bolder/riskier design choices and mistakes. I feel like right now there’s a lack of creative work that’s willing to take risks/embrace mistakes and challenge the viewer and their taste. There’s a lot of people trying to make their own version of Essentials/Fear of God or slapping a logo on a shirt and calling it a day and personally I don’t need that.

I personally miss when I had to just look at a wall of graffiti and try and figure out what they’re saying, but still loving the typography, colors, and all the other pieces around it. I feel like that’s what art and design should do instead of spoon-feeding and blending in.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The Covid crisis made me realize how important your community/circle is, rekindled an urgency for my creative and personal life, and helped me to shift my priorities into a healthy order.

It really reminded me how short and crazy life can be. Seeing friends and other community members lose loved ones or struggle financially it was so humbling and scary. That really made me realize that it’s so much more important to tell your friends and family how much you love them while they’re still here, to try the creative project you’ve been wanting to try right now while you can and to enjoy and explore life while it’s available.

I think it was during this time that my projects and work priorities started to shift from design/artistic excellence into community and connection. It helped me really focus on the importance of creating space with storytelling and even what I’m offering more than just being a good designer. It helped me try and do an online design club thing we called SUCC, which was so fruitful and fun in many ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: isaacjlee.design
• Instagram: isaacusername