Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanessa Lee.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Different from most of my creative friends, I didn’t grow up in a “creative-inspired” environment. I think my childhood a pretty normal-korean-child life. Waking up, getting dressed, and going to school to hang out with friends and study “hard”. Played an instrument since I was five, some academic classes to ‘enhance my knowledge’ are a must during summer break, and went to SAT-prep class after school – proving most of the Asian-stereotype to be active in my life. I don’t really think I had a “passion” or “drive” to do something well, other than being able to see and hang out with my friends. I was just a normal Asian kid. But in junior year of high school when we begin to start thinking about what we want to be future, it was the first time in my life when I wanted to explore my options. I always knew that enjoyed creativity because it there was no right or wrong. It was like meditation for me – just sitting down, think about something, and start writing or drawing. But then I got tired of that pretty quick, because I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere, like a road with no destination. Adventurous you think? Nope, it was more like where the heck am I?
But that’s when I realized that I was fascinated by the concept of research. An endless abyss of absorbing information, both useful and useless (but those are usually the most fun). Being able to answer the why, what, how, when, and huh? conversations inside my head. This also helped me to voice my questions and curiosities out loud instead of just wondering about it. I was sure passionate about it. It also gave me an opportunity to be a smart-ass sometimes and be the one to end a conversation. This sparked something in me – if I was able to combine these two things I liked, I would have the best of both worlds. But what was there that was something of such amazing-ness? It was then when I knew that I wanted to be a designer. Not just a designer that creates beauty but one that can also apply her thoughts and research to it – a designer with a purpose to do something with all of the useful and useless information she knows.
Has it been a smooth road?
Definitely not, haha. I went straight into ArtCenter after high school thinking that this was where I belonged. Which I was proven wrong in the first two weeks of my first term. This “creative” thing that I thought I had was nothing compared to these amazing designers and artists. I was stuck. I knew I had this interest for research, but I was stuck when it came to relating it back to my designs. Instead of having the best of both worlds, I just had two different worlds. It was also shown in my work and people weren’t able to connect my research to my designs – because they were also seeing two different worlds.
But soon I was able to find the missing link. Thanks to many of instructors. This link was people. I was researching and studying facts, statistics, studies, philosophies, but never how these impacted people, environment, animals, cultures…etc. When I found that link, I felt a relief. As soon as I started to apply users to my research, that’s when things clicked and my audience, even myself, began to believe and accept my designs because I had strong research to back it up.
This was only the beginning. Now that I’ve discovered my forte, I wanted to be a designer that had an impact. Small or big. I didn’t want to learn things ‘just because’ anymore. I wanted to learn because I wanted to come up with solutions, products, and strategies, to ultimately make better in people’s lives. There’s so much shit going around in this world that needs attention, and giving them this attention was why I wanted to become a designer in the first place. I wanted my solutions to be not just pretty, but impactful to those who are and were overlooked. We all want to change the world and have an impact, but we often think it needs to be something “big” to be “impactful”. We have to remember that’s not always the case. But at the end, I think the most important thing overall is to not burn yourself out all the time. I learned to have fun and make time to develop my lifestyle during my years of growing into a designer. For me, instead of trying to put myself in “designer mode” all the time, I started to appreciate myself and put aside some time to sit down, look around, grab a latte and go for a drive down somewhere quiet and peaceful to play catch with my dog.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I’m a design strategist. Whether it’s branding, user research, experience, or the classic ‘design for this’ projects, as long as there’s a purpose of why I’m designing. My main purpose as a designer is to provide the best solutions that elevate a person’s or brand’s value. It can be difficult and very time consuming at times to find that golden star, but finding that star is what makes me love what I do – it’s what gives me the adrenaline rush to dig deeper and spread further out of my parameter. Plus it makes me happy and love my job, and who doesn’t want to be happy going to work? I love working with people from different professional backgrounds since the experience allows me to learn in their shoes and realize that there are different perspectives to everything. As a design strategist, I always try to ground myself because I don’t believe in trying to be the best, but I do believe in trying my best. I also value the different needs of different users. There are a book of rules that I go buy when I start designing and thinking, but I also learned to put those aside at times and carefully listen and observe the needs and wants are of the user. I’m proud of all of my projects I’ve done so far because it shows my growth as a designer and as a person, but I’ve got to say it’s been the projects I’ve done with my friends (#teamwork is the #bestwork). And working with people shows the different “type” of designer I can be formed into.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Well, I think everyone can agree on this with me, but I HATE LA traffic. I think my life shortens every time my google maps tell me that there is a 10min delay. We also need better, easier, and safer public transit systems (I’m not alone here, right?). But, I love the diversity and culture in Los Angeles. The love and acceptance. I think that’s one of the biggest reasons why people come to LA right? I admire the different opinions and point of views of different backgrounds and the conversations that we have with one another. Each connection that I develop with someone new inspires me to learn more and ask more questions. But mostly, I love the open mindedness of people and the acceptance of individual lifestyles we have in Los Angeles.
Contact Info:
- Website: vanessa-lee.com (under maintenance until June 2019)
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/nessaidea (https://www.instagram.com/ nessaideas)
Image Credit:
Jason Ware Photography
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