Interviews with YuJin Jung

Since I was a high school student, I decided to become a professional designer. Because I really liked imaging and making something. After graduated from high school, I applied to university to study more about design.

During designing, first, I focus on helping clients find what they want and giving directions to clients to solve problems. Second, I look at the overall process of the project comprehensively and focus on making the original intentions unchanged.

When I design, I feel a lot of different emotions. Most of them feel emotions such as interesting, excitement, fierceness, pleasure, responsibility, and happiness.

Since childhood, I have been fond of imaging, scribbling and making something. Since I was young, I have been curious. Whenever I saw something interesting, I lived with the question ‘why?’. I was especially interested in people, objects and phenomena. These points seem to have inspired me to become a designer today.

I am used to keep focusing on design trends and new technologies every day, and this habit drives me to dive into a new design idea.

The criterion for judging whether it is a good design or a bad one is that it can be judged by what kind of actions people can see and what they can’t do, rather than simply design that is good for the eyes. I first consider whether design can drive action or not.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci.

I think the designer’s responsibility for society and environment is to act as a bridge connecting society, environment, and people. I think it is the designer’s responsibility to design to create a better situation than yesterday. I always try to design with this responsibility.

I was inspired by this design by looking at extracting and combining data from different perspectives based on big data. I developed a design style that suits each topic by considering the characteristics of each topic for each infographic product. For each product, I derived an idea from elements related to the topic, developed an overall concept, and developed a story.

I made use of GIF animation. In other words, I made it possible to communicate the content more effectively by giving the infographic a movement.

Most consumption is usually done through credit cards and is recorded. By analyzing various traces and desires of consumers in the process of analyzing, extracting, and combining vast amounts of consumption data, I focused on conveying easily and interestingly what consumers exist, what types of consumption exist.

After this award-winning design, I would like to experience a variety of different projects that combine data, design, and technology.

I spent about 2 weeks analyzing the data, deriving insights, and establishing the design concept. It took a few weeks to come up with a concept, set a direction, and get the job done.

I was commissioned this design work from BC card, a credit card company in Korea.

This design is currently being used by the BC card company in Korea.

I believed that a one-page gif-like infographic could maximize people’s interest and the effectiveness of information delivery. I thought this design would facilitate the spread of credit card use and demonstrate the specifics of the situation.

While I was working on this design, I went to various places to experience it myself. I was able to get motivation from people I met in my daily life.

The target customers of this design are those who use credit cards and those who are interested in what kind of consumption other people use.

When I created this design, this was the first example of designing a moving infographic in the Korean credit card industry. This design conveyed complex and difficult data visually to people, making it easy and fun to understand. It is designed to be delicate and I think graphic elements such as toys differentiated them from other similar designs.

I named the design based on insights into the data of consumers consuming by using credit cards. ‘All in One’ means that all services can be provided in one place.

For this design, I used a pencil, notebook, sketchbook, Excel, Tableau, Adobe Illustrator and After Effects tools.

I think the most unique thing about this design is that it provides interesting by implementing a complex and vast amount of information through animations that are easier for customers to understand.

I had been helped by big data analysts and employees working at the BC card company in Korea for this design.

I was able to efficiently analyze large amounts of data and find patterns through statistical techniques of big data. In addition, the required data could be quickly derived through statistical techniques. I’ve made this design easier for those who see it, and I was able to visualize it using isometric techniques so that I could see the space in three dimensions at once. With the help of these techniques, I think I have succeeded in creating a moving infographic to draw more interest from clients and customers.

Since this design was a project based on big data analysis, study, and research for data analysis and interpretation were essential. I went through the process of understanding what data can mean and researching social and cultural phenomena. Eventually, I collected and analyzed consumption big data by age, region, business district, and business channel, and captured the keyword trend of representative consumption, and found insight by connecting related data in three dimensions.

While realization of the concept, the problem I faced was to analyze the consumption trend and derive insight from what perspective. Based on the insights I derived, I developed this design style that goes well with each series topic. How to deliver visualizations to make people interested and easy to understand was a series of my worries for each infographic product. Also, I needed to be careful that gif-like animation doesn’t damage the contents of the infographic.

I wanted to check my design work through this international design competition. In preparing for this competition, I thought it was important for me to learn and grow a lot. In fact, I am happy to learn a lot from this competition experience.

I have learned how to get the overall design direction based on big data – how to organize and analyze consumption big data, and connect related data in three dimensions to find insight. As it was designed as a series and passed through each series, I think my ability to analyze and solve data was developed more and more efficiently.

I was inspired by the basic shapes commonly found around us and Lego, a familiar toy from our childhood. In particular, ‘You and We’ is designed to facilitate the expansion and recombination of the shape by using modular elements such as Lego.

I focused on attracting interest by reducing the sense of distance and showing positive images of volunteer activities clearly to those who feel the difficulties of volunteer activities. In particular, it was visualized to visually simplify the meaning of each volunteer activity so that it could contain meaning in one cut.

In the future, I would like to make it easier for many people to access and utilize design, and to continue to help positive social change in everyday life through better visual language.

The total duration of that project took 2 months. It took a few days to collect the data and understand them. And, it took a few weeks to come up with a concept, set a direction, and get the job done.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean Volunteer Center, this design was commissioned for the purpose of promoting volunteer activities for volunteers and citizens.

This design is currently being used by the Korean Volunteer Center, and is being distributed to the public at the Korean Volunteer Center internet homepage.

I made it possible to communicate through visual language that the volunteer activities in daily life are accessible and familiar. Ultimately, I wanted to bring positive social change through this design.

I have been helped to understand volunteer activities from people engaged in volunteer work and the stakeholders associated with those activities to do this design.

The target customer of this design is those who are not familiar with volunteer activities, those who are interested in volunteer work, and those who are involved in volunteer work.

The concept of this design is to increase the familiarity by using shapes and colors that can be easily seen in everyday life. Visually simplifying and clearly showing the various volunteering activities of an abstract concept, people can easily understand the volunteer activities even if people do not read the text message. I think that it is different from other similar designs that it is made with a modular based system like a Lego toy so that people can utilize the design image to suit their needs.

It is a small force when looking at each volunteer, but each one is connected and becomes a great force. The design was named ‘You and We’ to convey the meaning of bringing about a great social change by filling each other’s shortcomings.

I drew what I was thinking about in a notebook or sketch book with a pencil, and I did graphic using illustrator tool.

I think my design is unique for convenience and recycling compared to other designs. In other words, anyone who needs images related to volunteer activities can download and recycle it, by designing the module to be easy to expand and recombine through module-like elements.

I was helped by people working at the Korean Volunteer Center to better understand volunteer activities, and I designed it myself based on that understanding.

I was able to create vector-based graphic elements using programs so people could recombine this design and use it as needed. In other words, there is no loss of image resolution under any circumstances.

Before I started this design, I collected and researched numerous materials to raise awareness of volunteer activities and deepen my understanding of various types of volunteer activities.

The challenge I faced during the realization of my concept was to make the people receiving the service not appear poor and passive, but actively respond and show communication with volunteers. In general, volunteering is based on the stereotype of helping someone in need. I have reorganized several times to break the stereotypes of oneself so that even those who are served can feel the ‘interaction between the volunteer and recipient’ that I want to convey.

I am always grateful to those who volunteer. Through this project, I felt that nothing was as happy as sharing with each other, and I wanted to share this design with everyone through this design competition.

While working on this design, I realized that I could get away from the traditional way and gain a deeper understanding through on-site experiences and interviews. Because people have different perspectives and acceptance criteria, I had been thinking a lot about how to communicate well in a balanced way. Through these concerns, I was able to grow one step further. By analyzing a lot of material, I was able to pick the core and learn how to simplify it visually.

I got a Bachelor's degree, concentrated in visual communication design, at Sookmyung Women's University in 2014. From Year 2011 to 2014, for a total of four years, I built up my design basis.

Since childhood, I have been fond of imaging, scribbling, and making something. Since I was young, I have been curious. Whenever I saw something interesting, I lived with the question ‘why?’. I was especially interested in people, objects, and phenomena. These points seem to have inspired me to become a designer today.

I decided to become a professional designer since I was a high school student. Because I really liked to create my own design and used to make it in the real world. Since then, I have been motivated to keep doing something that I like and it finally led me to reach my goal, a designer.

I design various areas such as graphics, web, mobile, and packaging. I currently working on a design, which could convey complex and difficult knowledge in a simplified and visualized way, for people to help them understand more easily and clearly. For the future, I would like to design more public-purpose works for socially marginalized people.

I think good design should be able to inspire many people’s empathy. In my opinion, it should be a design that takes into account the context. I think it is a good design that is well realized to provide better service to people.

I think the value of a good design is to provide something better than the traditional ones, I believe people can get better service through good design.

I always design based on a deep understanding of clients and projects. ‘Communication’ is my secret ingredient that must be put in for the success of the design.

If I had not become a designer, I would have tried to be an astronaut. When I was young, I dreamed of becoming an astronaut. This is because the new world of ‘space’ has always been attractive to me.

For me, the design is everything. Now, look around you. Design can be seen everywhere so we can not talk about our daily life without design. Everything that exists right around me, I think all of this is design.

Since I have always been supported by my family, I have been able to create a driving force to continue challenging. Family, friends, and clients are my big supporters.

The final goal of my life is to continue designing as I grow older. Through design, I want to make myself feel happy and spread a good influence on society and the environment as widely as possible.

I believe that design affects our lives and society a lot. Designs for products, services, and visual communication have definitely contributed to a better society. I think that the combination of various fields and design will definitely help to create a better society.

I hope that the importance of design will emerge in society and that the role of society as a designer will become more powerful. I think the design industry has not been properly recognized from an economic point of view in Korea. Overall, It seems that many people think the value of design is low. Due to various reasons and many constraints, many designers are unable to take on new challenges. I want to create an environment where designers can take pride themselves and take on new challenges. After all, I want to change people's perception of the existing design industry.

The development of digital technologies such as AI and IOT will create more ideas, and these new technologies will enable design to be realized in various ways. I think there will be a lot of new attempts on how to incorporate these new technologies into the design and what role to realize the design with ‘new technology’. I am very excited by this wave of new age change. I am very excited about what new technologies will come out and combine them with design, and I want to prepare for the coming years one by one from now on.

When I start a new project, I start by observing and understanding the project from multiple perspectives.

As a designer, my motto is “There is no design without understanding and empathy.”

I usually use Adobe programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Aftereffects, Indesign, and so on.

I also with tablet equipment if necessary. Depending on the kind of project, I used various design software and types of equipment for work.

There are many, but among them, the book that influenced my design was ‘Nendo; Design story’. You can also how the design company, Nendo, works, and various design projects through that book. Through that book, I was able to rethink the direction of design.

My favorite color is blue, my favorite place is a small café in my village, my favorite season is winter, and my favorite thing is a smartphone. And, my favorite brand is Samsung.

A cup of morning coffee makes my day perfect!

I usually organized my day in the morning with a hand drip coffee.

I am used to keep focusing on social issues and new technologies every day, and this habit drives me to dive into a new design idea.

In fact, I have not always wanted to be a designer. My interests have always changed from time to time, and depending on my interests, my future career seems to have changed in many ways. However, the thing that has not always changed is that I wanted to be creative and solve problems to create new values. In my memory, from the time I was in high school, I think I wanted to become a designer in earnest.

I studied visual communication design in-depth for 4 years at Sookmyung Women’s University in Korea. Since childhood, I have been fond of imaging, scribbling, and making something. Since I was young, I have been curious. Whenever I saw something interesting, I lived with the question ‘why?’. I was especially interested in people, objects and phenomena. These points seem to have inspired me to become a designer today.

In fact, I haven’t always wanted to be a designer. My interests have always changed from time to time, and depending on my interests, my future career seems to have changed in many ways. However, the thing that hasn’t always changed is that I wanted to be creative and solve problems to create new values. In my memory, from the time I was in high school, I think I wanted to become a designer in earnest.

For me, the design is everything. Now, look around you. Design can be seen everywhere so we can not talk about our daily life without design. Everything that exists right around me, I think all of this is design.

I like to design works that clearly show the message I want to convey. And, I like to give people new perspectives and design to create new values.

The first thing I designed after joining the company was a mobile service design, a service app. made for small ships and leisure boat users to safely navigate the sea.

It’s time to get out of my office space when I feel most creative. When I leave the office and walk outside while looking at the scenery, the most creative thoughts and inspirations come to my mind.

During designing, first, I focus on helping clients find what they want and giving directions to clients to solve problems. Second, I look at the overall process of the project comprehensively and focus on making the original intentions unchanged.

When I design, I feel a lot of different emotions. Most of them feel emotions such as interesting, excitement, fierceness, pleasure, responsibility, and happiness.

When my design is realized, I feel like a sense of accomplishment and excitement as if I climbed to the top of the mountain and looked down the mountain.

I think design success is when it comes to a deep understanding of clients, projects, and high-quality results. A good client is also one of the requirements to make a design successful.

The criterion for judging whether it is a good design or a bad one is that it can be judged by what kind of actions people can see and what they can’t do, rather than simply design that is good for the eyes. I first consider whether design can drive action or not.

I think the designer’s responsibility for society and environment is to act as a bridge connecting society, environment, and people. I think it is the designer’s responsibility to design to create a better situation than yesterday.

I am inspired by the various environments around me. These stimuli, such as talking to others, sometimes doing new things, and thinking alone, feed my creativity. The source of inspiration for me is to think and observe people, things, and situations in various ways.

I was born and raised in Korea, and I still live in Korea. Korea is one of the countries where everything is fast. This can be seen as the influence of cultural heritage from the past. Most Korean clients expect designers to get results in a short time. That’s why when I design, I find a way to make the design process more efficient so that the project can proceed quickly and utilize it in the design. The pros of designing in Korea is that the result of my design can be brought to the world as soon as possible, and the cons is that there is not enough time to design through various attempts.

First of all, I take the time to understand and explore with the customer about the project. Next, I define the problem that needs to be solved. After defining the problem, I review and think from various perspectives on how to solve it. I choose a few ideas, prototype them and share them with my clients. I choose the final draft and develop it based on clients’ feedback. I go through these few steps and suggest the best alternative to the customer. I think active communication with customers is essential in all of this design process.

A hand drip coffee pot, a refrigerator, iPod, skateboard, iMac

From my point of view, the most important skill is communication. Because everyone has different ideas, it allows them to have a deeper understanding of clients and design through communication.

The software I often use is Adobe programs. And each project uses a variety of tools.

First of all, I draw the whole process from beginning to the end of the project. Make a list of things that may take a lot of time and risks that may occur in advance. Prioritize what needs to be done and plan daily and weekly for efficient time management.

I design various areas such as graphics, web, mobile, and packaging. I currently working on a design, which could convey complex and difficult knowledge in a simplified and visualized way, for people to help them understand more easily and clearly. For the future, I would like to design more public-purpose works for socially marginalized people.

Yes, I enjoy designing things that try new things in many ways. As I try new things, I will be able to learn through various trials and errors. This makes me a step further.

I would like to collaborate on design with various people beyond country, culture, and space. With new stimuli and experiences, I will be a growing designer.

I sometimes develop as a team and sometimes design myself. In common, I enjoy the design journey itself.

You can contact me via Mail, Behance, Instagram, etc. as shown below. I welcome your contact at any time.

Mail: tictoc.j@gmail.com

Behance: behance.net/toctoc

Instagram ID: @jinjung_work