Meet graphic and web designer from Seoul, Yehwan Song

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m a Korean graphic designer, web designer, and web developer. I design and develop experimental websites and interactive graphics. I’m interested in flipping the general understanding of web design and playing with visual tricks.

Describe the city you’re living in and what it’s like to live there.

I’m currently living in Seoul, South Korea. It’s a small, but dense city. There are many small artistic movements, especially from young artists and designers. They all have their own strong characteristics, but they are quite unified within the cultural boundary: Korean style.

I used to live in New York. It’s wild and expressive. The whole city is a mixture of multiple cultures. It’s hard to define or limit them under one movement since they are all so strong and different.

I’m currently living in Seoul, South Korea. It’s a small, but dense city. There are many small artistic movements, especially from young artists and designers. They all have their own strong characteristics, but they are quite unified within the cultural boundary: Korean style.

What is the best and worst thing about living in your city?

Everything in Seoul is quite well equipped and well organized. You can easily use public transport or access the internet almost anywhere in Seoul, and there are many stores that you can go to and get what you want. However, it’s sometimes too well organized, which makes it hard to encounter an exciting, but weird situation. People tend to just follow the latest fashions without expressing their own personality, and culturally expressing their own personalities or opinions is sometimes a considered bad thing.

New York is quite the opposite. Not everything is fully organized. There are frames of organization, but within those frames things are not perfect – subway trains do not run in a pre-planned order, the streets are not perfectly clean, etc. But still, they are open to express themselves, and expressing oneself is not considered a weird thing to do, rather it’s considered an individual’s right.

Give us 3 words that describe what it’s like to be a creative in your city.

Leading, following, rhythm.

How did you start your career in design?

I started to study and become fascinated by design when I was in high school. I loved the mathamatics and geometry on one side, and drawing random things on the other. When I was in high school, I accidentally took logo design class, and I found this was something that I could in use my knowledge and fascination of geometry and drawing.

I started to study and become fascinated by design when I was in high school. I loved the mathamatics and geometry on one side, and drawing random things on the other. When I was in high school, I accidentally took logo design class, and I found this was something that I could in use my knowledge and fascination of geometry and drawing.

Were the people around you supportive of your decision on working as a creative?

Yes, they were always very supportive.

What are some goals and ambitions you have for your future work?

I want to change the way people use websites. I also want to change the web design industry, which is currently highly mass-produced by large companies. I want my independent design practices to change the way people think about websites, and also let them know that websites can be created by individuals.

I want to change the way people use websites. I also want to change the web design industry, which is currently highly mass-produced by large companies. I want my independent design practices to change the way people think about websites, and also let them know that websites can be created by individuals.

If you could collaborate with any person in the world who would it be?

I wish I could collaborate with writers like X.

What are the biggest challenges you face in working as a creative?

It’s always hard to remain independent when everything is highly controlled and produced by large companies.

How would you describe the women around you?

They are strong and independent, and try to stay that way in any situation. Most of them are from the young Korean generation who spent (and are spending) their early-mid twenties in the age of feminism.

Were there any local female creatives that you looked up to when you were growing up?

None. Feminism is still quite new in Korea. There was a lack of attention to female designers and artists when I was young, which may be the main reason that I cannot think of any females designers/artists who I admire.

Be a person with conviction, especially if you work in the intersection between design and technology, which is harder since there are still many people who think technology is a ‘man’s job’. But if you just be yourself and stay strong, you will soon find that your conviction convinces other people.

Do you have any advice for other women who are aspiring to work in your field?

Be a person with conviction, especially if you work in the intersection between design and technology, which is harder since there are still many people who think technology is a ‘man’s job’. But if you just be yourself and stay strong, you will soon find that your conviction convinces other people.

What type of music do you like to listen to?

I love indie rock. Glass Animals and alt-J are my favorites.

What’s your favorite local food spot?

I don’t have any actually.

Kaho Yoshida asks: What’s your relationships with social media like? And how do you manage the negative side of social media as an artist?

I just consider it as a gallery space, where I post my artwork and share it with others, but try not to do anything more than that (eg. advertise my work or do some extra work to increase followers). I think that this amount of distance helps me to avoid the negative side of social media, but still be able to use the platform for my own purposes.

7Leaf Han asks: What makes you stay in the present?

People, especially my family. Whatever I am struggling with, they are always there, consistently. This keeps me on the ground and removes irrational anxiety about the future.

What question would you like us to ask the next artist?

Where do you usually get inspiration from?

Photos courtesy of Yehwan Song