Sophia Ko and Moonyoung Kim, who hold the roles of Brand and Graphic Designer and Web & Graphic Designer at KISS Product in New York, joined forces to develop ‘Pocket Garden.’ This innovative project was born out of their shared desire to create an experience that would enable children to savor the journey of saving money, making it both enjoyable and educational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Q1. Please give us a brief bio of yourself and your design background.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia<\/strong>:Born in South Korea, I now call New York my home and hold the position of Brand & Graphic Designer at KISS Product Inc. Previously, I worked at Mimicle and Beyond J as a freelance UI\/UX designer. Branding and interactive design are my areas of great interest, and I am truly dedicated to producing individualised solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moonyoung<\/strong>:I am a product designer with a diverse background in service design engineering and marketing. Presently, I hold the position of Web & Graphic Designer at KISS Product in New York, where I lead a UI\/UX project focused on nail measurement. My accomplishments include winning an international brand competition organised by L’Or\u00e9al, where I proposed a custom perfume service. Additionally, I have valuable experience as a marketer at Armani Beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q2. What made you become\/why did you choose to become a designer\/artist?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia<\/strong>: From a young age, I have always enjoyed creating things with my hands or expressing my emotions through drawing. As I grew older, I developed a desire to create on behalf of others, to bring to life what they wanted to express. It was this driving force that led me to pursue a career in design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moonyoung<\/strong>: I was inspired by the video where designer Patricia Moore disguised herself as an elderly person for 3 years to design products for seniors. I want to contribute to a world where everyone can live comfortably and I wholeheartedly believe that designers can achieve this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q3. Tell us more about your agency\/company, job profile, and what you do.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Moonyoung and Sophia<\/strong>: KISS Products is a renowned beauty company celebrated for its diverse and creatively designed range of beauty products, notably artificial nails, eyelashes, and related accessories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia<\/strong>: I work as a brand package designer in a creative team where I collaborate with art directors and production designers to develop and execute brand design strategies for various projects, such as packaging design, point of purchase, marketing campaigns, and product launches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moonyoung<\/strong>: I work as a web designer in a creative team, designing comprehensive visual assets for digital use. Additionally, I actively participate in UI\/UX related side projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q4. What does \u201cdesign\u201d mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia<\/strong>: I believe the essence lies in crafting something meaningful that has never existed previously. When designers have the ability to generate original content themselves, it leads to the creation of empathetic design<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moonyoung<\/strong>: To me, design involves the process of redefining problems and then visualising innovative solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q5. What\u2019s your favorite kind of design and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia<\/strong>: I prefer straightforward and minimalist design that clearly communicates its purpose. After working in UI\/UX design and diving into design studies, I’ve come to appreciate this even more because it’s all about thinking from the user’s point of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moonyoung<\/strong>: t’s funny how I’m drawn to architectural design which is the complete opposite of my work in designing intangible things. There’s something incredibly captivating about seeing such grand-scale creations come to life in the real world, it leaves me with an overwhelming sense of awe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q6. To you, what makes a \u201cgood\u201d design?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia<\/strong>: I believe a good design is one where the intention behind it is understood and appreciated by a wide audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moonyoung<\/strong>: A solid design, irrespective of the field, is one that people can grasp without a lengthy explanation, and that’s the key difference from art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q7. How did you come up with the idea for your award-winning design?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia and Moonyoung<\/strong>: When we were young and saving money in a piggy bank, I always had an urge to fill it up as fast as possible, just to break open the piggy bank and get to the money. That’s why we embarked on this project: to help kids relish the delight of the money-saving journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q8. What was your main source of inspiration for this design?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia and Moonyoung<\/strong>: I find inspiration from various sources in our daily lives, including the services we use, the advertisements we encounter on the streets, and of course, platforms like Pinterest!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q9. Do you think your country and its cultural heritage has an impact on your design process?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia and Moonyoung<\/strong>: We haven’t thought about it because we have both lived our whole lives in Seoul, I think it must have had an influence. If given the opportunity, we would like to work on a project utilising South Korea’s heritage!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q10. Congratulations! As the winner of the London Design Awards, what does it mean to you and your company and team to receive this award distinction?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia and Moonyoung<\/strong>: We\u2019re both so incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunities to come! For us, this is our first international design award. This accolade serves as the first stepping stone for us to showcase better designs to the world, and it holds significant meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q11. Can you explain a bit about the winning work you entered into the London Design Awards, and why you chose to enter this project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia and Moonyoung<\/strong>: If you’re a designer, experiencing or living in London is likely a must. Since the design award took place in a city so rich in artistic inspiration, London, we felt compelled to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q12. What were the main challenges you faced during the design process, and how did you overcome them?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia and Moonyoung<\/strong>: The main page was absolutely pivotal in our design because our goal was to ensure that children could easily and clearly grasp the layout of the garden. We achieved this by crafting a 3D map that made it feel like you’re stepping into a virtual world, making everything simple to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q13. How do you think winning this award will impact your future as a designer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia and Moonyoung<\/strong>: Receiving this award has allowed us to discover the possibility that our design can have a global impact. It has undoubtedly instilled a great deal of confidence in us for our future design endeavours and we believe it will lead us to create even better designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winning Entry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Did everyone collect coins in a piggy bank during their childhood? It’s likely that many people had the \u2026 (Read more at London Design Awards<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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