#question2

I strive to integrate personal experiences into my work, creating art that reflects diverse perspectives while delivering designs that resonate with simplicity, clarity, and intentionality. I am deeply committed to growth — expanding my skills and embracing opportunities that challenge me personally and professionally. I envision my design making a difference in people’s daily lives, and gradually scaling to impact broader communities. Over the next five years, I aim to evolve into an art‑directing role in an agency or organization that shares my values of meaningful, culturally grounded work.

One studio whose philosophy strongly resonates with me is Teo Yang Studio. Based in Seoul, the studio is deeply rooted in Korean heritage — particularly the hanok tradition — and translates that legacy into a modern design language. Teo Yang’s studio doesn’t simply preserve the past; it engages with it thoughtfully, seeking “beautiful possibilities for the future” while honoring tradition’s essence. In projects like the Bukchon hanok renovation, Yang preserves the architectural spirit of traditional Korean homes while introducing glass, clean structural lines, and spatial openness — creating a dialogue between past and present. In his EATH Library showroom, his design references old Korean medicine, hanji paper, and moon‑jar shaped windows, while inviting modern craftsmanship and materials.

This approach deeply inspires me, because I also believe that tradition is not static. Rather than simply referencing the past, I want to critically engage with lineage — reinterpreting it through visual work, interaction design, or spatial identity. Teo Yang’s balance between restraint and richness, and his belief that preserved heritage can become a living, evolving form, align with my own mission: using design to reflect where I come from and where I might go.

My strengths — visual communication, adaptability, and attention to detail — are tools I intend to use in service of that mission. I imagine designing interfaces, zines, or environments that draw from cultural memory, but remain relevant and accessible. In doing so, I ask myself: whose stories am I centering? What histories am I translating? How can I remain humble yet ambitious, critical yet reverent?

Critical self-reflectivity is woven into this vision. I interrogate my positionality as a designer: which traditions do I honor, and which might I risk oversimplifying? As I grow, I will lean into my curiosity — learning from practitioners like Teo Yang who collaborate with artisans, rethink materials, and practice intentional design rooted in culture.

In doing so, I hope to build a design identity that is both deeply personal and universally resonant: rooted in tradition, yet always moving forward; respectful of lineage, yet open to reinterpretation; simple in expression, but profound in meaning.

(431 words)

References:

Stathaki, Ellie. “Contemporary Hanok House Renovation, Bukchon, Seoul, South Korea — Teo Yang Studio.” Wallpaper, Wallpaper* Ltd, 16 Oct. 2022, www.wallpaper.com/architecture/contemporary-hanok-house-renovation-bukchon-seoul-south-korea-teo-yang-studio.

Carrasco, Moises. “The Korean Hanok: Exploring Traditional Architecture’s Environmental Principles.” ArchDaily, 20 July 2025, www.archdaily.com/1031973/the-korean-hanok-exploring-traditional-architectures-environmental-principles.

Bradbury, Dominic. “Designer Teo Yang Carries Korean Traditions into the 21st Century.” Architectural Digest, 4 June 2021, www.architecturaldigest.com/story/designer-teo-yang-carries-korean-traditions-into-the-21st-century.