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Hello, I am Soongyu Gwon. I am a graphic designer and I live in Seoul, South Korea.
I've always been interested in art and design.
I went to a private academy.
I remember nothing I learned at that time.
However, I always have enjoyed playing with Photoshop.
Now I am an art director at a design studio called D.FY in Seoul.
D.FY purses a wide range of online/office projects with people with diverse backgrounds.
Before D.FY.I used to work for a web design agency
I enjoy working for agencies as I can do a number of different projects and they lead me to have diverse experiences.
My favorite part is to be surrounded by people who have similar interests
and furthermore to work with them, discuss with and to be with them.
I prefer staying at home over going out.
I like to look for others' visual work available on the net
- web design, video clips, typography, illustrations, package design, photography….
My favorite genres are films, animations and comics.
I was mesmerized by Braindead (released as Dead Alive in N.America) directed by Peter Jackson during my high school days.
Since then I became a big fan of horror movies.
I love near future stories like Ghost in the Shell (攻殼機動隊) by Mamoru Oshii.
These are my inspirations and what I have been most influenced by.
I am not good at drawing and I mostly work with photos.
I spend a lot of time on image selections.
Once I find the right ones, I put them all in one piece
and edit them by focusing on the texture of each image.
I don't like specific effects or skills
I try to make the unique atmosphere of each image originally has standout
I have been working as a designer
however I still feel that I am not.
I am not exactly a web designer and I am not good enough to be referred to as an illustrator.
If I have to define myself, it may sound a bit cliché
as a digital image maker..?
First of all, I choose the subject and what I want to express. Then I try to pull out the most keywords related to it.
The next step is finding good photos perfectly matching to these keywords.
Sometimes I take some photos to get the perfect ones, if needed.
Then I do the overall composition with all the images that I found.
At this stage I add some more images or take others out.
Once satisfied with my composition, I work on details.
The colour adjustment always comes last.
I often have to compromise or give up my own visions for my clients.
On the other hand, I can try out whatever I want without any compromise when working on my personal projects.
At the same time, they allow me to have very precious time to reflect on myself.
South Korea's 5,000 year long history and its culture exist in abundance.
Especially the beauty of land and the harmony with the nature
can easily be found in various Korean cultural treasures and architecture.
I am trying to see, feel and study them as much as possible to make my professional/personal work richer.