Discover the interview of Erica Choi in London, UK
How did you become designer ?
When I was a kid, I used to hear that I was pretty good at drawing and painting. That led me naturally wanting to go to art school.
I don’t remember well why I liked buildings and wanted to be an architect when I was in my teen, but, I ended up studying Visual Communication Design at Uni. I loved drawing much more than mathematic, and I liked Graphic Design because it could be something beautifully printed and strong communication with smart thinking is irresistible. Finding a designer job after graduating was very interesting and it almost defined me what type of designer I could become. I had a big passion for photography and typography throughout 4 years of studying design then, I found an art director role came up for broadcasting fashion retailer in Seoul and I decided to work for them. I loved the dynamic when I was directing shoots with 10-15 people and design pages for my sections for the catalogue.
Coming to London for my Masters took me to another level though and completely change my design career.
How would you define your vision of design, your style ?
Sustainability is an important goal of my design and simple communication. In order to sustain as a brand, I start being in clients’ shoes and identify the deep-down problem so, the solution is meaningful and sustains longer with less risk even if the outcome was just for a simple newsletter or logo design. Sometimes it is quite surprising for clients because I diagnose a slightly different issue than what they think it was and what issue will knock them down next. I tend to spend lots of time and effort for everyone to be on the same page including myself, and that is most important in my design process and my strategic-minded design solution.
For the future, what are your professional projects?
Exhibition and interior graphic design will get me a vicarious satisfaction as I still carry big interests in urbanism and art is all about interpretation and different view that fascinates me. I would love to work with artists, architects and start-ups are fearless and passionate about what they are offering. It is surprising 90% of start-up fails no matter it is in tech or fashion sector.
What do you like the most in your job ?
Dynamic and flexibility. Every project is different and every clients are different so, there is no boredom plus, being a boss gives me a lot of freedom although it gets tough as I am responsible for good and bad times.
