Tell us about yourself.
Hello. I'm Jaehoon Choi, I was born in 1991 and am an art director and graphic designer based in Seoul. I founded and run the design studio Studio Werk since 2020. The studio focused on designing identity systems and promotional materials for companies, brands, and cultural institutions.
Which design topics are you most passionate about?
Diagrammatic information, labels, ephemera. such as the nutrition label on the back of processed foods like cereal, the various warning texts and markings on electronic devices and batteries, or the assembly instructions for furniture from Ikea. It's always interesting to see how text and images can be combined to describe objects that we can easily see around us, and I have an exhibition on this topic at the 2019 Typojanchi(International Typography Biennale held in Seoul, Korea), the exhibition titled “Form of Cover”. I think it's interesting that we see things all around us so easily, but at the same time, we see them as images, crystallized into design schematics rather than reading and understanding that information in detail. What I was trying to say in that exhibition was also about the 'covers' around us, and the covers are all the graphic design we see.
Do you have any special hobbies / things you like to do in your free time?
I recently moved my studio and house, so I brought a lot of plants from the flower market. It's a pleasure to see them grow and it makes me feel good to look at them. At the same time, I've tried Ikebana, but it's not as easy as I thought, so I'm going to spend some more time on it. and since I've been working with 2D digital work most of the time, I want to try making things by hand, so I'm trying to make small objects with resin. If the result is good, I'd like to show it on a separate channel.
What’s the hardest thing about being a designer?
Of course everybody has their own challenges, but it's not always easy to be 'creative', fulfill the client's expectations or personal satisfaction. and in order to improve yourself, designers are destined to constantly reflect on their shortcomings, which is also not easy.
What’s the best thing about being a designer?
I think the best thing about it is that you get to work with people from so many different fields, and If I hadn't become a designer, I don't think I'd have as many opportunities to collaborate and interact with people from other fields. and I think the experience with people has been positive. I also think it's fascinating to be able to take something that I've personally only imagined or seen as a working draft and actually implement it into our lives.
Describe your dream project.
I love Karl Gerstner's Geigy designs, and I'm very interested in the pharmaceutical industry, so I'd like to design the multilingual identity system, product packaging, and promotional materials for a pharmaceutical company. I’d love to create a family-look like a package consisting of colorful bottles, boxes, and instructions with a bunch of pill diagrams.
What's the best advice you've received (and from whom)?
I majored in fine arts in art school and I can't remember exactly what it was, but I often remember my college professor saying, “Good art is what the viewer can understand and feel without words.” and I think this applies to design and all forms of creation as well.
What do you do when you feel stuck and uninspired?
It’s pretty ordinary. Binge watch movies or read books about art and design. And I love to browse collectors' vintage packaging or old sweet wrapper designs. The important thing is to get out of my head(where I’m stuck) and make a state of mind where I want to work.
Lastly, leave us with a personal cultural recommendation: either a book, a movie, TV series, podcast, or anything else our readers might enjoy
[Book]
Mind Walks; Moriyama Daido’s Tokyo: Ongoing; Schmid Typography
[Movie]
Solaris, 1972; Basquiat, 1996; The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012; The Substance, 2024
[Playlist]
Colin Stetson - New History Warfare, Vol.3 To See More Light; Tame Impala - Currents; Brian Eno - Eno: Soft Edges; Eiichi Otaki - A Long Vacation; Pixies - Surfer Rosa; Kraftwerk - Computer World; Jamie XX - In Waves
Thank you Jaehoon!
