Meet Jiyun Choi | Illustrator & Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jiyun Choi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jiyun, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Hello! My name is Jiyun Choi and I am an illustrator and designer currently based in Los Angeles, CA.

Art has alway been a way to connect myself with the world since I was a kid. I was a very introverted child and I spent most of my times reading books with beautiful illustrations. Those inspired me to create my own stories and characters. I have always wanted to share that experience with other people through my art.

However, I didn’t consider art as my career until high school because I thought going to a good university and getting a stable job was the most important thing. But I realized I have to do something that I can truly enjoy in order to have a happy life. To me, art is the best way to express myself and discover exciting things in my life. As an illustrator and designer, I really hope to share that experience with other people through my art!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The biggest challenge for me as an artist was finding my own unique voice. During my first year of college, I was not sure what my style and strength were. At that time, I couldn’t really enjoy the creative process itself because I was too focused on the result and what other people would think about my work. That disturbed me from being more explorative and creative. I realized I should concentrate to my inner voice and do what I can truly enjoy in order to improve as an artist.

After realizing that, I tried to understand myself as a person. It helped me to remember the main reason why I pursued this path which is to share my imagination and stories with other people. I started to develop my own ways of interpreting shapes, colors and stories. Through a lot of explorations, I created my own characters and stories with whimsical shapes and colors.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The most thing I love about LA is a sunny weather and its positive energy. To experience those, I would recommend looking around places like The Grove, Griffith Observatory, beaches in Santa Monica and Malibu. If you feel hungry after looking around those places, you can grab food at Grand Central Market. It is not only a great market with many restaurants, spices and produce, but also a nice place to take photos with the vintage neon signages there. I also recommend visiting art museums in LA. The Getty, The Broad, LACMA, and Norton Simon Museum are great places with beautiful architecture and art collection.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I met so many nice people during my journey who helped me to pursue this career and become a better artist. Especially, I want to thank my friends and professors who I met at Art Center College of Design. I learned so many things from them. My professors not only taught me artistic skills, but also how to survive in the industry as an illustrator and designer. The advices they gave helped me to plan my career ahead and have more courage to work in the design field. Also, my peers always supported each other and inspired me with their amazing works. I feel I learned how to truly enjoy art and find out my style through attending Art Center.

Website: https://www.jiyunchoillustration.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jiyunchoi.art/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiyun-choi-69816222a/