Visiting Artist Response 2: Ji Lee

Ji Lee was born in 1971 in Seoul, Korea. He migrated to Brazil when he was 10. High school wasn't fun for him, but that changed when he pursued art. He moved to New York to major in Fine Arts before changing his major to Graphic Designs.

He did multiple projects including "Words as Images" (which focused on the letters to form an idea). So, during his college years, what he did was FUN. But then reality knocked on his door and said "HEY, SO A JOB"

So Ji Lee got a job in design, but his interest was in advertising. Design was all about aesthetics, seriousness, and it had a smaller audience. But with advertising, it's all about the concept, for him it was fun, and it presented itself to a bigger audience. He was influenced by Brazil to pursue design.

But his main message was all about doing personal projects. Because you can do professional work, but when you do personal projects, you can find new opportunities. For Ji Lee, it was creating a typeface that made letters into 3D space. He just had fun messing with new ideas. Even on Instagram, he had an idea and he posted it. His Bubble Project was also a personal project that integrated the consumer's voices.

But the thing is, he's not afraid to show his ideas. In fact, when confronted with the question of if he's afraid if someone takes his idea, he states that because he shares his idea the moment he has it, it's then harder to steal the idea. Because the idea is out there, so by sharing it he ends up with the claim.

But his final messages were:

• Work on personal projects
• "Ideas are nothing. Doing is everything."

This artist lecture was one of the best ones I've ever been to. He kept entertaining his audience, and there was never a dull moment.