We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Younho Park. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Younho below.
Younho, thrilled to have you on the platform as I think our readers can really benefit from your insights and experiences. In particular, we’d love to hear about how you think about burnout, avoiding or overcoming burnout, etc.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t take issue” This sentence is what I’ve been repeating a lot lately. I consciously try not to put my energy into useless things that make me lethargic. Although it doesn’t apply to all situations, but in a large part it’s a guide to reducing a lot of predicted frictions and solving problems. It’s a magical phrase that give you time to dissipate.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m a freelance motion designer, and also running my own design brand called “Chigong” in Korea. I used to work in the states after studied Motion media design in SCAD, art school in Savannah, Georgia. I worked for a lot of design studios, working on big clients such as Samsung, Honda, Hyundai, Netflix series to name a few.
Every time I completed a project with a team is a moment I’m proud of in my career. Collaboration is an essential part of being a motion designer. Although working with a team may be both mentally and physically exhausting, coming together to look at a finished product lifts the weight off our shoulders. It’s knowing that you’ve accomplished something big together and as a whole, that makes it so fun and worth it.
After I came back to Korea, I’ve started my own business dealing with eco-friendly product including my design skills. It all began from the simple thought of producing toothbrush with nonpolluting materials. The planet Earth is suffering from toothbrushes being discarded easily everyday.
While harmful plastic products shorten the lifespan of the earth, Chigong focused on the production by designing well with environmentally friendly materials – so that convenience doesn’t destroy the earth.
Our motto is to design and produce in the most sustainable way. Starting from eco-friendly toothbrush production, Chigong is growing in a direction to offer many more upcycling and sustainable lifestyle products.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
One question that motion designers often get asked is how to find their style. I told myself that artists should be able to adapt and be able to execute many different styles of work. so being able to have my work match different styles is very important.
Secondly, one of my favorite quotes that I’d like to share is from Alice in Wonderland: “You are entirely bonkers, but I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are”. To me, this means that all the best people are purely crazy at what they do- and I believe that therefore anything we make together will make us proud.
Lastly, there’s a saying in Korea from one of the previous presidents, “A sense of epistemic problem and a sense of merchant reality.” In particular, I think it is one of the essential words for business, and to explain this, it means that for a successful life, we must keep principles, philosophy, and vision, but at the same time handle real problems well and succeed. In the end, it means to live in harmony between ideal and reality, but if you stick to ideal, you become empty, and if you see reality, you are likely to be frustrated and collapse, so it is important to interact.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
When I worked for a company or freelance job, I didn’t have to pay much attention to the incidental things if I did my part faithfully. I was in a position to care for trees, not forests, so I was able to focus more on my personal life after finishing my work. In other words, I had the capacity to devote my energy and care about every little thing.
But now I’m doing my own business at the same time, my attitude toward people and situations has changed a lot because I’m in a position where I have to do not only my work but also everything. I had to be able to cover branding, marketing, sales, accounting as well as design.
As a result, I naturally don’t waste my emotions on trivial things and lose the energy to devote my time.
Contact Info:
- Website: chigong.kr
- Instagram: yhpark326
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chigong
- Other: Portfolio : yunhopark326.com
