Reading Animated Storytelling helped me rethink how I approach motion design, especially the role of story and planning in animation. Rather than treating motion as something purely visual, the book emphasizes that animation is a communication tool…

Since I’m currently working on the social media marketing team for Derby Street Shops, I wanted to analyze a brand I actively manage and work with rather than relying on hypothetical or publicly available data…

Reading the introduction and pre-production chapter of Animated Storytelling really shifted how I think about animation. Instead of treating motion as something you add at the end, the book frames animation as a storytelling tool that starts long before anything actually moves.

Rare Beauty has mastered the balance between emotional storytelling and strategic visibility on social media. Focusing on their Instagram and TikTok, the brand blends organic content and paid promotion in a way that feels authentic, accessible, and intentional.

As part of my Internship capstone, I collaborated with a multidisciplinary team to conduct a competitive analysis and strategic audit of Tarte’s Shape Tape, one of the most iconic products in the beauty industry.

This semester in New York City felt like one long creative sprint, in the best way. Between working full-time in a creative environment and spending my free time exploring everything the city has to offer, NYC became both my office and my classroom. Looking back, these are the five experiences that defined my time here.

Have you ever bought something online without thinking, only to question your decision a few minutes later? If so, you’re not alone.

The conversation around AI usually circles the same topics: is it a tool, collaborator, or competitor? But honestly, none of those feel like a proper description. The more I use AI in my design process, the more I see it as something different, an accelerant.

In a city known for its nonstop energy, quiet moments often appear in small, unexpected ways. A warm patch of sunlight, a calm corner of a park, or a brief pause on a busy street can feel like tiny breaths in the middle of the rush. 

Picture this: you’re scrolling through Instagram and spot a product that catches your eye. One tap leads to the brand’s site, another tap adds it to your cart, and before you know it, you’ve just made an impulse purchase, for something you don’t need, during your lunch break. That seamless flow from seeing to buying isn’t random. It’s behavioral design in action.

When you open the PopTart website, you’re instantly hit with happy, nostalgic energy. The colors, the playful typography, even the small details all make you feel like a kid again. It’s carefree, exciting, and makes you ready for breakfast.

I created a reverse mood board, a design exercise where you work backward to analyze an existing brand or website to uncover the visual and emotional choices behind it.

For a long time, “good design” was defined by how easy something was to use. Clean interfaces, intuitive buttons, and logical layouts were considered the standard of UX. But usability alone doesn’t guarantee a meaningful experience.

Because in the end, user experience isn’t about what people do on a screen, it’s about how they feel while using it.

When I played The Thing from the Future, my cards dealt me a strange mix: Collapse Future, Zoo, and Candy. At first, it felt impossible to connect them, but that’s exactly the fun of it. After some brainstorming, I imagined Creature Candy: brightly colored animal-shaped sweets that give people temporary powers in a post-collapse world.

Most cities never stop moving. There is a constant hum of traffic, chatter, sirens, and footsteps that soon blend into your usual rhythm. Recently moving to New York City, I’ve gotten more comfortable with that background noise and constant motion. With that said, I’ve also learned to look for something else: quiet moments tucked between the chaos.

Launching a product is one thing, selling it and effectively is another. This week, I shifted from design mode to sales strategy mode as I prepared to launch my Study Abroad in Korea Survival Kit, a digital bundle that combines a polished PDF guide and interactive Google Sheet. 

After weeks of building, refining, and polishing, my digital product is complete and almost ready for launch.

The Study Abroad in Korea Survival Kit started as an idea to make studying in Seoul less overwhelming for future students, and now it’s a designed, interactive resource packaged for the market.

If the early weeks of building my Study Abroad in Korea Survival Kit were about getting all my ideas on paper, this past week was about refining them into something that actually looks and feels like a real product.

The “middle mile” of development is tricky and it’s easy to feel stuck between drafting and final polish. But it’s also where the biggest progress happens.

The first week of building my Study Abroad in Korea Survival Kit has been an eye-opening experience.

I went in thinking the hardest part would be coming up with content, but the bigger challenge was narrowing down what truly belongs in my MVP (minimum viable product) versus what can wait as “nice-to-have” extras.

In Week 1, I explored three possible digital products: a Social Media Template Bundle, an Academic Planner, and a Korea Travel Kit. That stage was all about understanding the market and identifying opportunities where I could apply both design and personal experience.

I’ve always been drawn to the space where creativity and business overlap. More specifically, where design isn’t just about looking nice, but about actually solving problems and making people’s lives easier.