Justin Kim | Industrial Design
Design Statement
Ever since I was a child, creativity and technology had always been a significant part of my life. My mother was an artist and my dad owned an injection molding factory.
I had always been fascinated with art and technology and how it helped shape and benefit people’s lives. The fact that people made their thoughts and ideas into reality was so intriguing to me that my dream was to become an inventor.
This upbringing led me to pursue my education in Industrial Design. Early on during my journey, I spent a lot of my time honing my technical skills and focusing on aesthetics, but I later discovered a deeper understanding of design.
I came to realize that before, I relied a lot on just pure brainstorming: ruminating about what ‘I’ thought may possibly be beneficial for society. I learned that to be a great designer, you must also be a good listener and researcher. You must be as curious to seek out people’s needs as much as your own creative ideas.
This integration of user research with my own creativity is what led me to design better and more meaningful products.
As for the future of Industrial design, we have a social responsibility to create products that are honest, meaningful, and long-lasting. Currently, there are so many unnecessary products being mass-produced with the intent of being a profit for businesses more than improving people’s lives.
For our story to continue, we must think beyond ourselves and try to do our best to think collectively as one community and provide a better environment for the future generation.
