Work Autobiographical Statement

    I was born and raised in Busan, South Korea, and graduated from Art high school (1993), where the school’s education programs consisted of fundamental arts such as basic design, painting, sculpture, and oriental painting. All of these learning affected all of my knowledge on the fundamentals and basics of art. When I was a junior in the university, looking for various methods for my work, I decided to learn computer graphics, which connected to my future career as a web designer and a web project manager. It was a bright new world for me compared to fine art because Mac computers have great colors with user friendly interface, and functions which allowed me to modify, and apply effects onto images, or edit motions depending on our intentions. Upon graduation, I moved to Seoul to start my first company with a few friends by the name of ICMS, Internet-based Contents Management Service Co.(1998 ~ 2007), and worked there over 10 years. As a vice president, to start a new business in my early age was kind of an every day adventure managing employees. However, it was a great experience for me in terms of letting me try many things in the web business field. Mostly we worked for education companies with long term supporting management for them.

I worked with three different roles in my company, as a vice president, a web project manager, and a design manager. One of works, as a project manager, was a long-period of storyboard-work that gave me insight with a broad perspective on the whole structure and power of logical inference on my web-based work. One of my most distinguished characteristics is the diverse experience I have working through the web field. In order to try to increase the client’s satisfaction, I attempted the use of design elements to deliver productive advice and consultancy. These experiences shaped the kind of person I am today. I was able to have my own methodology, with which I could keenly observe the whole process on my projects, through experience. I firmly believe that those experiences would help my study on the graphic design. Moreover, the consultation with my clients who had no knowledge on the web development gave me ability to explain a project and to persuade them clearly. In addition, our company operated an icheonceramic-pottery site, which sold a special brand of pottery, for a few years (2003~2007). I planned its web shopping mall and managed it as a seller. I needed a selection of products visiting and meeting potters, and took a number of photos and edited them to upload it on the web pages while managing other projects with storyboard work. I experienced the whole processes of market management of the web shopping mall. I enjoyed the work because I could closely see great pottery works, which contained a lot of patterns and colors, similar to symbols and logos in graphic design. I was happy time to see them, which captivated me and stimulated my creativity and I realized that it was a unique experience in my life.

Now, I am pursuing a MFA degree at Iowa State Univeristy in graphic design to prepare for a new experience in the graphic design field. I believe that most art has the same philosophy " Interaction," " communication" and "experience." I am studying with a focus on learning the interaction of people in design with technology.

Web Portfolio:
http://project.swiriwon.com

Blog:
http://Blog.swiriwon.com 

Social Stuff:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wonsil