Blog 1 | Niche

1)  What do you consider to be your medium, style, and services of choice?  Describe why you feel that is the case.

I consider my medium of choice to be predominately motion design. I am still finding my footing in terms of developing my style, but at the current moment I would say that my style is light, modern, and whimsical. I tend to use expressive color palettes in my work, use silly characters, and try to inject some sense of light-heartedness into many projects. My services have varied in the few freelance jobs I've had. I've done logos for local entrepreneurs, lyric videos, album artwork, digital artwork commissions, and others. I think that people and potential clients are beginning to see that I have a developing style, and they want that style represented in something they want created. I find that my style is influenced by my Korean heritage and the whimsical designs I have created are representative of Korean imagery I've been around for my entire life.

2) To which customers will your products and services most appeal?

I feel like companies and clients that use expressive media and have a lighter presence in the industry could enjoy my services. I think that companies that cater to a younger / young adult demographic would connect to my work and style. I would love to create lyric videos, album artwork, print & digital work for budding modern artists. I enjoy younger cosmetics brands like Sephora, Tatcha, Benefit, Urban Decay, LUSH, Colourpop and many more brands all use modern design trends that I think are similar to my style.

3) More unique = Less competition

I find that since I don't know what my niche exactly is yet, I don't have a clear idea on what I can provide to clients. I think this goes back to having confidence as a designer that we discussed in class in that I don't know exactly how I want to brand myself yet. I do know that I like to approach my design research and work with a level of consciousness and empathy towards the audience I am catering towards. I try to be mindful of current events and social issues and I find that my Asian-American background influences my view on design and the world. Perhaps this can weave into my niche and I think this approach can differentiate my brand and approach from other competitors.

Some problems I would like to address in my design work

• Thoughtful / accessible design

• Present thought-provoking work or ideas that challenges people

• Inspire people

• Inspiration that leads to action

• Raise awareness on issues

• Create promotional materials for cosmetics that promote healthy images for women, men, etc.

At the moment, motion is my medium of choice and I want to be able to present ideas through motion that can educate and challenge people. Social justice and social/political issues strike a chord with me, so I think I may want to create informative pieces and materials to educate people. In terms of cosmetics and beauty, I also want to create promotional materials that celebrate diversity. But again, I am unsure of what career route I want to pursue.

4)  Conduct a bit of secondary research to see just how competitive your chosen market is.  Create a list of links with short sentences describing how competitors are approaching their niche to address the kinds of problems that interest you. 

Cosmetics and beauty are a $445 billion industry and many companies are seeking branding and design specialists. There are so many different types of cosmetics companies, and many cater to younger women like myself. I feel like my view and experience working in the beauty / cosmetics industry give me an edge over the competition.

There are also a lot of motion designers out there, but I think that information design which is another market I am interested in could be a niche for me. Informational materials come in many forms, especially print. I think being able to create informative motion pieces as well as print materials or posters could be interesting and more of a specialty role. I did a search for graphic designers specializing in information design, but I was left confused. Many freelance graphic designers show that they are a jack of all trades which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I found that many lack a niche.