Mona Kim is an American designer born in South Korea and educated in the United States. Kim is a multidisciplinary design consultant and a visual artist for cultural and commercial projects ( Mona Kim Projects).

Life and career

Kim is a

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

graduate with BFA degree with Honors in Design. She had been selected by

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

Strategic Design branch during her last year in the university to collaborate with leaders in the design field such as

Edward Tufte Edward Rolf Tufte (; born March 14, 1942), sometimes known as "ET",. is an American statistician and professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University. He is noted for his writings on information design ...

and Sam Lucente. In 1990, Kim moved to Italy which had significantly influenced her work and life philosophy to date. In Milan, she had worked with the late

Ettore Sottsass Ettore Sottsass (; 14 September 1917 – 31 December 2007) was an Italian architect and product designer. He was known for his designs of furniture, jewelry, glass, lighting, homeware and office supplies. He also worked on numerous buildings an ...

and had been introduced to the instinctual approach to design. In 1993, Kim moved to New York City where she had begun to expand her work into the fashion & beauty sector, working on advertising campaigns for fashion, beauty, and technology for clients and agencies such as

Bloomingdales Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...

Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SEC; stylized as SΛMSUNG; ) is a South Korean multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation founded on 13 January 1969 and headquartered in Yeongtong District, Suwon, South Korea. It is curr ...

Coty Coty Inc. is an American multinational beauty company founded in 1904 by François Coty. With its subsidiaries, it develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes fragrances, cosmetics, skin care, nail care, and both professional and retail hai ...

, Kenneth Cole, and Arnell Group, as well as working overseas for fashion houses in Italy such as Mandarina Duck and

Trussardi Trussardi () is an Italian fashion house based in Milan, Italy, and specialized in leather goods, ready-to-wear, perfumes, and accessories. Trussardi was founded in 1911 as a leather glove manufacturer, and expanded its line to additional leath ...

on the collection side. During this time, Kim also started to design environments and "experiential spaces" for thematic museums and exhibitions. Using her influence from fashion and advertising background, and merging it with an intellectual approach to communicating socio-political information, her award-winning projects are described to be highly impactful, with innovative & seamless synthesis of images, space, and message, that boldly engage the public. She had been involved in international projects which include The European Parliament Visitor Center, The

Canadian Museum for Human Rights The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR; ) is a Canadian Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and List of national museums, national museum located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, adjacent to The Forks, Winnipeg, The Forks. The purpose of the ...

, "Voices" Exhibition for Universal Forum of Cultures Barcelona 2004, Samsung Seocho Brand Showcase, and "Water for Life" Exhibition, one of

Expo Zaragoza 2008 Expo 2008 was an international exposition held from Saturday 14 June to Sunday 14 September 2008 in Zaragoza, Spain, with the theme of "Water and Sustainable Development". The exposition was placed in a meander of the river Ebro. It was coordin ...

's main exhibitions with the much acclaimed sculpture of water Splash which she designed with her partners at Program Collective. She has also worked on branded art installations for

Uniqlo ( ; ) is a Japanese casual wear designer and retailer. The company is a subsidiary of Fast Retailing, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Clare Waight Keller is the creative director. History Men's Shop OS was founded in Ube, Yamaguchi. It was rebrand ...

and scenography for Premiere Vision. In addition, she has lectured at international conferences for digital culture and creativity such as Artfutura and Broadcat. Kim has also been an adjunct faculty and thesis advisor at Parsons Paris School of Art and Design, adjunct faculty at IDEP,

Istituto Europeo di Design The Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) is a private design school in Italy founded in 1966 by Francesco Morelli. Alberico Guerzoni is the director of its flagship location in Milan. The school is organized into four disciplines: Design, Fashio ...

, and guest lecturer at Elisava Masters Program. Kim has worked internationally in New York, Milan and Barcelona. She is presently based in Paris.

Awards

* 2001 Honor Awards, Society for Environmental Graphic Design, 50 years of TV and more * 2005 D&AD silver nomination, "Voices" * 2005 Honor Awards, Society for Environmental Graphic Design, "Voices" * 2006 Jury for D&AD's Digital Media category * 2010 Finalist for international art competition "Design As Reform" Vol.2 – Public Installations category, Dubai * 2014 D&AD Awards: Wood Pencil, Branding / Brand Experience & Environments category, for Uniqlo global campaign * 2016 AIGA and Design Observer’s 50 Books , 50 Covers competition: 50 Covers Award, for Moowon Book of Stories

Press & publications

* "Uniqlo Recruits Mona Kim Projects to Create Holiday Windows in New York", ''WWD'' (''

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides i ...

'') * "Future Experience of Retail", BrandD Magazine * "Mona Kim Debuts Moowon Site to Draw Attention to Dying Craftsmanship", ''WWD'' * "Program Collective Suspends a Metallic Splash Sculpture in Spain", DesignBoom * "Mona Kim Unveils Uniqlo’s Holiday Windows", ''WWD'' * Brand Spaces: Branded Architecture And The Future Of Retail Design, Gestalten * Out of the Box!: Brand Experience between Pop-Up and Flagship, Gestalten * Building with Water: Concepts Typology Design, Birkhäuser * Exhibition Design, Linksbooks * Souls and Machines, catalog of ArtFutura 2008, ed. Montxo Algora * I.D., 2008 Sept–Oct * Domus, 2008 Sept * Diseno Interior, 2008 August * Creative Review, 2008 July * The New York Times, 2008 June 15 * I.D. Annual Design Review, 2005, July/August * La Vanguardia, 2005, May 15 * The New York Times, 2004 February 13 * El País, 2004 February 21 * Axis, 2003 September * Diseño Interior, 2003 July * Trains: Language, Mona Kim 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Mona Living people 1967 births South Korean emigrants to the United States American designers