Danbee Kim

Coming Soon: Excited to unveil this latest collaboration with Project Nia and Jennifer Viets, with illustrations by . Launching next month! ⠀
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[ID] First slide: Photo of a page from “Talking Circles at Home and Parenting Restoratively” resource toolkit on a stool. Second slide: Cover of toolkit featuring illustrations of a teddy bear, letter writing, and autumn scene with falling leaves. Text reads “Talking Circles at Home and Parenting Restoratively: By Jennifer Viets.” @ Chicago, Illinois

Some notes on what’s been giving me pleasure in my business lately🌿: ⠀
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01. Boundaries. Saying no to things not in my genius zone in order to say yes to what is. Saying no to good to make room for the best. Also understanding that different seasons invites changing boundaries.⠀
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02. Structure and systems. Admiring carefully crafted grids and routines—and, at times, the thrill of breaking out of them. Structure of beautifully kerned typography, of rituals that allow for meaningful connection to others. ⠀
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03. Reflection. Lack of remembrance robs me of pleasure. I’m taking care to spend time with moments and relationships that brought me to where I am today. Gratitude is central to pleasure because without it, there rarely seems to be an “enough.”⠀
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Also important to note that I don’t receive pleasure just from work, that I am not my business. My business and I are partners, and it helps support the life and values I want to embody (gems of wisdom gleaned from .is - thank you!)
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BIUM is a Korean word that means emptiness. This concept is important to me in my work as a designer. When I present designs to clients, sometimes I share about the importance of empty space. I believe visual design is much about what you fill a space and…what you deliberately, intentionally choose NOT to fill in a space. Bium {비움} is not passive. It’s very much active and has its own powerful voice—in both visual design and more. Depending on the context, it can be loud or quiet, stimulating or pacifying.⠀
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Architect Byoungsoo Cho speaks of the “poignant vacancy” of bium. I love how this value translates into the moon jar, which I’ve currently been enjoying creating a personal project around for my own creative self-care. The moon jar is all about embracing the bium of its curvy shape, resisting the impulse to fill and cover it. ⠀
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Bium also insists on examining and re-examining what I’m filling in my lie—and what areas I’m choosing not to fill so that I can be open to what is outside my carefully crafted plans. ⠀
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What words have you been implementing into your creative work or life these days?

Cooking up a custom Canva template collection for the kind, creative soul Yolanda Chioma, an event and portrait photographer based in Chicago. We started our work together earlier this year, in February. The way she bakes her values through her work and highlights the beauty and humanity of her clients remind me of why I got into my creative business in the first place. The following images feature portraits from Yolanda’s “Portrait Narratives in Black Form” series.