Designer & Illustrator Sojung Ham

Sojung Ham is a junior at Michigan studying UX Design at the School of Information. A talented artist, she is also a graphic designer for Arts at Michigan! I sat down with her to learn more about her engagement with art.

Like many others, Sojung says that she’s “been drawing since I was young. In middle school, people called me the ‘art kid’ so I accepted it. Then I started doing graphic design, and I really enjoy drawing what I like.” One of the perks of being a designer is that “You make cool things yourself instead of needing other people to do it. For me, art is drawing things I want to see and making them a reality.”

Sojung’s colorful, fluid style is influenced by many sources, including illustrator Sachin Teng and German design agency Kurzgesagt. She explains that “I used to make fan art and anime, and now it’s more random stuff I’m interested in, like Elton John or musicals like Hamilton.”

One of her favorite projects is a poster she made for M-Agination Films her freshman year. M-Agination had reached out to her to design a poster for their short film based on cowboy westerns, based in the Midwest. Sojung thought “it was hilarious,” and took on the project, the first time she really delved into digital painting. She says, “I’m still really happy with how it came out” and Sojung continues to hone her digital illustration skills through other work.

In the future, Sojung states, “The future is never very certain. But I’d like to balance a job and freelance work, drawing for myself. We’ll see where that goes.”

Outside of school and freelancing, Sojung also runs a successful Etsy shop selling prints, stickers, and keychains made from her artwork, many of which roam around campus on students’ laptops or water bottles. What a perfect holiday gift idea!