Ted Hyunhak Yoon

Learning the importance of research from the RCA visual communicator

For self-initiated briefs, Ted Hyunhak Hoon first delves into the brief’s subject matter in order to generate ideas for the visual work to follow. For client briefs, with the subject already provided, Ted dives “straight into investigating [visual] context”. Both approaches speak to the importance of research to Ted’s process, which allows him to understand both the content and context of his work before for producing offbeat, original responses.

This emphasis has been instilled at the Royal College of Art by personal tutor and Issue Two interviewee Adrian Shaughnessy. In order to carve out his niche, Adrian encouraged Ted “to focus on my approach to research and content rather than aesthetic elements in my outcomes…to be clear about my concept, approaches and ways of encapsulating ideas”.

When aesthetic elements do come in to play, Ted is keen to stress the importance of a flexible visual style where form reflects content. Having previously studied Industrial Design, Ted is well versed in this school of thought, and his past 3D work now particularly influences his typographic work, as in You, the Text.

This highly typographical style animates the “sociopolitical issues at the heart of [Ted’s] self-initiated work”, while he can also call on documentarians such as Adam Curtis—engaging narrative-builders—to capture his audience’s attention further. Altogether, it’s a staggering cocktail of influences that encourages high quality experimentation and exploration, both of which are abound throughout Ted’s portfolio.

hyunhakyoon.com