A Designer’s Coveted Cleverness
Designer Moon Imm designs his furniture as he meets new people to work with.
Though a true passion of his, it is still a job.
In an Incheon woodworking shop, I met the designer, Moon. He had an aura that was unforgettable. Dust blew from the shake of his black leather jacket as he tentatively moved around in his black jeans and likewise-colored Converse. In one of his hands, he held a cigarette, puffed out smoke as his feet rolled on a piece of styrofoam made for his project. He didn’t seem to have any worry, for his face was calm. I had a hunch that he’d be the one I was going to interview that day. Lo and behold, I met him for the interview. With an eloquent mind, he was sharper and smarter than I originally thought. With calmness, he thoroughly answered every question I asked.
A Choice For ‘Authenticity’
He was an advertiser. He was even good at it. His mind would quickly produce stellar ideas as if he already had tons of them stored in his brain. Clients appreciated his ideas and were wholly satisfied with the results. In order to pursue advertisement, Moon moved to America for seven years and finally got an offer from a major company. However, right as his goal of becoming a coveted advertiser was going to come to fruition, he shut his eyes and trashed all of his hard work. That epiphany occurred when Moon was in a Naechon carpenter shop in Gangwon-do.
As he grew more successful as a creative director in advertising, he began to doubt his career. Sure, he had amazing ideas and could produce clever advertisements in a snap, but he thought it “was not for him.” The constant work, process, and pressure of advertising tired him. Moreover, he disliked how his creations oftentimes vanished right as it was presented to the world. He wanted to create work that could be remembered and touched. His desires led him to work on creating small miniature furniture every day after work. One day, he told his wife that he wanted to pursue furniture design, a lodge of uncertainty stuck in his throat. But he swallowed up that nervousness because of one simple sentence from his wife, “That’s what you wanted to do when you were twenty.” From those words, he found his old dream, once again.
Though plenty of ideas brewed in his mind, his amateur wood building skills could not comprehend many of them. Quickly, he filtered out ideas he deemed good and forgot about the ones that he thought were bad. He naturally sketched ideas by reinterpreting everyday objects that surrounded him. Unlike the present, he was quite doubtful at first. He never professionally learned how to design furniture, so he could not trust himself in producing solid designs. Therefore, even with his first completed chair design, he waited a year before actually making it. In that one year, he studied famous designers such as Finn Juhl and George Nakashima. Still, he could not create designs that satiated him and found himself reproducing already released products as ideas. Nevertheless, he could not stop trying, for furniture design had manifested Moon, and he didn’t know what else he would do with his life except this. After many trial and errors, he finally trusted his designs. He let fate decide on who would make his designs come true.
“If fate said designing furniture was my future, I would believe in fate. That is why, without precise thought, I decided to work with the first person I met.” After completing his first work, he met a carpenter, Kim Jung Bo, and a Korean lacquerware artisan, Kim Yong Gyeom, for his second piece. He wanted to make sure his works in America reflected oriental aesthetics. This is because his design philosophy derived from oriental philosophy. Thus, through George Nakashima, he studied Japanese culture and eventually paired up with Peter Battcock who was interested in his Korean-influenced designs. When Moon begins working, he focuses incredibly on the type of wood, the processing, and the finish. He uses different methods from different countries for his work. To illustrate, in Korea, he would varnish his piece with lacquer, but in America, he finishes his piece with oil. Also, he is planning on making a system in which artisans in their respective countries can sell their pieces in their countries.
Adhering To The Basics
Designing furniture is a job; it means one has to have the ability to live off of designing woodwork. Even if one loves something, if it is not profitable, everything becomes dreadful. Therefore, Moon has implemented great marketing strategies. When profit is not clear, marketing is a definite key to success though most believe this process is difficult, Moon says to just not lose the ‘basics'.
“You simply need to follow the instructions for marketing. But many lose the basics and try to develop complex ideas which make the process harder. The basics of marketing is ‘product, price, promotion.’ Firstly, you have to think about what you are going to make. After determining the price, you have to think about the price’s economic power. Next is promotion. Will you sell it in a shop, will you sell it on the Internet, or are you going to open a store is what you have to think about. If you cannot adhere to these basics, it will be difficult for your item to succeed in the vast market.”
Moon creates his new line of furniture and implements the ‘product, price, promotion’ tactic into each. His first main brand is associated with his name and is called ‘MOON IMM.’ This brand specifically focuses on what he wants to design and the followers of his style. Since his furniture is large, he promoted and aimed towards America.
His second brand is ‘DERDIECHAIRS’ which combines male (DER) and female (DIE) in German and the English word CHAIR. Moon presents the furniture, but it is the person sitting on the chair’s responsibility to create the story. He wants to express this through his second brand.
Finally, there is WOODZANE, but since it still is in development, the concept behind the brand is kept secret. Certainly, though, both the price and the function of the furniture will adhere to the 21st century basics.
When he presented his plans, excitement flared in Moon’s voice. He has already designed ideas for the future. The miniature figures shown in his gallery category in his homepage prove that. He plans on releasing something new every year. Right now, he is finetuning those ideas and is planning on what he will do in ten years. Finding calmness in a middle aged man might be because he is devoted and passionate about doing something he actually is ‘good’ at.
_ Wood Planet