August 24, 2015
The Sea Pink
Happy Monday, Everyone! If you’re feeling a bit down or tired that you’re starting the work week again, we’ve got just the thing for you – a big dose of electric color and sunshine from The Seapink! These two illustrators will be bringing their paper goods to our Brooklyn Fair on September 12th and 13th at the Brooklyn Expo Center!
Where did your business name come from? Is there an interesting history behind?
The Seapink consists of Boyoun Kim and Sue Jean Ko. We spent a lot of time to create our business name when we decided to collaborate on a new stationery line, in the beginning of 2015. We looked up some words in the dictionary. Accidentally, we found the word ‘seapink’. It’s the name of seacoast pink flower. We both love SEA and PINK, so it is just perfect for both of us.
When/Why did you start working in this particular craft/field?
We both studied Illustration at School of Visual Arts in New York City. When we were in school, we took various printmaking classes, such as etching, silkscreen, and letterpress. In our school’s printshop, the atmosphere was vibrant and full of energy with students. And immediately, we just started to dig into silk screening and fell in love with it. It is a huge time consuming job, but it is so fun and makes us never want to stop once we start. We enjoy the process of making images, and crafting by hand. We all have passion for printing, and love silkscreen printing using colorful inks. We loved making hand-screened greeting cards, art prints, dish towels, and tote bags.
What valuable experience/knowledge did you have before starting your business?
We worked at the different company in South Korea before coming to U.S.A. Sue Jean worked designing cute textiles for a line of baby products, and Boyoun worked for education contents for children. It was a quite stable life, but we always wanted to work for us, not for others. We wanted create something our own things.That’s why we came here to study and focus on art.
What has been your proudest/favorite moment since creating your business?
Some people think that we live in the digital world, so they don’t write hand-writing card anymore. But we always feel happy that when people bought our greeting cards sharing their love, friendship and celebrate their valuable feelings and memories.
Have you had any major failures? If so, what were some important insights gained?
Our basis is art, and running a small business is whole different thing. We didn’t know very well about finance and management things when we started. We were so worried about everything and so stressed out all the time. But we are still leaning that we can’t control perfectly, and mistakes can always happen. We began to accept ‘fear of failing’ and let them go.
Have you sacrificed anything to create your business? If so, what was it, and do you have any regrets?
We both live apart from our family in South Korea. Very lonely, and feel homesick sometimes. It’s a really heart-breaking life. Sue Jean’s parents hope she’ll return to South Korea after 1-2 years. However, we love our job here and want to succeed, and overcome the early difficulties we had in business and managed to smoothly. We both love our family, so we want make them proud of us.
What made you take this leap into being your own boss?
We still can’t believe that we are bosses, because it’s not over one year. We feel we raise our little cute baby whose name is Seapink.
What are some inspirations for your work?
Everything around us. Also, Sue Jean love collect vintage children’s book illustrations. And Boyoun love traveling, walking around in the city, and going to museum.
How does the city you live in influence your work?
Living in New York City with great galleries, museums, shops, restaurants and especially our wonderful artist friends not only opens our minds but also improves our works. We love to get out of the studio for inspiration sometimes.
What are some tips or suggestions you’d like to offer to fellow makers?
We enjoy whatever we do. Do what you love, and enjoy mistakes!
We can’t wait to spend time with the lovely ladies of The Seapink at our Brooklyn Fair! You can find The Seapink online here: