I’m Ben, a multi-disciplinary designer with a background in visual, print, presentation, and product design and illustration. I love design operations, working with startups and smaller brands to establish themselves, and am an experienced leader who has led teams in the successful building of shipping of products.
I was born in Seoul and raised mostly in Hawai'i, but have been based in Seattle for the past three years. Prior to the PNW, I spent thirteen years living in NYC after graduating from NYU.
Outside of work, you'll find me out in the wild camping, backpacking, or hiking. I'm also passionate about digital painting, photography, games, concerts, climbing, and am on a quest to read 52 books by year's end!
Operations
Agile Methodology
Design Leadership
Design Ops
Operations
Jira
Loom
Notion
Slack
Design
After Effects
Celtra
Figjam
Figma
2025, 2013
Asian American International Film Festival
Lead Designer
Developed visual theme and branding for Asian CineVision’s 36th and 48th annual film festivals, overseeing a team of designers on execution across digital and print distribution channels.
2021-24
Rapptr Labs
Chief Creative Officer (2023-24)
Director of Design (2022)
Senior Product Designer
Built and led product design team, established design ops and SOPs, and acted as Scrum Master across all design engagements. Led VIP product work and Rapptr rebrand efforts, while also overseeing recruiting, HR, biz dev, and cross-channel brand implementation.
2016-21
Cadent (fka AdTheorent)
Senior Designer (2018-21)
Brand Designer
Led AdTheorent's rebrand and created collateral for sales, marketing, creative, and strategy arms. Partnered with agencies to concept, build, and launch rich media ad campaigns for brands like Air Canada, Bose, Harley-Davidson, VH1, MTV, Titleist, and the U.S. Dept. of Defense.
2014-15
Lumenary (fka Hyperion)
Senior Designer
Provided branding, art direction, product design, and investor pitch collateral for startup clients—work that helped raise over $82M in capital and funding.
Whether designing or leading, I strive to always incorporate the following tenets into my approach and process:
01
Lead with empathy and curiosity
Our ability to work together - in teams, in client partnerships, or within business-consumer relationships - hinges upon our ability to understand one another. Leading with empathy allows us to tap into authentic desires and objectives and ensure that our work remains purposeful and human, while curiosity keeps us open-minded and unlocks room for greater exploration.
02
Design with anticipation and attention to detail
Great design balances present needs and consideration of future possibilities - and it’s the details that bridge that gap. Thoughtful choices - from spacing to corner rounding, hierarchies to hex codes, or type scales to photo treatments - not only shape today’s experience but lay the groundwork for scalable, lasting solutions. Every detail is a chance to demonstrate care, foresight, and respect for users.
03
Lean on documented processes, single sources of truth
Teams and projects fail or succeed based on the clarity of their leadership and direction. Build well-documented processes and train teams on how to follow them. Create alignment, reduce friction, and eliminate ambiguity by architecting accessible, singular sources of truth that are available to everyone.
04
Collaborate and communicate across teams, always
Design doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Open communication within and across teams creates more holistic solutions, eliminates blindspots, facilitates buy-in on the greater vision, and helps ensure that everyone is rowing in the same direction.
05
Build scalable, component-based design systems
Component-based design systems that utilize reusable elements, tokenization, and offer clear rationale and guidance on how to approach design decisions all give clarity and focus to a design. Create consistency and level set the foundation for everyone involved by creating comprehensive design systems that are both pragmatic and flexible, allowing for future scalability.
06
Aim for emotional resonance
Beyond function and ease of use, impactful design should also engage its audience on an emotional level. When we craft experiences that feel intentional, evocative, and emotionally resonant, we create a memorable product with a strong, positive brand association.