I’m Speaking

I’m Speaking is an AAPI-centered comic book produced by the New York Immigration Coalition. In partnership with Yuna Youn from Korean Community Services, I illustrated a story that centers on the immigrant child experience, focusing on first-generation and second-generation children of immigrants. While navigating issues such as AAPI hate and cultural dynamics, this comic book amplifies the power of community and mental support.

Writer: Yuna Youn (Korean Community Services)
Medium: Adobe Photoshop, InDesign

After reading the first draft of the story, I started working on this project by sketching ideas of how the story could progress throughout the pages. Over a couple of virtual meetings, we figured out a rough idea of how the story needed to be sectioned and divided for a strong visual impact. 

While discussing details about each of the main characters, I worked on a few more sketches to get an understanding of how the characters may look like. Once the designs were confirmed, I started working on each spread of the comic in detail. For the finished illustrations, I had a strict color palette to maintain the branding of the New York Immigration Coalition. Using their brand orange and purple as the anchoring colors, I filled each panel with a piece of the Korean American protagonist Yumi’s story.