Meet Seoyun, Rebecca “Love” Cho, Park | Seoyun Cho: Product Designer / Rebecca “Love” Park: Multimedia designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Seoyun, Rebecca “Love” Cho, Park and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Seoyun, Rebecca “Love”, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
Rebecca Park:

As an Asian American who grew up in NYC, I am a multimedia designer who is constantly influenced by intercultural creativity and community in my work and endeavors. I attended LaGuardia Arts High school and Pratt Institute, where I was happy to be surrounded by creative individuals who enjoyed making an impact on those around them through art making and writing. At the same time, I always felt a sense of diasporic loneliness as an Asian American with no designated Asian community that I resonated with. I couldn’t find the space I needed: a place that intertwined my desire for multicultural asian belonging, career ambitions, and love for art.

This is precisely why I founded Asian Society Pratt, the first ever all-inclusive Asian club at the school, championing Asian and Asian American creatives to come together and develop a sense of community through food, art, and career readiness, to name a few. In May 2024, we hosted our first NYC Art School Exhibition & Mixer for AAPI Month, featuring AAPI artists and their artwork. Asian Society Pratt is a project that other alumni and I are hoping to extend beyond the walls of Pratt through Asian Society NYC, hosting events that highlight what our Asian community needs. We want to support not only that sense of connection and cultural pride, but to also help them thrive.

Seoyun Cho:

I was born and raised in South Korea, and in 2021, I took a leap that changed the course of my life—I moved to New York to study at Pratt Institute. It’s hard to believe it’s already been four years since then. Back in Korea, life was stable and familiar. I had strong academic achievements, close friends, and a loving family. But deep down, I felt a quiet yet persistent pull to step beyond my comfort zone and chase something more. I wanted to become a designer who could truly make a difference in people’s lives.

That desire started to take shape during my time in Korea, especially through the weekly church gatherings I attended growing up. We often opened up about our struggles—family issues, financial stress, emotional pain. Hearing those stories left a deep impression on me. I saw how important it is to be truly seen and understood—and how many people live without that experience. That stayed with me. Eventually, that awareness led me to human-computer interaction (HCI). I was drawn to the idea of designing not just for utility, but for empathy. I want to build tools and experiences that feel human—solutions that close emotional and cultural gaps, that help people feel seen, supported, and empowered.

That mission became especially personal after moving to the U.S. As an Asian international student, I encountered cultural barriers, struggled to access basic resources, and found it difficult to build meaningful connections. Despite the large Asian population in the U.S., I often felt a lack of platforms that truly supported our community—not just in name, but in real, tangible ways. That gap is what drives me now. My vision is to build something heartfelt, a space where Asian students and young adults can connect, share, and lift each other up. Not just a place to survive, but one where we can genuinely thrive together.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Seoyun Cho:

What sets me apart as a designer is my drive and curiosity. I’ve always been eager to learn and grow, but that mindset didn’t come naturally. Growing up in Korea, I was shaped by a highly structured education system where memorization and conformity often took precedence over creativity and exploration. I didn’t know what I truly liked or what I wanted to pursue. I was just trying to keep up. At 15, during my first year at an art high school, my fine art grades were disappointing. Hoping to help, my parent took me to meet a renowned sculpture professor from one of Korea’s top universities. After reviewing my work, he told me my technical skills were strong, but he didn’t see any passion in my eyes. That moment shook me. I thought I was doing everything right, trying to appear eager and motivated—but the truth was, it just wasn’t where my heart was.

Everything changed when I moved to the U.S. For the first time, I had the freedom to explore what genuinely inspired me. I gravitated toward visual storytelling, human-centered design, and building experiences that make people feel seen. That’s when I found my spark and once I did, everything started to align. Now, when I work on something I care about, that passion shows up naturally.

One of the projects I’m most proud of is the Asian Society Pratt platform. I joined the club as a board member and product designer, working alongside an inspiring team led by Rebecca, who founded the organization. Over the course of a year, we researched, designed, and launched a digital space dedicated to uplifting and connecting Asian creatives at Pratt Institute. This wasn’t just a class project, it was the first initiative of its kind on campus. Today, it serves as a living space for community, identity, and visibility. Looking ahead, we’re planning to expand the platform into a citywide network called the Asian Society New York, designed to connect emerging Asian artists across the city. New York City is home to over 1.5 million Asian Americans and thousands of Asian international students. Yet until now, there hasn’t been a dedicated digital space to amplify their voices in the creative field. I wanted to help change that.

On a personal note, I’ll be starting graduate school in Seattle this year, and I’m excited to continue growing—creatively, personally, and as part of the global design community. What I want the world to know is this: I’m here to build work that connects people. I believe design should make others feel understood, valued, and empowered. That’s what drives me.

Rebecca Park:

I’ve always prided myself in my ambition, obsession with learning, and desire to truly connect with people and with the cultures I am a part of.
My work is rooted in storytelling—whether through branding, typography, speculative design, or community building. What sets me apart is my belief that design isn’t just visual; it’s emotional, cultural, and deeply human. I’m passionate about creating work that not only captures attention, but builds bridges: between people, between histories, and between future possibilities.
I’m especially excited to be joining Tiffany & Co.’s Global Creative team as a Digital Design Intern this summer, helping to shape global creative campaigns for one of the world’s most iconic luxury brands. It’s a milestone that feels especially meaningful as it builds on my experiences working across a range of industries—from tech to entertainment to luxury—each one offering a new lens on creativity, communication, and culture.
My journey hasn’t been linear—and that’s something I’ve come to see as a strength rather than a setback. Much like my own diasporic identity, my professional path has been scattered, experimental, and wide-ranging. I’ve been learning diverse mediums, disciplines, and industries, from branding at Sony Music to community-building at Asian Society Pratt. It hasn’t always been easy to navigate spaces where my interests didn’t fit neatly into one box, but over time, I realized that this hybridity is my greatest asset: it allows me to think expansively, connect across disciplines, and tell richer, more layered stories.
The biggest lessons I’ve learned are to stay resilient, to stay curious, and to honor the stories that shaped me. My brand and my work live at the intersection of design, culture, and future-building—rooted in both research and intuition, strategy and emotion. I want the world to know that everything I create is a tribute to the communities, mentors, and histories that made me—and that, like identity itself, creativity is never linear. It’s expansive.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Rebecca Park:

I grew up spending time in the East Village, where you can find record stores, vintage shops like Tokio 7, and plenty of good bars. Cure Thrift used to be a nice place. I’ve always liked the quieter energy of Midtown East too—there are great izakayas and cool spots like Tomi Jazz if you know where to look. Williamsburg has a lot of cool art galleries and I usually recommend the Brooklyn Bridge area for tourists—it’s full of pizza places, bakeries, and thrift shops. Lately, I’ve been based in Long Island City, and I’ve come across Culture Lab LIC which hosts live music and art shows on weekend nights.

Seoyun Cho:

Wall Street is hands down my favorite neighborhood in the city. There’s something about the atmosphere that always lights a fire in me. The polished brick roads, the striking blend of neoclassical and modern buildings, and the people moving with such intention—all of it feels electric. Everyone looks so put together in their classic attire, and just being in that environment makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger. It might sound ambitious—maybe even a little dramatic—but I truly believe our surroundings shape our mindset. Wall Street pushes me to aim higher and dream bigger. And when I need a breather, I head to nearby Battery Park. It’s a peaceful escape where dogs run freely across the grass, and you can just sit, breathe, and take in the view. That contrast—between hustle and stillness—is what I find so special. I’d definitely bring a friend there to experience it for themselves. If we had more time, I’d take them a bit farther north to Chinatown and Little Italy—both full of character and incredible food. I especially love Sofia’s of Little Italy, a cozy spot with hearty, authentic Italian dishes. It’s the perfect way to wrap up a long walk through the city.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Rebecca Park:

I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my parents, the mentors I’ve had at work, and my professors—there are truly so many people who have inspired me. Their presence, support, and teachings have shaped my understanding of creativity as a tool for personal joy, community-building, and storytelling.
I first realized the deeper power of branding through Professor Erik Spooner’s Branding & Messaging course, where I rediscovered branding not just as a tool for corporate success and relevance, but as a way to foster identity and connection. This perspective shaped how I approached designing the logo and branding for Asian Society Pratt. Around the same time, discovering the Asian creative community through events at the Asian American Arts Alliance, a grassroots organization, showed me firsthand how art could build bridges and create a sense of belonging.
My experience in strategic communication and marketing at Sony Music further reinforced how branding could be used to create visibility, pride, and connection—especially within the Asian creative community. Developing my thesis on the Asian and Asian diasporic experience under Professors Xinyi Li and Mike Tully deepened my passion for storytelling, particularly through archiving, research, and strategic narrative building.
Through all of these experiences, my parents have remained a constant inspiration, grounding me with their hard work and the stories of their childhoods in Korea. These influences—professional, academic, personal, and communal—have all culminated in the foundation of Asian Society Pratt, which is still just at the beginning of its journey.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asiansocietypratt/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asian-society-pratt/

Other: Personal website:

Seoyun Cho: https://ycho.me/
Rebecca Park: https://rebeccalovepark.com/