Esther Kim

Just in time for the heart-fest that is Valentine's Day we launched "Lost in Harajuku Static Theme" by Esther Kim. Esther takes time out from her world of pens and pencils to tell us about all things technology!

Describe your theme in five words...

pinky, minty, milky, girly, pop

Where do you draw your inspiration from?  

I'm inspired by inspired people! It makes me want to create. I'm always looking at magazines: Japanese, French, US, Korea! I love all kinds of street fashion but I do have a weakness for Tokyo style.

Why did you choose to showcase your work in partnership with a global brand like PlayStation?

It was such an honour to be approached by them. There was no question that I wanted to work with them!

What’s it like seeing your work fully digitised on The Studio?

It's a lovely feeling! I keep trying to imagine the people who are going to download and use it. I would love to see pictures of peoples' computer screens with all the different artists themes and see how it fits with the person and space they're in (The Studio: Esther, we'll work on that!)

How did you adapt your work – in terms of both the feel of The Studio space and the physical parameters of PlayStation’s XrossMediaBar (XMB)?

It was relatively straightforward - I worked in my usual analogue format. I hand-drew and painted all the little icons and then I just scanned them in and played around with them a bit, cleaning them up and what not. For the background artwork I did all the drawing and painting by hand and then just played with the layout on my computer. 

How is technology changing the way you work?

I can be such a miserly luddite at times but having good tools makes my life much easier! It's amazing to me how easy it is for artists to work with clients all over the world thanks to the internet and the ability to digitize our work.

In an everyday way it saves me a lot of time! I used to draw and redraw things till I got them right and now with my computer I know how to adjust things or I'm able to fix little mistakes on the computer instead of redrawing it. 

If you could have created any video game throughout history, what would it be?

Hmmm, this is a tough one... it would be great to have some kind of drawing game. Something that teaches you how to draw and paint. 

If you could turn a PlayStation into a piece of art/design, what would you do with it?

I would make it into a rabbit!

What’s your favourite video game?

I'm not very good at games but I hear it is very good for relieving stress so I try to play brain games and word games. Games that I remember from when I was a kid are Tetris and Bubble Bobble. Also my neighbours seem to always be playing Winning Eleven.