Self-Introduction

 Hi everyone! My name is Samantha Leung. I was born and raised in San Francisco, California. I come from a family of five, me being the middle child. Fun fact, I have a twin brother who is four minutes younger than me. I also have an older sister who people would mistake as my twin sibling. (When I tell people that I had a twin, they usually just assume that my sister and I are twins since fraternal twins are less common.) Growing up in San Francisco, I was quite sheltered and honestly did not have many unique experiences. I grew up as a 'white-washed' Chinese American barely able to speak Cantonese or Mandarin, but I always had a fond interest in my heritage and my family's traditions. My interest in my own culture led me to be curious about other cultures which ultimately brought me all the way to South Korea.

I am class of 19.5 double majoring in CDM and IID. I have taken many courses from CDM throughout my three years at UIC so far and am very excited to take classes in IID and learn more skills in various fields of design. So far I have been very interested in branding and product design; however, I also enjoy 3D modeling and UI/UX design. Because I have learned about various fields within design, I have also tried and learned many digital tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, XD, Premiere Pro, Blender, Rhino, Unity, and TouchDesigner. In this course, I want to become better at identifying the user's wants and needs as well as creating a better UX based on the users' feedback. I hope that in the future, I can use my vast knowledge in design and business management to create my own cafe brand.

Classes I've taken at UIC (CDM & IID):

CDM

• Intro to CDM
• Creative Thinking & Visualization (CTV)
• Culture & Design Trends
• Integrated Brand Management & VMD
• Design 1, 2
• Digital Design
• Design Research
• Art & Social Enterprise
• Design Business
• Strategic Marketing
• Contemporary Topics in Cultural Industry

IID

•  Psychology for Design
• Color Design
• Basic Drawing
• Intro to Digital Tools
• Visual System
• User Experience Research Methods
• Social Digital Innovation Project
• Senior Project 1, 2
• Interaction Design
• Communicating with Type

In my free time, I really like to play games (card, board, mobile, computer, etc... anything fun honestly!), go cafe hopping, cook delicious food, practice nail art, take walks, and more. Ever since I was young, my siblings and I would always play games together and my interest just developed as I got older. Desserts have also been my favorite food since I was young and preferred eating cake or fruits rather than what my parents tried to feed me. This unhealthy obsession developed more after moving to Korea since there are so many cute, aesthetic cafes in Seoul. On the off chance I am not thinking about dessert, I like to learn how to cook new recipes and share what I made with the people around me. When I lived in America with my family, my sister and I would frequently try cooking and baking new things we saw on Youtube and make our mom try them. After moving to Korea by myself, I had a lot more time by myself so I started learning how to do my own nail art. Ever since I was in elementary school, I enjoyed painting my nails and this self-care practice grew and grew into wanting to professionally learn about nail art and possibly become a nail technician. These are just some of the hobbies I indulge in these days. If anyone would like to share hobbies, I would be more than happy to.

I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone and working together this semester! :)

https://samanthaleung.myportfolio.com/