Where and what are you working on right now?

Currently, I’m working at Slalom doing some user experience consulting for Delta Airlines. Before, I worked as a visual designer at Google, especially at Google Cloud, and then at Product Design for Android.

What impact has SVA MFA Design had on your career?

SVA MFA Design had a lot of impact on my career because I come from a city where design is not very prestigious, so moving to New York, which is a playground for designers, really set me up for my career. I did some internships in New York and also some freelance work for some of the professors. So it kind of superceded my design career in Atlanta for the past eight years.

I also still keep in touch with some of my classmates, and it’s good to see their faces once in a while when you meet at some big events or conferences.

If you could choose a thesis topic today, what would you pick?

I would start a design school for Cambodian students with Cambodian teachers to define the country’s design style and language and contribute back to my hometown.

The majority of design agencies in Cambodia, where I am from, are Western. Only a couple of Cambodian design agencies are coming up now. Our language is complex and robust, as our alphabet doesn’t follow Latin or UTF-8 standards. Many non-Khmer designers try to conform our alphabet to those standards, but we don’t have enough Khmer designers to develop a standard for the Khmer and other Austroasiatic languages.

Anything else you would like to share?

To all the current students, best of luck! You’ll make a lot of good friends out there, and hopefully I’ll see you all at the 25th anniversary.

Instagram: @sokaiyoon