Freelancers in LongmontFreelancers in Longmont
Kajabi Expert, Business Consultant, Conversion Strategist
5.0
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Kajabi Expert, Business Consultant, Conversion Strategist
Senior Designer | Branding, Comms, Presentations
5.0
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3
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Senior Designer | Branding, Comms, Presentations
Fractional Product Design for Small Software Teams
Fractional Product Design for Small Software Teams
Build a LALATOWN of your own, one story at a time.
New to Contra
Build a LALATOWN of your own, one story at a time.
Cover image for People You Might Meet in
People You Might Meet in LALATOWN People might wonder why I keep making Procreate brush sets in a world where many people don’t even know what Procreate is. Is it a good business idea? Maybe. Maybe not. But the truth is, I wasn’t trying to build a business first. Without realizing it, I was building a game. A way to play. A way to create the kind of world I had always wanted to wander through. When I was growing up in Korea, there were paper dolls. You carefully cut them out with scissors. Every character felt precious. They came with tiny outfits that attached with little folded paper tabs. You had to cut those tabs perfectly or the clothes wouldn’t stay on. I loved them. Later came a doll named Lala. She was, in many ways, a Korean version of Barbie. A bigger head. A slimmer body. I gave her haircuts. I tried curling her hair by heating chopsticks on the stove. I burned the doll’s hair. I nearly burned my own. I cut my bangs thinking I knew exactly what I was doing, only to discover that hair somehow keeps getting shorter every time you trim it. I did all the things children do. But what I loved most was not playing with other people. I loved playing alone. Lala had a kitchen. A closet. Furniture. A tiny world. Looking back, I sometimes wonder if I am still doing exactly the same thing. Only now the dolls have become illustrations. And the dollhouse has become LALATOWN. In LALATOWN, nothing has to follow the rules. You can place a striped awning in the middle of a street. You can put a tteokbokki stand beside a Spanish-style building. You can add one character. Or twenty. You can let Franky sit under a balcony. You can let Dolswe wander through a plaza. You can place Sarang beside a café window. You can even put a Seoul subway sign where no subway has ever existed. Who cares? That is the point. Nobody is standing there saying: “Excuse me, you can’t do that here.” No city inspector. No zoning regulations. No permission forms. Just imagination. One brush can become a street. Another can become a café. A corner awning can become the beginning of an entirely different neighborhood. You can combine things that were never meant to go together and somehow create a place that feels exactly right. That is the game. That is what I have been building. Not a tool. Not a product. A creative playground. And despite what it may look like, it is not only for artists. It is for anyone who enjoys making little worlds. Anyone who enjoys arranging characters. Anyone who enjoys naming places. Anyone who has ever stared out of a café window and imagined a story for the stranger walking past. Some scenes become festivals. Some become quiet mornings. Some become neighborhoods where everyone seems to know each other. Sometimes the sun is too strong and everyone gathers in the shade. Sometimes nobody is doing anything important at all. They are simply sitting there, enjoying the day. And somehow, that is enough. I hesitate to call it healing. That word feels heavy. As if you are expected to fix something. This is lighter than that. It is a place to rest. Many of these characters and places were created during difficult periods of my life. They appeared while I was trying to move forward, trying to understand things, trying to build something hopeful out of uncertainty. Some came from longing. Some came from memories. Some came from the simple wish for kindness. When they first appeared on the page, I was happy to meet them. Over time, they found each other. The neighborhoods grew. The stories connected. And little by little, LALATOWN became a town. Not because I planned it. But because all of these small pieces eventually decided they wanted to live together. And that is how a collection of brush sets slowly became a world. ✨ What’s Next? One of the questions I get most often is: “What do people actually do with these brush sets?” That’s a fair question. Because what I have been building isn’t just a collection of stamps, characters, buildings, or color palettes. It’s a way to play. And sometimes it’s easier to show than to explain. So very soon, I’ll be sharing a tutorial where you’ll be able to watch a LALATOWN scene come together from scratch. Not as an illustration lesson. Not as a “how to draw better” class. But as an invitation to play. We’ll build streets. We’ll place characters. We’ll move things around. We’ll create little corners, cafés, neighborhoods, and stories. And somewhere along the way, you’ll discover that there is no right way to build a LALATOWN. Only your way. See you soon. The neighborhood is still growing. 
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Cover image for CLASSIFIED
The Power Structure of LALATOWN
I
CLASSIFIED The Power Structure of LALATOWN I am revealing classified information today. Please show the proper respect. Every town has a government. Every government has a power structure. LALATOWN is no exception. Some of these citizens still live beside me. Some now live only in memory. But every one of them helped build the town. Let me introduce the real power behind LALATOWN. Frankie (Mayor) Frankie is the Mayor of LALATOWN. A gentle giant. He requires very little in life, except Sarang. In fact, Frankie refused to approve this public release unless Sarang appeared at the same rank. The two photos included above are officially recognized as “couple pictures,” despite the fact that Frankie insisted on staying approximately three feet away from Sarang at all times. Frankie lives in the House of Frankie, a special place in LALATOWN where his favorite toys hang from every tree branch. I am personally responsible for maintaining the property and watering the grounds. Frankie arrived after a difficult beginning. Abandoned and frightened, he spent his days hiding under a bed. He would not come out for anyone. Except Dolsae. Dolsae crawled under the bed, stayed with him, and slowly brought him back into the world. When Frankie wandered away and refused to come home, Dolsae found him and escorted him back. If Frankie is the Mayor of LALATOWN, Dolsae is one of the reasons he became one. Dolsae (Five-Star General) Dolsae protected every corner of our home and property. He was brilliant, brave, and endlessly kind. We often called Frankie the George Clooney of cats because of his perfect black-and-white markings, but it was Dolsae who helped Frankie become Frankie. After Dolsae passed away unexpectedly, Frankie stopped eat. He became depressed, and seemed unwilling to continue. That is how Sarang entered the story. Sarang (First Lady) We did not go looking for Sarang. We simply found her. She happened to be close to Dolsae’s age and, strangely enough, had also lost six teeth, just like him. We were told she might not have much time. Instead, she spent eight happy years with us. Frankie fell in love immediately. He began grooming again. He became joyful again. For the rest of her life, Frankie looked at Sarang as though she were the center of the universe. And perhaps she was. Jjanggu (The Last Gentleman) Jjanggu arrived later. Every house needs at least one black cat. Jjanggu loved Sarang deeply. He hunted for her. He brought gifts. He tried his best. Unfortunately for him, competing with Frankie was impossible. So Jjanggu accepted his fate. His heart remained warm while his face remained intimidating. A true gentleman. Bonggu (Chief Tennis Ball Administrator) Bonggu never travels without a tennis ball. Administration is a serious responsibility. Part Border Collie. Part Dachshund. Part unstoppable force of nature. I met Bonggu when he was only three months old. The very night I decided to adopt him, he became sick with parvovirus. He survived. Two weeks later, we were reunited. The Department of Tennis Ball Affairs has operated successfully ever since. Hiro (Minister of Toilet Paper Operations) Hiro arrived through a Korean student who heard I loved cats. He was a Himalayan cat with a deep appreciation for paper products. Toilet paper. Tissues. Documents. Nothing was safe. He also adored Saja. Unfortunately, Kkamang occasionally had opinions about that relationship. According to unofficial records, one incident involved Hiro being escorted into the mountains and temporarily misplaced. A search operation was launched. Hiro was recovered. The investigation remains open. Saja & Kkamang (Founding Members of LALATOWN) These two arrived a year apart and stayed nearly twenty years. Before there was a LALATOWN, there was Saja and Kkamang. They are the reason I became a cat person. They are the beginning of the story. Every town has founders. LALATOWN had two. And their influence can still be felt in every corner of the neighborhood. Respectfully submitted, The Caretaker of LALATOWN
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Branding, Packaging Design and Illustration
Branding, Packaging Design and Illustration
Empowering Local Businesses with Google
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Empowering Local Businesses with Google