Members in the Spotlight: Ljuba Grishkina & Jieun Lee

Hailing from Moscow and Seoul respectively, Ljuba Grishkina & Jieun Lee are a multi-talented creative duo at MediaMonks and our new Members in the Spotlight. Sparks flew when Ljuba and Jieun met each at Hyper Island during their studies, and soon they were planning their next steps as creative duo 'Hyper Objects Studio: kids on a never-ending journey of telling stories through funky experiments'. With a lust for learning that keeps growing, Ljuba and Jieun love to jump into projects that expose worlds they know nothing about, providing concept, creative strategy, art direction and everything in between to their clients.

PERSONAL

What do you do outside of work that gets your creative juices flowing?

Ljuba: I discovered that if I want to keep my creativity peaking, I need to allow myself to simply have fun and unleash my inner child on a regular basis. The best way to recharge is when I create and explore new things without a specific goal, for instance, when I throw spontaneous analog photoshoots with my friends or when I just go to the library to wander around and find something captivating to my eye.

Do you have a creative obsession that gets you inspired, something you keep coming back to?

Jieun: Comics have been the longest obsession since I was a little kid. I and my sister used to pile up 20-30 comic books and read up everything in one go. The diversity in artistic styles, topics, the craftsmanship that comics offer never get old for me. One of my favorite childhood comics is ‘Honey and Clover’ by Chica Umino.

Who is your current art/design crush (passed or living)?

Ljuba: I’ve been always curious about Marina Abramovich, a Serbian conceptual and performance artist, and last year when I read her memoir “Walk Through Walls”, I madly fell in love. The fact that she started her journey in performance art when the art world wasn’t recognizing it tells so much how crucial it is to have your vision and fully trust it. I endlessly admire her and want to remind myself that hard work eventually pays off.

Jieun: Someone that came to my mind instantly is Yoko Ono. She made me fall in love with her when I read about her piece ‘Yes Painting’ The simplicity that comes with a powerful message is just too great. Also, I love a South Korean illustrator called Jeeook Choi. He is known for Peggy Gou’s album covers but he did a bunch of great works other than that too. I’m just amazed by his ability to play with imagination, perspectives, and colors. His works always take you to somewhere else, instantly.

What music could we find on your playlist?

Ljuba: Feel free to dive into the playlist we created for y’all: https://open.spotify.com/playl...

Jieun: I think my playlist is like a bibimbap - A South Korean dish where you have lots of different ingredients on rice - since it’s a mixture of different genres. Some of the artists I listen to a lot recently are Yellow Magic Orchestra, Yeaji, and Project Pablo(a track called ‘Warm Priority’ is particularly nice).

PROFESSIONAL

How did you get started as..

Ljuba: Jieun and I met during our studies at Hyper Island, a digital creative business school with a very avant-garde approach to education. I feel like all these reflection exercises that we were doing there and an “owning your journey” mindset that the school hones helped us to quickly bond over our enthusiasm and determination to take the maximum out of that experience. Halfway through, we presented ourselves as a creative duo and started our own projects which led to applying for an internship at MediaMonks. And here we go, after 1,5 years we are working here together and it’s incredibly precious to have each other’s support even though now we’re exploring different paths for our creativity.

Jieun: I can only add that Ljuba influenced me incredibly in my creative growth and taught me so much about taking your passion to the next level. I felt so lucky, it’s really precious to have someone who you get constantly inspired by.

Briefly describe what you do as a…

Jieun: Our title is Creative, which I think it’s really interesting and funny at the same time since it doesn’t lock you in any creative format which translates to what we do. From making concepts to visual direction and storytelling, at MediaMonks we learn to be a creative spider. And I’m trying to find out which leg is the strongest:)

Ljuba: It’s funny how being Creative can mean so many different things indeed. I remember struggling a lot with trying to find my place in advertising; it felt that I’d never been good enough if I didn’t study copywriting or film at Uni. In reality, I learned everything from being plugged into different projects and that’s how I also discovered what I liked doing the most, even though I’m still pretty much a generalist.

Which phase of the creative process excites you the most and why?

Jieun: It’s definitely when you come up with concepts. It’s a stage where I can dream and imagine most. At this stage, anything feels possible and open. Another reason would be that it’s a phase where I stretch my understanding of certain topics, new human behaviors, and industries that I wasn’t familiar with. It’s always scary and exciting at the same time.

Ljuba: “Research” is definitely the sweetest phase to me, it even feels surreal that I’m getting paid for learning more about the world, new trends, fresh wavemakers! And the second one is collaborating with talented artists! They’re true magicians that help us to visualize our crazy ideas into something tangible and believable.

What’s the best professional advice you’ve ever received?

Ljuba: I will never forget how during our talk with Maxine Penney, a culture manager at MediaMonks, she said that you should do things because you want to and you’re excited to do it. You don’t need to please anyone or prove anything. Do things that you believe bring you joy. To me, it’s so true, any work I start is heavily influenced by my initial mindset. I strive to keep stepping into the shoes of a beginner, seek opportunities to learn, and try something different even though it might be scary.

Jieun: Maxine’s words were indeed very powerful to me as well. For me, I’d always remember what one of my mentors said. ‘Be clear with what you want.’ It sounds so simple but it empowers me quite deeply. As default, I have caring and adapting personality traits, but what she said shifts focus to me from completely everything else. It makes me listen to my inner voice, what I need and want. It also helps me when I’m in a battle with imposter syndrome.