Illustrator Daye Kim draws friendly faces in everyday places

Seoul-based illustrator Daye Kim’s main motivation for being an illustrator is the fact it allows her to do “cool things for a living”. Her work sees her painting people and things in a simple, uncomplicated way, putting them in various everyday situations. “I like depicting fragments of situations, wondering what others would imagine when they see those characters in my illustrations,” says Daye. “I get inspiration from my friends or cool people I see in photographs or just people who walk past me. Then I put them together into my story with colours and I find it real fun.”

Using solid colours with occasional black linework, Daye’s people-based works are harmonious slices of neatness where each element has a purpose and sits against a backdrop of pastel hues. Her spontaneous approach to work sees her draw stories that “spring into [her] head” rather than spending time planning out ideas and concepts. Typically Daye works digitally on her illustrations, using a combination of Photoshop and Illustrator to achieve pixel-like textures that contrast against perfectly plump shapes.