Ji Lee may be best known for his Bubble Project but in between being the creative director at Google and winning various awards, Lee also makes time for art, teaching and photography.
1. What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done? Moving to Brazil from Korea. When I was 10, my whole family moved from Seoul in Korea to Sao Paulo in Brazil. Until that point, I had never seen a non-Korean, I had never eaten foreign food and I had never taken an airplane. It was like going to a new planet. It completely opened my mind and changed my life forever.
2. What is the question you ask yourself the most? How does this feel / look for others?
3. If you were told that you had to live inside a work of art, which would you choose? This sounds like a nightmare. I would probably chose a white canvas by some minimalist painter. At least it would be empty.
4. What would you like to have written in your obituary? See you later.
5. How do you define creative success? Having fun.
6. If you knew you only had six months left to live, how would you spend the time? I have no idea. I will only know when that moment comes.
7. If not design, what would you do? I already do lots of things beyond design: making art, teaching, photographing...
8. Do you have a creative muse? No. There are many muses, but not for the creative inspiration ;)
9. What's your happiest childhood memory? Being on a train ride to go to the beach with my parents.
10. What's your favourite book? Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.
11. Can you name one of the defining moments in your life that guided you to where you are today? Moving from Korea to Brazil when I was 10. Then moving from Brazil to New York to study art when I was 20.
12. If you could have dinner with anyone that ever lived (dead or alive) who would it be? Siddhartha Gautama.
13. What's the one thing you would most like to change about the world? I have lots of things I'd like to change about myself. I'm restless, selfish, control freak and often imposing. And I really want to change these things about myself.
14. Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity? All the time. Insane problems are always the best source of inspiration for creativity.
15. Do you recycle? Yes.
16. Can design save the world? I think design can be very helpful in solving the world's problems. But design alone cannot save the world. People can save the world.
17. What's something you know you do differently to most people? I sometimes like to count the stairs as I walk up them.
18. What is your most treasured possession? My laptop. It's my portable studio. And I have everything in there.
19. Do you have a favourite gadget? My electric toothbrush.
