Congratulations to YoungJoo Kim

the 2022 Thesis Award Recipient

October 2022

YoungJoo Kim
Master of Professional Studies in Lighting Design at the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID) 

The IESNYC awarded YoungJoo Kim with the 2022 IESNYC Thesis Award. YoungJoo majored in Fine Arts from Kookmin University in Korea. In 2019 she transferred to the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID) joining the BFA program. With a strong focus on combining art and lighting design to create a new realm based on her background including several exhibition experiences, she began her Master of Professional Studies in Lighting Design at NYSID in 2022. She has recently accepted a position as a lighting designer at BOLD.

“Early 2022 I have also participated in the IESNYC mentorship program,” says Youngjoo, “there I have been able to connect with a great mentor who shared valuable knowledge and insights of the lighting field with me and provided guidance as I was transitioning into my professional future as a lighting designer, which especially as an international student made a huge difference for me.”

Thesis Title: SPYDER Retail Shop – Break Stereotypes with Light

Every retail flagship store must contain its own unique style, based on the philosophy and aesthetics of the brand. Lighting as an important element can change the ambience and maximize the impact of the entire store concept. From hand sketches the lighting layout designed for the SPYDER Retail store has evolved into a highly dynamic concept based on the brand’s core values and been turned into a coordinated structure that captures the customers by giving them the illusion of the spider web that attracts them to come in and experience the world of Spyder.

“My favorite thing about the IESNYC thesis awards is the opportunity it presents for our graduate students to mingle with their peers from other universities and meet lighting industry leaders as they transition from students to emerging professionals,” says Shaun Fillion, LC,  Educator IALD, MIES, Program Director | MPS-L Lighting Design “This year's recipient from NYSID, Youngjoo Kim, wove together a highly dynamic retail flagship based on the Spyder brand. Each level has evolved from hand sketched spider web concepts into coordinated construction documents that retain the organic flow and tension that Youngjoo envisioned.”  

ABOUT THE IESNYC THESIS Awards
The IESNYC Thesis Awards is an annual monetary award given to students selected by their professors for demonstrating excellence in lighting design and/or research, and represent the intellectual insight, rigor, and quality standards as set forth by their respective school departments and each student’s thesis committee. Recipients must be a degree candidate in a graduate-level lighting program at the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID), Parsons School of Design at the New School, or Lighting Research Center (LRC), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) School of Architecture. Recipients have the opportunity to present their thesis projects to the New York City lighting community at a special presentation event and eligible for consideration to be sent to the IES Annual Conference and present their work.

*Nominations are submitted by each school’s program director