How do people understand and think about long periods of waiting in life? This project seeks to visually express the complex emotions which people feel in response to times of patience. Whether in regards to a website, a video, or an image, buffering is a simple word which evokes vivid emotional and technological images. This project pairs the chunky pixelation of a buffering image with bright colors and expressive lines, emphasizing the beauty and hope which can shine through challenging circumstances and periods of isolated waiting.

Taek Kim is a graphic designer based in Chicago who most recently worked at Thirst (3st.com), a collaborative design studio. He joined the Graphic Design faculty at Trinity International University as an assistant professor in the fall of 2017. Kim received a BFA in Communication Design from Hongik University in South Korea and MFA in Visual Communication Design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work focuses on forming a visual narrative through typography and interactive spaces. Utilizing experimental communication methodology with multiple perspectives, Kim seeks unique formal expressions in his design process. Of late, he is working on issues related to marginalization and invisibility. Kim’s design works have been internationally recognized by the Netherlands :output award, Tokyo TDC, Graphis, Adobe Design Achievement Award, TDC NY, the Society of Typographic Arts, Communication Arts, and Fred A. Hillbruner Artist Book Fellowship. They have also been exhibited in the China International Poster Biennial in Hangzhou, Korean Society of Typography Exhibition, Design Conference at the University of Bridgeport, Typeforce, and STA Archive Exhibition in Chicago. A selection of Kim’s works is included in the permanent collections of the Joan Flasch Artists’ Books and Chicago Design Archive.

Trinity educates men and women to engage in God’s redemptive work in the world by cultivating academic excellence, Christian faithfulness, and lifelong learning. With nearly 100 faculty and 2,700 students, we at Trinity International University are committed to the same vision with which we were founded in 1897 and determined to follow in the footsteps of the great universities that were founded on the cornerstone belief that all wisdom lies in Jesus Christ. Our task, if we are to be salt in the world of our day, is to build institutions where we can think like Christians and learn to live as Christians in a culture in which both have become equally hard. Whether preparing to be pastors or missionaries or attorneys, teachers, counselors, scientists, corporate leaders, homemakers or public servants, whatever our calling under God, we need excellence in education, grounded in the lordship of Jesus Christ. That is the goal and task of Trinity International University. At the heart of Trinity’s mission lies its commitment to its four core values—Christ Centeredness, Community Focus, Church Connectedness, and Cultural Engagement. Trinity’s purpose is to enable its graduates to think and live like Christians in the twenty-first century. We believe that God calls his people into many kinds of service; Trinity’s calling is to prepare them to serve for his glory.