We had the good fortune of connecting with Dawn Lee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dawn, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Back in 2015 when I graduated from college, I was completely lost. I didn’t have a job lined up for myself, and couldn’t figure out exactly what I wanted to do with my art degree. While I was applying for random jobs and working on my portfolio, I would watch a lot of YouTube, especially fashion and beauty-related videos. At the time, I remember wondering to myself how these huge content creators could have over millions of subscribers, but yet they didn’t have a proper banner, or any design assets for that matter. That’s when I really started to think about how interesting it would be to create designs for these content creators. So I started hitting up some of my favorite content creators, and to my surprise, I heard back from some of them. They saw my portfolio and were willing to give me a shot – I was so excited! That’s basically how I got my foot into the door, start my own design studio (DLD.studio) & was able to carve my own path as a graphic designer in the digital space. Fast-forward to today, I have worked with some of the biggest content creators in the game, such as Jenn Im, LaurDIY, and Pokimane. I also had the pleasure of working with some of my favorite beauty and lifestyle brands, such as Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, INH Hair, and PAPAYA. Now, I am focusing on helping other designers get started with their freelance design businesses and find their dream clients through my online course, DLD.academy. It has been so rewarding seeing my students follow my footsteps, grow their business & work with their own ideal clients.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What I love about the work I create is how it can be seen by & shared with so many people around the world. I’ve always loved the idea of creating work that can live freely on the digital space. I love being able to create eye-catching opening credits or promo assets for some of my favorite content creators or brands in the digital space. Growing up, I was obsessed with Disney shows like Lizzie McGuire and That’s So Raven. So I would take some of my favorite moments or funny clips, and turn it into animated GIFs, and post it on my secret Xanga. It’s funny to think back on this, because I would’ve never thought that creating these GIFs would be the start of my whole career – essentially, what I do now by is a “fancier” version of what I loved to do as a teenager growing up, except I actually get to make a living off of doing so!
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A lot of my close friends and I love visiting museums and art exhibits, so I would definitely have to schedule in a day to visit some of my favorite galleries in LA – The Broad, Hauser & Wirth, Blum & Poe, and LACMA (I know, I’m basic). As a coffee lover, I would have to take them to Alfred’s, Blue Bottle, and Verve for all the best and “instagrammable” coffee experience. For food, I’m such a big fan of brunch. So I’ll definitely be taking them to Zinc Market, and Urth Caffe (what can I say…I’m basic). I’d also take them to my favorite restaurants like Republique and Otium! Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There’s so many people I am thankful for in this crazy freelance journey – I definitely want to thank my clients (both current and past) like LaurDIY and Jenn Im for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to have my work showcased on their huge platforms. Working with top influencers like them really gave me the confidence boost I needed to be able to believe in myself & my work. I also couldn’t have done everything I did without the support of Yuki Oya, who not only is my boyfriend and life partner of 8 years, but also the co-founder of DLD.academy. He’s the one who saw the potential we had to help other creatives, and came up with the idea of creating our online program.

Website: www.dld.studio

Instagram: @dawnleedesign & @dld.studio

Youtube: www.youtube.com/dldstudio

Other: www.DLD.academy – my online course for designers and creatives

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.