Nara Won - Interactive Design Graduate Spotlight

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Hi there, I’m Nara. I finished up my Bachelor of Media Design, with a major in Interactive design at Media Design School in 2024. I obsess over creating and learning things, especially things that involve sitting at a desk for far too many hours at a time—from painting and ballpoint pen drawing to writing, handcraft, and, of course, design. My favourite projects are those that allow me to pull skills and techniques from these varying interests. I enjoy seeing how each creative pursuit informs the next, and it’s that overlap that often inspires my best work.

What was the focus of your graduating project?

‘Little Night Helpers’ takes a subject that causes discomfort and disinterest—moths—and explores how interactivity and illustration can be used to create an engaging learning resource.

Moths play an essential role in environmental health, contributing to pollination even more effectively than many day-flying insects like bees. However, their reputation is largely negative, evoking feelings of discomfort, disgust, annoyance, or even fear. This stigma, along with a lack of engaging resources, contributes to a general unwillingness to engage with the subject, resulting in widespread ignorance towards moths and their ecological importance.

‘Little Night Helpers’ seeks to change this narrative. By presenting moths in an approachable way, more people can feel comfortable exploring the subject. The goal is not only to improve awareness but to also show people the small ways they can make a big difference for these little helpers of the night.

Why did you choose to take the Bachelor of Media Design?

I knew I wanted to pursue UX/UI design, but I didn’t want to be boxed inside a single discipline. Having the freedom to explore different mediums and branch out of my discipline was and continues to be very important to me because I thrive on the challenge of trying unfamiliar things. The Bachelor of Media Design at MDS caught my eye for providing this flexibility. I saw such a diverse range of work from previous students, where those who majored in graphic, interactive, and motion design delved back and forth into the other disciplines or even further beyond, as the scope of “media design” is wonderfully broad. This, on top of the opportunities provided for students to take on live projects and gain experience working with real clients, made it clear that MDS not only fostered work that stemmed from genuine passion but also prepared students well for working in the industry. I felt this programme would align well with my goals, and now looking back on it, I think I was right.

What did you enjoy most about the Bachelor of Media Design?

I loved learning and trying new things. The flexibility and range offered by the various briefs allowed me to challenge myself with 3D modelling, photo manipulation, frame-by-frame animation, learning JavaScript, and many soft skills—the list goes on. 

I suppose a lot of my enjoyment of design work comes not only from being able to pull from my existing toolkit of interests, but being able to add to that toolkit. That process of expanding my knowledge and skill set was incredibly satisfying.

What was your biggest challenge while studying?

Every time I was “in” a project, I lost sight of the bigger picture, which resulted in a lot of doubt and uncertainty. I could see the project with clarity only when it had ended, but while it was in progress, I could never be sure if I was on the right track. This thankfully got easier over time as I became familiar with the lecturers and made more connections with other students. I could embrace that uncertainty as a part of the process, and I didn’t have to fear it because I could trust the feedback of my peers and lecturers to guide me. No project could be truly done alone, and receiving continuous input from outside perspectives was vital. Specifically, I have to thank one of the lecturers, Jocelyn, who was my main supervisor for a couple of big projects, including my final capstone project. He was a much-appreciated pillar of support throughout all of my confusion and fumbling, and I could always trust him to be honest in his guidance.

What inspired you to pick design as a career path?

One of my biggest influences was someone I’ll never know the name of. When I was fourteen, I discovered a social media platform on which people designed and coded “layouts” for others to use. The concept was very similar to designing and coding Tumblr themes, if anyone remembers that era of the internet. There was one creator in particular who I loved the work of and seeing her creations over the months inspired me to try designing and coding myself.

I hadn’t really thought of it as design at the time, and only knew that I was obsessed with it. I learned by observation until I could build my own concepts from scratch to then share with others as well. Eventually, that one specific creator deactivated her account, and the platform died off a couple years later, but I kept coming back to the hobby regardless. To this day I still think that single random nameless creator had the biggest influence on my love for design. Everything really began clicking into place in my last two years of high school when I joined a Visual Arts Design class, and I’ve never looked back since.

What piece in your portfolio are you most proud of?

All my portfolio pieces hold some pride for me, but I think I hold the most pride for ‘Nautiqua,’ which was a team project from earlier this year. It was an intense eight weeks for our little group of four, with perhaps the biggest fluctuations I’ve ever experienced in a project. So much uncertainty! I was far from my comfort zone, and working with concepts and tools I could barely wrap my head around (this was only my third legitimate attempt at 3D modeling/rendering in Blender). Despite what felt like never-ending difficulties, we persevered, took the challenges as learning opportunities, and came out the other side with work that all four of us were proud to have our names attached to. I think it was definitely the difficulty of the journey that made the results so much more satisfying.

What’s next for you?

Wherever I end up, I’m guaranteed to continue learning and creating no matter what. I’m excited to meet and work with more creatives who share the same love for those things as I do. Obviously, I will continue exploring even more interests that involve sitting at a desk for too many hours at a time. The design industry is ever-evolving, which is perhaps why I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of it, and why I will always be pushing past my existing knowledge for new things to add to my toolkit. We’ll see where that leads me!

Where can we see more of your work?

Either via my Portfolio, or you can view some of my other creations on Instagram.

Feel free to reach out to me through email (wonara.nz@gmail.com) or LinkedIn.

Find out more about the Bachelor of Media Design

Article courtesy of our friends at Design Assembly