Jinho K.Private profile: Upwork shows its earnings only to signed-in members, so we check it every few weeks, not daily. MRR here is a rough estimate (Upwork's six-month earnings ÷ months active). Last read Nov 5, 2026.

Portfolio link: westeast.studio Born in London. Raised in Hong Kong and Seoul. Educated in Los Angeles, first in architecture at SCI-Arc, then in graphic design at Art Center College of Design, where I graduated with honors. I have spent my entire life translating between cultures, and it turns out that is the whole job of branding: taking what a company means and turning it into something people can feel. My name is David Gunnho Kim. I run West+East Studios, and I design brands that can explain themselves. Here is what that has looked like recently. When Oakley needed campaign typography and poster systems for the Korean market, the brief was terrifying in the best way. The brand had never spoken to this audience before, which meant every choice I made would set the precedent. I built the type treatments and poster language that carried the campaign into stores, streets, and screens across Seoul. Routine Coffee did not exist until we built it. As creative and marketing director I shaped the identity, the marketing, the store spaces, the campaigns, the social content, and the investor deck that now frames the company's story to franchise partners. Not a logo. A company's entire visual life, built to scale. A quantitative hedge fund hired me for the least glamorous work in design, and I loved every minute of it. A complete institutional library: pitch decks, factsheets, one-pagers, DDQ, templates, and guidelines, engineered so a lean team can produce investor-grade materials without a designer in the room. A coffee brand, a global eyewear company, a hedge fund, and if you check our website K-beauty and product design. Nothing in common on the surface. Underneath, the exact same job: understand the audience, define the position, then design with intent. So why hire me over the thousand other portfolios in your inbox? Because I sell the thinking, not just the artwork. Before I touch a single pixel, I research your market, your competitors, and your audience, and you get that thinking in writing. When I present a direction, I can tell you why it wins, not just why it looks good. Your board, your investors, and your team will hear reasons, not taste. Because I am genuinely fluent in both worlds. I work natively in English and Korean, and I know in my bones how a brand needs to feel in Seoul versus New York versus London. If you are a Western brand entering Asia, or an Asian brand going global, I do not just translate the words. I translate the nuance, the tone, and the expectation. As a forward thinker, I run AI-assisted workflows for research, motion, and generative video, which means you see more directions, explored more deeply, within the same budget. The taste and the strategy stay human. The production simply refuses to be slow. Here is how working with me actually feels. We start with discovery: a structured audit of your market and materials, closed with a written strategy we agree on before design begins. Then I build, with regular checkpoints, so the final presentation is a confirmation instead of a surprise. Every project ends with organized files and clear guidelines, because a brand you cannot maintain is a brand you do not own. And you talk to me directly the entire time. No account managers, no handoffs, no junior quietly doing the work. I flag risks early, I answer fast, and I treat your deadline as a promise. What I can take off your plate right now: brand identity and rebrands, brand strategy and positioning, pitch and investor decks, campaign and poster systems, packaging, editorial and typography, motion design, retail and spatial graphics, and Korean market adaptation for global brands. The full case studies live at westeast.studio, strategy included, not just the pretty endings. Let's build something with intent. David Gunnho Kim West+East Studios