MEET MINHEE

Art has always been a part of my life as long as I remember. I just had to have a pencil and paper wiht me at all times. In elementary school, my friend and I made our own magazines. I’m pretty sure at age 9 I told myself one day that I will get a job at a place where they make magazines (and I did!) …or be a fashion designer for Gloria Vanderbilt. I was obsessed with her clothes!

Years later in 1992, I went on to study fine arts at UCLA and a year at Bordeaux, France. My focus was on painting and mixed media. For a brief moment, I even tried to be a cartoonist because I was so inspired by Calvin and Hobbes. However, it wasn’t until France and traveling around Europe that I fell in love with all things paper… my mind was blown.

HOW P+C STARTED

In 2003 I was an art director at Time Inc. (I was so happy I got to design real magazines!) It was a dream come true but I was itching for something of my own. I saw a void in the stationery market and fell in love with letterpress printing. At the time there were less than 5 letterpress companies. So Truman and I learned how to use an antique press and started to wholesale our paper goods. We worked during the day and printed by night.

Our first trade show was in 2003 and we didn’t have enough money to rent carpeting… so we just went with it and left our floor raw and our booth decor unpainted as well. We also were placed so far back, near the restrooms in the corner which worried us if anyone will come by. However, it worked in our favor. Our minimal graphic look with a slight nod to vintage ephemera quickly gained acclamation and press. People noticed and stopped by our booth on the way to and from the restroom so the odd backside location worked out great.

In 2006, I got a call from an editor from Martha Stewart asking if I had any wedding clients that might make a good feature for their real weddings magazine. Tru and I just happened to have gotten engaged a month before so the stars must’ve been aligned. We planned our wedding in 3 months - it was intense but it was also at that time I realized how much I loved event styling and design. Our wedding was featured in the Fall Martha Stewart Wedding issue in 2006 and led us into the world of custom wedding design.

In 2008, we wrote our first book Paper+Craft with Chronicle books along with Randi Brookman-Harris. It was all about making things with paper. I discovered the world of crafting at this time and it opened a whole new avenue of creativity. The book didn’t come out till late 2010, the same year Pinterest launched. Few years later in 2014, Vané from Brklynbride and I started Weddings in Color that came out in October 2015. We categorized all inspirations by the colors of the rainbow. Things seem to have come full circle with my first line of stationery being a rainbow set of notebooks back in 2003.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

Throughout the years our company evolved into a boutique design studio working on licensing projects, branding for companies and expanding our creative services. Fast forward to 2020, we are now a family of 3. Covid has changed our lives forever. I took this pause as an opportunity to re-focus on what makes me happy.

Making things with my hands, crafting with my son and painting brings me pure joy. I will always love paper, love designing for creative business’ and stationery for soon to be married couples. I’m not closing those doors for good but for now I am moving forward in hopes to encourage others to also make and create with their hands.

MY WORK

I am currently in the process of updating all of my work but if you would like to see what I have so far, please click on the link below.

past partial client list

Anthropologie
Urban Outfitters
Neiman Marcus
Free People
StreetEasy
West Elm
HP
Ninecakes
Lola
Netflix
ECI New York
Chronicle Books
Galison
Paperless Post
Staples

OUR STORY…

it all started in 1983, in the fourth grade…

Minhee was new in her class. She asked her mom to bring in some cupcakes to celebrate her summer birthday during the last day of school. So her mother came and with delight and started serving Minhee's birthday treats. To Minhee's dismay, they were not the cupcakes she asked for. All the kids started to make fun of the traditional Korean treats that Minhee's mom brought. However, there was one boy named Truman that just so loved the Korean treats. He saw that Minhee felt sad and decided to eat as much as he can. He thanked Minhee's mom and continued to fill his tiny stomach. 

It must be true that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach!  Fast forward 20+ years the couple now live with their son in Brooklyn, NY.