Charlie Kim

Charlie Kim

Charlie Kim is a designer who is currently transitioning into teaching. While working for various companies, he helped develop many international brands such as the Hong Kong Airport identity, Lenovo’s sponsorship program for the Beijing Olympics and Lavasa, a new city being developed in India. Locally, he's also worked on the 1998 campaign for the Canadian Opera Company, the Canadian Innovations stamp for Canada Post and the terrible Grand & Toy re-brand (hey, they can't all be winners). Charlie’s love affair with art and design all began with comics.
  • Joined: April 1, 2014
  • Articles: 50
  • Comments: 308

Flea Market Finds!

I’m back in school with kids half my age so I’m feeling a bit apprehensive about the coming months. A lot has changed at OCAD (Ontario College of Art & Design) but the political and artistic sensibilities remain the same.…

Read MoreFlea Market Finds!

Rise of the One Day Show

Now that the holy pilgrimage to the mother of all shows in Canada is over, what do comic fans have to look forward to? Typically, Fan Expo signals the end of summer and along with it the end of the convention season. However, it’s been an unusually busy summer for comics this year. In addition to new shows like the GTA Comic Con and the SuperFan ComicCon, we also have the rise of smaller one day shows like the Toronto Comic Book Show (TCBS).
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RONIN (revisited), Part One

In 1986, at the height of the 80's comic boom, DC comics published Watchmen and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (DKR). If you were to ask any comic fan which books are considered to be the “best” the medium has to offer, these two titles would top most lists, even today. Terms like “best” or “great” are blanket expressions of course. They are meant to communicate affection but in reality are kind of meaningless. There are so many genres, tastes and interests that any meaningful response should be more specific. As well, comics have such a long history..., to continually reference the same books over and over and over again, I feel does a disservice to all the other “great” stories out there. But, I do find it very curious how amongst all the great stories, amongst all the many fickle tastes… how is it that these two stories are universally appreciated?
Read MoreRONIN (revisited), Part One

Type and Lettering

Being the old guy that I am, I'm tempted to state that digital lettering is not as good as hand lettering, which is the typical response to change. The tools are definitely different, however, I believe the sensibility has actually greatly improved. Comic book lettering is a big part of comics but it is also highly under appreciated, with all the glory split between story and art. Anyone who has tried to design their own typeface can appreciate the incredible effort that it takes to create a set of letters that is visually appealing, legible and chiseled so that each form is optically balanced.
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Interpreting Numbers

We’ve all heard the term “information age” and no where is this more true than the collector market. Armed with smart phones, buyers are able to access online resources and historical prices in order to gauge value. And when it comes to collectible back issues, the name of the game is to pick up books below market… or is it?
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DC Now!

I remember when DC’s the New 52 were first announced there was a lot of skepticism on this site. That soon changed once people realized how significant the event was, as well, DC appeared to be very committed to this new direction. Our Undervalued Spotlight host, Walter himself was speculating if these new books would become the new “keys” of this current generation. Well, it's been over two years so I thought I'd check to see how the initial wave of these books are doing in the back issue market.
Read MoreDC Now!

The New Marvel Ident

With the release of Thor: The Dark World, Marvel introduced to us their new ident. Without getting too deep, an ident is basically an animated logo that, as the name suggests, help to identify a product, service or the company itself.
Read MoreThe New Marvel Ident