JOAH Beauty, the skin-centric, 100% cruelty-free K-beauty brand, partnered with Hyesu Lee, a Brooklyn-based Korean American illustrator, on an alumni design contest with her alma mater, School of Visual Arts (SVA). The contest challenged SVA alumni to create an illustration that emulates what beauty, diversity, and inclusivity mean to them, with the final designs of five semi-finalists to be voted on by JOAH Beauty’s social community from June 26-28. The winning artist’s work will be featured on a JOAH tote bag to be launched in October.

“Inclusivity has always been so important to me. That is the main reason why JOAH was created—to bring high-quality innovative products at an affordable price for everyone to experience the benefits of Korean Beauty,” says Hae Jin Chang, Brand Director of JOAH Beauty. “Partnering with Hyesu and SVA couldn’t have been more of a seamless fit as our values so deeply align.”

JOAH Beauty narrowed down the semi-finalists to the top five illustrations that best represented values of inclusion, empowerment and joy. The five semi-finalists are:

• Christina Lettich, cartoonist and illustrator, BFA 2020 Cartooning
• Daisy Kong, painter (@daisykong__), BFA 2021 Illustration
• Isabel Ricaurt, ink and watercolor art media artist (@nonenoon_), BFA 2020 Illustration
• Junyi Ouyang, illustrator (@jouyang_amei), BFA 2023 Illustration
• Oliver Perry, illustrator (@oliverillustration), BFA 2023 Illustration

The winners selected by the public will receive:

• 1st Prize Winner:
• Design published on JOAH merch
• Featured on JOAHbeauty.com, in emails, on @JOAHbeauty socials, on KISS’ Global Blog
• $1,200 AmEx Gift Card
• JOAH Beauty product
• 2nd Prize Winner:
• $500 AmEx Gift Card and JOAH Beauty product
• 3rd Prize Winner:
• $300 AmEx Gift Card and JOAH Beauty Product

“It’s an honor to be able to partner with my alma mater, SVA, and JOAH Beauty to support such talented, aspiring artists,” says Hyesu Lee, also an SVA faculty member. “I believe it’s so important to give back, and it’s even more meaningful to be able to give back to an organization that poured so much into my career as an illustrator.”

Prior to the design contest, Hyesu Lee designed a limited edition JOAH Beauty makeup pouch that was launched in May aligning with the celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month. Hyesu explains she wanted to design a pouch that visually represented her and JOAH’s shared values of “inclusion, empowerment, and joy”. The brightly colored makeup pouch can be purchased on JOAHbeauty.com, on its own, or in a makeup or skincare bundle consisting of various K-beauty essentials. With each sale of the pouch, a portion of the proceeds is donated to AAPI Women Lead, a charity dedicated to creating a new generation of leaders from the community.

To learn more about JOAH Beauty, visit www.joahbeauty.com.

ABOUT JOAH Beauty

At its heart, JOAH’s mission is to make the best of Korean beauty effortless, effective, and affordable for everyone. Working from the core belief that when you have a healthy base, beauty is effortless, JOAH has set out to create skincare-first solutions with good-for-you ingredients, cruelty-free practices, and effective multi-purpose formulas for all skin types. JOAH is all about beauty that brings joy. Learn more by visiting www.joahbeauty.com.

School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers and creative professionals for seven decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, a dynamic curriculum and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprising 7,000 students at its Manhattan campus and more than 41,000 alumni from 128 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world. For information about the College’s 30 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, visit sva.edu.