“It’s all about taking time to absorb my life, doodle and turn it into a story”: How Min Heo creates her delightful comics

Illustrator Min Heo has been commissioned by all the branding and editorial giants from The New Yorker and Google to Vogue and The New York Times. At February’s Nicer Tuesdays, she explained how she translates the most unexpected experiences into funny stories, namely through four-panel comics that never fail to make the viewer chuckle. From her studio in the Bay Area, Min took us through her creative process and how illustration became an outlet for her unique sense of humour. Featuring a cast of fluffy bunnies, sassy kittens, frogs, bears, bichons and more, Min’s Nicer Tuesdays is full of insightful anecdotes which give us an insight into how she became the illustrator we know and love today.

“The goal is not to overthink it,” she said on the process behind her sharp and witty comics, “which is a shame, because I’m a big overthinker.” Sharing tips on ideation and visual storytelling along the way, Min even let us into a play-by-play retelling of how she develops a seed of an idea into a fully fledged comic. In this case, the comic started out as a simple visual concept: a snake wearing high heels. “I just like to take these random ideas and flesh them out into full-blown short comics,” she said. Most of Min’s comics come from everyday observations. She takes the time to reflect on these moments, then jots them down in sketchbook form. These moments are reflections of Min’s life, woven together into stories which are fun for Min to create and for the viewer to enjoy.