Insider Chat with KDrama Artist: Soju Nights

Today we are so honored to be joined by Guest Artist Natalia aka SojuNights!   Natalia is the brilliant artist behind Soju Nights Designs and a member of the hilarious Certified Noonas Podcast. We have completely fallen in love with her fresh and beautiful KDrama and KPop inspired art and merch and want to own them all!  Available in everything from shirts to shoes, to mugs and rugs, Natalia has something to fill every part of your life with KDrama fun. 

We are so thrilled that Natalia was able to stop by today to talk about her stunning creations and give us the inside scoop on her story. 

Welcome Natalia!

Disclosure:  This post contains some affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Purchases made through these links help us to keep running and are much appreciated.  Thank you!

Interview with Natalia of Soju Nights

How did you start creating KDrama merchandise?

So I’m a graphic designer/webmaster as my actual job, and was getting really bored with the same corporate stuff I was doing, and needed a creative outlet. At the same time, I really wanted some kpop/kdrama merch, but the only stuff I could find was for BTS, and while BTS is great (no dissing them I swear!) they aren’t my favorite group, and I wanted more options than just basic logos on black tees. At the same time, a few of my Twitter KDrama friends told me about designs they wished existed and it all turned into a perfect storm of starting to use my art background to make something that my friends and I could enjoy.

Why Korean Dramas?

I got into KDramas when I was really sick in bed (they’d just started putting them onto Netflix,) and I needed something to do besides just lay in bed for a month. So I started watching them and very quickly became obsessed. I was always an anime fan so reading subtitles wasn’t a big leap for me, and I loved cheesy romance novels as well, so KDramas seemed perfect for me, and that’s proven to be true.

What is your inspiration?

A lot of it is just the stuff I love myself, so like the portraits I paint of EXO are because I love EXO, or I make designs for things that I wish existed. I also take a lot of requests for designs that people wish existed for themselves, so there’s never a lack of inspiration out there for me.

What are some of your favorite KDrama creations so far?

I think my minimalist Goblin design is really cool, and the Scarlet Heart phone case turned out better than I expected it to because I’m really bad at drawing swords haha.

Which are your best sellers?

Definitely, the Kim Won Hae fan club design. Everyone loves that guy, so it was a pretty easy sell, and everyone was really excited when I announced I was working on it.

What other projects do you do?

Well, at the moment I’ve got a website for a fitness wholesaler, but that’s super boring, and I also do wedding photography so I’m at the end of my season with editing those photos. I also dabble in fan fiction and am writing a rather embarrassing Chansoo fic on Wattpad at the moment. There’s also the Kdrama/Kpop podcast I’m a part of, Certified Noonas, and we have a lot of ideas on the go for that as well.

What do you hope to do in the future?

Ideally, I’d love to make a career out of my fandom and not have to do corporate work anymore, as it’s not particularly fun, but I know that’s not really reasonable so I’ll just keep at it. I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a webtoon, and I’ve also got all of my podcast stuff so I’m pretty busy with my creative nonsense.

Where can we find your merchandise and other artwork?

I post them on my Instagram (@sojunights), and my merch website is at https://sojunights.threadless.com.

Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about you or your work?

Since I only started doing fanart designs recently, there’s not a massive selection yet, but I’m hoping to expand to include lots of different stuff, so if anyone ever has anything they wish existed, I’m always on Twitter and love hearing comments/ideas from people! I’m super friendly and love chatting KDramas/KPop, so feel free to look me up! I’d also like to thank everyone who’s supported this new venture so far, it really makes me feel loved and embraced by the community, especially as in my regular life most people don’t really understand why I love the fandom life that much. So just thank you!

Our Favorite Soju Nights Designs:

(Click to see more info on each.)

Related:

• 20 Gift Ideas for Korean Drama Fans