Seoul Chess Club
InstagramChess nights in Seoul. I make what you see before you sit down.
- Role
- Builder & Designer
- Year
- 2025–2026
- Skills
- Branding, Graphic Design, Community
Overview
I started Seoul Chess Club because I wanted a room in this city where you could sit down and play without making it a production. The brand had to feel like that room: a little cinematic, still handmade, always an invitation.
I photograph the nights and design the next post from the same week.
Schedule
The month goes up first
Before I design a night, I put the whole month on one sheet: dates, venues, how to RSVP. People pick a seat while the event poster is still blank.
Nights
Then the night gets a face
Jazz at Dank Yard is not a rave, and neither is Christmas. Same knight. Different room.
Invitations
Something you can hold
Some nights need a card, not another square on Instagram. Sometimes I generate AI stills to promote the night.
Series
A line, not a one-off
These were Instagram promotions. The team aimed the numbered knight series at people who might actually come.
Card news
The feed has to explain the night
A poster gets you in the door. Card news is the longer talk: why this night exists, and what we're doing as a club.
Check-in
A QR at the door
After a night I wanted to know who actually came, and to write them without opening a spreadsheet. The card is a check-in. Behind it is Google Script: form in, email out.
Play
A toy for an analog club
The door does not need an app. I made a tiny quest anyway, just to see the knight move on a phone.
Quest
Quest
Not how you get in. A side toy I wanted in the same world.
Results
The room filled
The club grew past 600 members from nothing. Instagram went from zero to 3,000 in six months, and most people said they found us through the pictures.
Retention moved from 0.17 to 0.30 after I looked at which nights people actually came back for.
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