How South Korea Became Asia's Visual Pioneer

CONTEMPORARY GRAPHIC DESIGN IN THE WORLD

October 20, 2021

Since 2020, Imagine your Korea, the official brand of KTO, the Korea Tourism Organization, has successively released a series of Feeling the Rhythm of Korea-themed︎︎︎ videos. Compared with the respective development of different fields in Taiwan, South Korea has shown a high degree of cultural integration in the cultural content the country exports to the world. No longer did a clear sense of boundary exist between the underground and mainstream, symbolizing that a wholesome mission is shared by the market and cultural workers that respect differences.

Headed by the PaTI︎︎︎ Design Institute founded by Ahn Sang Soo, South Korea has been actively refining its artistic spirit and cultural subjectivity through graphic design since 2012, and has cultivated internationally recognized designers such as Jin & Park︎︎︎, and Kim Do-hyung︎︎︎, who have applied a continental methodology.

Under the policy of active communication with continental ideas of design, creators like Yehwan Song explores an interface design that is counter-intuitive and dehumanizing in the rigid domain of web design. Perhaps it is fair to say that the cultural policy of leaving Asia and joining Europe has successfully pushed South Korea on the stage of international contemporary design, turning South Korea into a design-distinguished Asian country after Japan.

This lecture invited O.OO Studio︎︎︎ to take their own experiences of engaging South Korean culture and their favourite works as examples to share how South Korean style, running through different vehicles, is recognized by the local government, consumer markets, and all generations around the world. Furthermore, O.OO interviewed South Korean designers in the fields of web design, graphic design, and programming to investigate the commonality of cross-form creation from various aspects, attempting to clarify what contributes to the South Korean style.

Planned and co-organized by tuanco.︎︎︎.
Published: October 20, 2021. Last Updated: August 16, 2022.