Exhibition: Typographic Exploration in Hangul by Hyunju Lee & Phil Choo at the UC Davis Design Museum

Hyunju Lee and Phil Choo’s installation at the UC Davis Design Museum provides an interesting insight into both Korean language and culture. The designers combine the characters of Hangul, Korea’s native script, into their work to convey Korean culture from multiple perspectives.

Most obviously, one is exposed to the native Korean script. The script itself is a product of design. Hangul is a phonemic alphabet, meaning that each character is linked to a certain phoneme (i.e. sound in the spoken language, versus a grapheme which corresponds to a word). The script has a very functional design; to create a written interpretation of a new word, one only has to write the characters corresponding to how the word sounds.

Lee and Choo utilized the phonemic Hangul script in nearly all of their works more as a grapheme based alphabet in order to convey the concepts behind the subject matter. In Hangawui, Lee utilized a repeated syllable block arranged in colorful concentric circles against a dark background to represent women in a depiction of ganggangsuwolrae (a Korean folkdance in which women and girls dress in colorful clothes and dance in circles on the night of the full moon). Lee’s design incorporates sensual and emotional stimulation, as well as a feeling of what that event may be like.

In Choo’s A Letter From Korea, he utilizes the imagery of an open envelope spilling the jamo, or characters, of Hangul to introduce the script to the viewer. Additionally, the work also evokes a feeling of friendship or association between the viewer and the designer since letters serve as a mode of communication.

Lee and Choo both used Hangul jamo as icons through the various aspects of their graphic designs. In doing so they are able to connect with the viewers visually, emotionally, and intellectually.

Each design graphically illustrates the meanings of the Korean linguistic symbols by utilizing the symbols in a form depicting their meanings. By utilizing the written word to depict the meaning, these designers are mimicking how the language would normally fill in for a visual aid. The designs are pictorial representations of what it would be like if an individual was speaking the language.

This graphic art is a good example of visual culture in that its emphasis is on the language, but is being applied to visuals and interpreted visually. The art is meant to represent the early language without you having to be a speaker. It uses the language to conjure images that express the meaning through visual thinking and literacy. Without knowledge of the language or having to learn it key cultural ideas and words are universally depicted and give the words their meaning.

This form of design is compelling for many reasons. This allows non-native speakers and native speakers to gain an understanding of a foreign or forgotten language. Without learning or revisiting the language it is portrayed so that the words and meanings are easily comprehendible. This builds a stronger culture for Korean individuals and a stronger sense of understanding of Korean culture for outsiders. Socially this offers a glimpse at what is lost in language when it is left unspoken by preserving the language itself in the images.

Photos are borrowed from:

Design Museum: taken of museum pieces with my camera.