approachable typography ?

Located near the center of UC Davis, the Design Museum is now exhibiting the typographic exploration in Hangul, an exhibition of work by Hyunju Lee and Phil Choo. Many simple but meaningful works are shown. The designers dig into the linguistic history of each letter to connect the pronunciation, meaning, and appearance; they are able to express this through their works. Each piece of art seems to be very emotional, yet very warm and understandable. The deep relationship between the sound and appearance of each letter has been clarified with a big attempt of the designers. They make it visible by using color and theme as a medium so that it is approachable for everyone to understand.

One of the two typographic that I like the most is the one called “Ileona”, by Phil Choo. “Ileona” is a Korean word for “stand up”. This visual interpretation is inspired by the song “Ileona” which goes “stand up, stand up, like spring sprouts…” The lyric encourages listeners to endure whatever difficulties they are facing and the designer emphasizes the word “stand up” by literally making the image stand up. Very impressive, of course.

Secondly, Its Hyunju Lee’s “Hangawui”. This print is adapted from the Korean folk dance called “Ganggangsuwolrae” which is No.8 on the list of Korean’s intangible cultural assets. She represents the dancing movement through the hangul typographic perfectly. The character itself seems to be dancing with joy! It also represents the Korean culture. Hyunju combines the Korean tradition with her design to denote the impressive Korean society to the world in an accessible way.

Overall, this exhibition is a very amusing one. The clean, relaxed structure of the place gives the visitors calm and peaceful sensation. Rather than spending time in a busy and complicated city, why not give this exhibition a try and relieve your mind and creativity ?

Check out the opening time at www.designmuseum.ucdavis.edu