Jang Soon-kyu, a student of the Department of Visual Communication Design, received an award as the 2012 Outstanding Individual of the Year in the Republic of Korea, selected by MEST and the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity.
The Outstanding Individual of the Year Award has been named since 2001 to encourage creative, outstanding and talented persons to lead the knowledge based society. Each year, 100 students (60 high school students and 40 university students) are selected around the nation and Yuna Kim (2008), Shin Ji-ae (2009), Son Yeon-jae (2011) previously received this award. Yang Hak-sun, the athlete receiving the gold medal for the first time in Korean history in Men’s gymnastics in the 2012 London Olympic Games, was also one of the winners this year.
“I believe I received this award because I showed that a Korean university student who grew up only in Korea can communicate with people overseas through design,” said Jang, replying to a question about his feelings after receiving the award. He has a prestigious award history and list of past activities.
He has a portfolio of awards in IDEA, IF, and Red Dot Design which are the 3 major design competitions of the world, and he also received the grand prize in the Adobe Design Competition (2010), which is considered as the best graphic design award of the world. In all, he has 36 design competition awards. Also, he participated in ETTEDA, a cultural exchange group of Korea-Japan designers as a representative for Korea and opened an exhibition in the Tokyo Design Center for the first time as a Korean. Also, he is actively working on writing a design related book, among other activities.
Jang wasn’t always the most recognized designer. Until he received his first award in the competition, he had failed 20 times and even experienced dropping out from the competition once because his artwork was under scrutiny for possible copyright infringement in the final round of the competition. Also, he had to study English and Japanese on his own to prepare for international competitions exhibitions. However, he was able to become who he is today because he communicated with people via design under his belief of ‘Acting shall open the way’.
“The ultimate lesson I learned through various experiences in the design field is that design is a medium that makes communication between people possible,” said Jang. “Now, I would like to share my philosophy, thoughts and experiences with others who are preparing to walk a similar path.”
Jang is actively working on talent donation activities as well. He not only holds seminars in various universities during vacation but also helps students who are preparing for competitions by organizing study groups. Also, he has taught elementary school students as part of the design mentorship activities of the Seoul Design Foundation. He engaged in these activities to become a great designer who can motivate others by sharing his knowledge and experiences rather than only serving his own needs.
“My ultimate goal is to find a unique Korean design,” Jang continued. “The world is going back to localism focusing on local characteristics although it is globalizing at the same time. I have done work focusing on the unique patterns and local color characteristics of Africa and Central and South America, I would like to find a unique design philosophy and color of Korea and to develop that as a design that can communicate in any place of the world.”
Recently, talented Korean advertisers and designers are receiving attention from around the world because of their talents and ideas. Along with Mr. Jang, we can expect to witness the emersion of more new designers from our university with their own philosophy and outstanding talents.
▶ Artwork Title – Blue Diet Poster
▶ Artwork Title – Braille Dymo
▶ Artwork Title – Mother Land