thonik in the-t

by Hwang, So Young

thonik was interviewed by The-T – volume 7, 2015-2016. The-T is Korea’s artistic, experimental, playful type & typography magazine for typography communication. 

“(…)In the beginning, in the nineties, our design was conceptual: the idea determines the form. This was based on Sol Le Witt’s ‘sentences on conceptual art’ from 1969. Next to ‘form follows concept’ we worked with default decisions on form, color, paper, size. We used undiluted colors (pantone inks and full color process inks), we used one typeface, the avenir, we used A-size paper. All this gave our work a distinctive look, but it was never meant as a style. From the nineties onwards we broadened our approach to a richer palette of graphic means. Also the interaction with society became more important to us. We started working for a political party, the SP (socialist party) because of a growing distrust between citizens and parliament. Democracy needs to be revitalised to stay relevant and design has a role to play in this.(…)”

Download full interview in pdf here.

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