TYPE + CODE Series

Hangul Alphabet
This research study focuses on trans-lingual typography, specifically examining the bilingual and intercultural typographic experiences between English and Korean. The findings are also featured in the book titled "TYPE Portrait: Hangul Alphabet," published under "Experimental Type 2.0" in Slanted #40 by Slanted Publishers in Karlsruhe, Germany. It was presented at the International Symposium on Electronic Arts (ISEA) 2024 in Brisbane, Australia.

2024, Session Chair, “Exploring Inter-cultural Visual Dialogues between Korean and American,” CAA Annual Conference, N.Y.C., NY
Session Chair: Yeohyun Ahn, Assistant Professor, Art Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Discussant: Tiffany Joy Prater

Panelists:
Taekyeom Lee, Assistant Professor, Graphic Design Program, Art department, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Chanee Choi, Visiting Assistant Professor, Film & Media Arts, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Shinyeon Jeon, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
Hairi Han. Benedicine University, Lisle, IL
Christ Hamamoto, Design Department, Seoul National University

Abstract: English is an official language dominant in visual dialects as a primary communication medium in America. Traditional visual arts and design education in the US higher education prioritize utilizing English. Fostering intercultural and bi-lingual communication, art, and design in America is undeniable and inevitable in higher education. This collective's research project decolonizes visual art and design practices from English-centered visual dialog to bi-lingual visual languages between Korean and English. It suggests an inclusive and extendable future of multicultural visual narratives. Hangul Alphabet is an English typeface designed using Korean consonants and vowels for the translingual experience. Type Portrait: Hangul Alphabet explores generative self-portrait photographs to express and portray the artist's bi-cultural identity using the typeface Korean-American. Type Furniture uses the typeface to investigate woodworking and paper to seek a place where Korean and Western craft traditions merge to communicate the concepts of self-identification, cultural disconnect, and the loss of lineage. Physical Type expands the typeface to a series of 3D-printed functional and playable objects. Remembrance: Hangul Alphabet is a gamified performance art project using brain wave interactions. It uses machine learning to generate interactive animations which respond to EEG brain sensor feedback. It allows the user to engage with the story uniquely and captivatingly. This session will present and discuss bilingual and intercultural experiences between English and Korean as experiential visual dialects. It articulates new visual narratives from intercultural perspectives.

2024, Book Publication,“TYPE portrait: Didot and Futura“, Giving Type Meaning, Bloomsbury, London, England

2023, Principal Investigator (Received), “Hangul Alphabet,” Seed Grant ($1500), Global Engagement Office, School of Education, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Exhibition Proposal to Incubating Bi-cultural and Bilingual Visual Dialogue Between Korean and English with Korean American designers and artists; Collaborators (Exhibitors): Taekyeom Lee, Assistant Professor, Art Department, UW-Madison Esther Cho, M.F.A. in Wood Making 2022 M.F.A. candidate in Design Studies 2024, UW-Madison; Shin Yeon Jeon, Adjunct Faculty and Ceramics Shop Supervisor, Central Oregon Community College, Bend, OR; MiHyun Kim, Associate Professor, Communication Design, School of Art and Design, Texas State University; Hairi Han, Associate Professor, Director of Art & Design, Benedictine University; Chanee Choi, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Film and Media Arts, Syracuse University. Partnerships; Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement, UW-Madison; Global Engagement Office, School of Education, UW-Madison; Center for East Asian Studies at UW-Madison

2023, Book Publication, “TYPE Portrait: Hangul Alphabet”, “Experimental Type 2.0”, Slanted #40, Slanted Publishers, Karlsruhe, Germany
2022, Book Publication,“TYPE Portrait: Hangul Alphabet”,“Experimental Type 1.0”, Slanted #40, Slanted Publishers, Karlsruhe, Germany
2022, Book Publication, “TYPE PORTRAIT”, SHIFT Summer Summit Proceedings, Visual Dialects(Journal), AIGA DEC, Washington DC
2021, Solo Exhibition & Artist Talk, "“TYPE PORTRAIT,” Brooks Stevens Gallery, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Milwaukee, WI

Typeface: Hangul Alphabet by Taekyoem Lee

Slanted: Experimental TYPE 1.0 & 2.0

created by Taekyeom Lee (left) and Yeohyun Ahn (right)

created by Ester Cho in collaboration with Taekyeom Lee's typeface, Hangul Alphabet

created by Ester Cho in collaboration with Taekyeom Lee's typeface, Hangul Alphabet

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