- The Sandoll Cultural Foundation hosted the 2025 Sandoll Saisiot, exploring the intersection of the font industry and K-culture.
- Around 300 attendees, including type and graphic designers, engineers, planners, entrepreneurs, and students, participated.
- The conference highlighted the potential of Hangul fonts as a bridge connecting culture, industry, and the public—underscoring their role in expanding the K-content ecosystem.
The “2025 Sandoll Saisiot,” an annual font conference hosted by the Sandoll Cultural Foundation (Chairman Son Yeon-hong) and organized by Sandoll Inc. (CEO Youngho Yun), successfully wrapped up on October 18 at the Baekbeom Kim Koo Memorial Hall Convention Center.
This year’s theme, “The Explorers,” brought together nearly 300 participants—type and graphic designers, engineers, planners, aspiring entrepreneurs, and design students—to explore the present and future of the font and content industries.
The event focused on how Hangul fonts are emerging as key mediators of emotion and identity amid the global rise of K-culture. By blending the aesthetic beauty of Hangul type with digital technology and brand experience, the conference reaffirmed the role of fonts as the visual language underlying K-content.
Session Highlights
The conference featured three sessions, each examining fonts, design, and branding from different perspectives.
Session 1: “Light of the Morning – Revisiting Original Hangul Typefaces”
Book designer Hwang Il-sun (Minumsa Publishing) and type designer Jang Ga-seok (Sandoll Design Studio) unveiled the making of SD Choyang, a reinterpretation of a historical typeface. The presentation captivated audiences as it demonstrated how traditional Hangul forms could be revived to reflect modern sensibilities—especially significant amid growing international interest in K-culture.
They discussed the process of digitally restoring the visual beauty of historical Hangul while addressing its cultural meaning in the digital age, followed by an active Q&A session.
Later, Professor Min Bon (Seoul Women’s University) presented “Designing Type? – Between Restoration and Reinterpretation: The Unseen Axis of Hwalchak Myeongjo,” delving deeper into the possibilities of reconciling heritage and modernity in type design.
Session 2: Brand Experience & Strategy
Jeon Woo-sung, CEO of Seaside City, drew on his experience at Samsung Electronics, Naver, 29CM, and StyleShare to deliver a talk titled “Core Experience,” analyzing how brands build emotional connections with consumers.
Following him, Song Ho-sung, CEO of Horizon Union, spoke on “Designing Excellent Experiences through Integrated Thinking,” presenting strategic approaches for creating consistent user experiences in the digital era.
Session 3: Expanding the Language of Form
Jeon Chae-ri, CEO of CFC, shared her studio’s philosophy and practice in “Exploration, Interpretation, and Form at CFC,” articulating the relationship between branding and visual language.
Finally, Park I-rang of Hyundai Department Store’s Brand Strategy Team concluded with “Hyundai-like Language,” emphasizing the role of typography in retail brand identity.
Audience Response & Impact
A post-event survey showed that 97.5% of attendees expressed interest in returning next year. Many participants commented that the event helped them “understand how fonts serve as a core emotional and identity-defining language in the expanding global K-content market” and that they “felt a vivid connection between the heritage and modernity of Hangul typography.”
A Sandoll Cultural Foundation representative stated, “Saisiot continues to evolve as a platform connecting culture, industry, and the public through fonts. As K-culture spreads globally, Hangul fonts serve as the purest form of expression for its emotion and philosophy. We will continue fostering educational, exhibition, and academic programs to expand the K-content ecosystem based on typography.”
In sum, the 2025 Sandoll Saisiot was recognized as a broad forum for exploration—from traditional type restoration to modern branding and form design—affirming that fonts are a core competitive strength in the K-content era.
The “2025 Sandoll Saisiot,” an annual font conference hosted by the Sandoll Cultural Foundation (Chairman Son Yeon-hong) and organized by Sandoll Inc. (CEO Youngho Yun), successfully wrapped up on October 18 at the Baekbeom Kim Koo Memorial Hall Convention Center.
This year’s theme, “The Explorers,” brought together nearly 300 participants—type and graphic designers, engineers, planners, aspiring entrepreneurs, and design students—to explore the present and future of the font and content industries.
The event focused on how Hangul fonts are emerging as key mediators of emotion and identity amid the global rise of K-culture. By blending the aesthetic beauty of Hangul type with digital technology and brand experience, the conference reaffirmed the role of fonts as the visual language underlying K-content.
Session Highlights
The conference featured three sessions, each examining fonts, design, and branding from different perspectives.
Session 1: “Light of the Morning – Revisiting Original Hangul Typefaces”
Book designer Hwang Il-sun (Minumsa Publishing) and type designer Jang Ga-seok (Sandoll Design Studio) unveiled the making of SD Choyang, a reinterpretation of a historical typeface. The presentation captivated audiences as it demonstrated how traditional Hangul forms could be revived to reflect modern sensibilities—especially significant amid growing international interest in K-culture.
They discussed the process of digitally restoring the visual beauty of historical Hangul while addressing its cultural meaning in the digital age, followed by an active Q&A session.
Later, Professor Min Bon (Seoul Women’s University) presented “Designing Type? – Between Restoration and Reinterpretation: The Unseen Axis of Hwalchak Myeongjo,” delving deeper into the possibilities of reconciling heritage and modernity in type design.
Session 2: Brand Experience & Strategy
Jeon Woo-sung, CEO of Seaside City, drew on his experience at Samsung Electronics, Naver, 29CM, and StyleShare to deliver a talk titled “Core Experience,” analyzing how brands build emotional connections with consumers.
Following him, Song Ho-sung, CEO of Horizon Union, spoke on “Designing Excellent Experiences through Integrated Thinking,” presenting strategic approaches for creating consistent user experiences in the digital era.
Session 3: Expanding the Language of Form
Jeon Chae-ri, CEO of CFC, shared her studio’s philosophy and practice in “Exploration, Interpretation, and Form at CFC,” articulating the relationship between branding and visual language.
Finally, Park I-rang of Hyundai Department Store’s Brand Strategy Team concluded with “Hyundai-like Language,” emphasizing the role of typography in retail brand identity.
Audience Response & Impact
A post-event survey showed that 97.5% of attendees expressed interest in returning next year. Many participants commented that the event helped them “understand how fonts serve as a core emotional and identity-defining language in the expanding global K-content market” and that they “felt a vivid connection between the heritage and modernity of Hangul typography.”
A Sandoll Cultural Foundation representative stated, “Saisiot continues to evolve as a platform connecting culture, industry, and the public through fonts. As K-culture spreads globally, Hangul fonts serve as the purest form of expression for its emotion and philosophy. We will continue fostering educational, exhibition, and academic programs to expand the K-content ecosystem based on typography.”
In sum, the 2025 Sandoll Saisiot was recognized as a broad forum for exploration—from traditional type restoration to modern branding and form design—affirming that fonts are a core competitive strength in the K-content era.