[ Press release]Sandoll Wins First Place at GRANSHAN 2023/2024 for IBM Plex Sans KR

20 Jun 2024
  • Sandoll achieves first place in the Korean Text Typefaces category at the international font design competition, GRANSHAN 2023/2024.
  • Recognized for exceptional design capabilities among global designers and typographers.
  • Contributes significantly to promoting the excellence of Hangul typography worldwide.




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June 20, 2024 (Thursday)


Sandoll Inc. (CEO Young-ho Yun), a content creator platform company, announced on the 20th that it won first place in the Korean Text Typefaces category at the 13th GRANSHAN Typeface Design Competition 2023/2024.


GRANSHAN is an international type design competition focusing on non-Latin font design. It invites entries across 10 different script groups, including Hangul, Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, Georgian, and Chinese. The competition began in 2008 and has reached its 13th edition this year. The aim of GRANSHAN is to encourage font design across various cultures and promote the development and dissemination of non-Latin script systems.


The 'GRANSHAN 2023/2024' competition, which attracted designers from around the world, started accepting entries in 2023 and underwent a year-long review process. Sandoll was awarded for its outstanding design capabilities amid fierce competition with IBM Plex Sans KR (Korean).


IBM Plex Sans KR (Korean) is one of the font projects born out of the collaboration between Sandoll and IBM. Since 2017, Sandoll has been responsible for creating the CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) fonts of the IBM Plex font family, which IBM has released under an Open Font License (OFL).


IBM Plex Sans KR (Korean) was designed to convey a consistent brand image, maintaining uniformity with the pre-existing IBM Plex Sans Latin. It embodies IBM's image of harmony between humans and machines through a blend of curves and straight lines.


This award marks an important milestone in showcasing the excellence of Hangul typography to the world. It not only proves Sandoll's high-quality font development capabilities but also solidifies its position as a leading domestic font company with top-tier font production skills in Asia, achieved through collaboration with global companies.


This is not Sandoll's first success at the GRANSHAN competition. Sandoll has previously won multiple awards with fonts such as Sandoll Jebi2, Sandoll Gukdaetteokbokki, Sandoll Myeongjo Neo1, Sandoll Gothic Neo1, and Sandoll Tokyo, establishing its font production prowess on the international stage.


A Sandoll representative stated, “We will continue to provide excellent fonts to users worldwide through ongoing research and development,” adding, “This award will further elevate the competitiveness of Hangul typography on the global stage.”


Additionally, Sandoll recently acquired Yoon Design Group Inc., one of the leading font companies in South Korea. This acquisition follows the management philosophy of the late founder Geum-ho Seok, who believed that "Hangul should be developed and preserved by Korean companies." Moving forward, Sandoll plans to focus on scaling and advancing the domestic font industry in response to the influx of foreign companies. It aims to strengthen the independence and competitiveness of the domestic font industry, supporting its global market competitiveness, and promoting the beauty and uniqueness of Hangul worldwide.