Insight ∙Original Font
The mindset when encountering something new or unfamiliar
1. A new taste
I enjoy watching cooking survival programs. When you watch them, judges sometimes make comments like this: “It’s a flavor I’ve never experienced before.” Then, after a brief second of silence: “But it’s fresh and innovative.” Or, “Something is wrong. This is the worst dish of my life.”
With such short evaluations, a chef’s fate is decided in an instant. Watching these repeated scenes, I always find myself wondering how one can immediately judge whether something never experienced before is good or bad. Given the nature of survival programs, it is only natural that judges give their assessments right after tasting. Still, it feels somewhat harsh. And is it not more likely that unfamiliar things are received negatively?
Yet I catch myself speaking like those judges at times—when I first encounter a font or lettering. In that moment, it genuinely feels strange and unappealing. But after some time has passed, when I look at it again, it suddenly appears truly new and attractive. This tends to happen often when I encounter a style of creative work I have never seen before. For me, the lettering from past eras that I encountered while working on this project was exactly that.
2. New old things
Old things are new. It may sound strange, but not in the sense of an “old future”—they are genuinely new. We receive signs and advertising images that were considered ordinary in their time with a fresh sensibility today. Our way of engaging with past culture is clearly different from that of those who lived in that era. That is why I believe retro-themed works created today inevitably reflect the diverse sensibilities of contemporary creators. Below are a few unfamiliar letterforms from past eras.
2-1) Early grotesque
The early grotesque* sans-serif typefaces below look quite different from the neo-grotesque** style 「Helvetica」 that we commonly use today, do they not?
(Above) 1898, 「Gothic No 125」 / (Below) 1957, 「Helvetica」
*Grotesque: A category referring to early sans-serif typefaces that emerged and were used in the 19th century. As a transitional period shifting from serif to sans-serif, traces of serif characteristics remain. Typical examples include Grotesque MT and Franklin Gothic.
**Neo-Grotesque: A group of refined sans-serif fonts that emerged around the mid-20th century, developed based on early grotesque sans-serif styles, such as Helvetica and Univers.
Reference: Kim Hyun-mi, A Study on a New Classification System for Roman Typefaces – Focusing on the Vox-ATypI Classification, 2014, p.97
2-2) Fresh and appealing lettering from the 1900s
Source: “National Folk Museum of Korea”
3.The relationship between retro and 「SD Cohhee」
Art Nouveau–style type from an 1892 specimen book by “Central Type Foundry and Boston Type Foundry”
Art Deco and psychedelic–style type from a 1962 specimen book by “Typefounders of Chicago”
Are you familiar with the many styles that once defined entire eras, such as Art Deco, Futurism, psychedelic, and Y2K? Even today, many creators long for past styles and enjoy recreating them in their work.
「SD Cohhee」 also wanted to become a useful material for such work. At the same time, it aimed to carry on the retro concepts of Sandoll’s representative best-selling fonts—「Sandoll Gyeokdong Gothic」, 「Sandoll Cheongryu」, and 「Sandoll Rotary」—while expressing a different sensibility from those earlier fonts. The name 「SD Cohhee」 itself was inspired by narration in retro advertisements. The way copy was drawn out slowly and nostalgically felt characteristic of that era. I wrote down the sound of the word “coffee” as it was stretched out and spoken slowly. Its horizontally wide, flat proportion also fits this idea well. Perhaps drinking a lot of coffee during production played a role too.
The era 「SD Cohhee」 chose is the 1950s–1960s. It was created by reinterpreting lettering originals from that time. I hoped viewers might think, “Ah, this feels nostalgic,” but I intentionally avoided reproducing any specific lettering original so precisely that it would immediately come to mind. At the concept stage, I selected several lettering originals as motifs, then decided which elements to adopt and which to discard.
The criterion for these choices was always the blank in the sentence: “I hope users feel ◌◌ when they see this font.” I attached and removed various interesting elements, emphasizing some while leaving others only as traces. Through this process of customization toward the impression I wanted, the degree of reinterpretation naturally took shape. The ratio of old and new that I subjectively aimed for is as follows.
4. The ‘◌◌’ of 「SD Cohhee」
I imagine 「SD Cohhee」 as if it had time-leaped from the 1950s–1960s to 2023. How would it face the world? I sometimes indulge in such fantasies. I hope it is lovable, endearingly awkward, and kind to living things. At the same time, it still feels more comfortable using quirky words like “ice popsicle” or “super market.” Below are a few parts where the original lettering and I worked in harmony to best express this ‘◌◌’.
5. The original and me: restoration and reinterpretation
5-1) Rounded corners
「SD Cohhee」 is a rounded-style font with softened stroke ends and corners. In particular, curvature was applied to both the inner and outer lines of character corners. Take 「Sandoll Gogo」, another rounded-style font. Only the outer corners are rounded, while the inner corners remain straight, keeping the narrow and complex inner spaces clean.
「Sandoll Gogo cond」 and 「SD Cohhee」
「SD Cohhee」, however, applies rounding to both inside and outside corners—without exception, even on the tiny corners of the double consonant in ‘빵.’ As curves increase within each character, the soft and friendly impression of 「Keuohi」 becomes more pronounced on the page. Do these generously curved forms not remind you of vinyl lettering on old laundromat windows or bakery signs?
5-2) Short side strokes and tall short stems
It is always a point of consideration. When developing Hangul, the question is how long the side strokes and short stems should be.
Of course, this varies depending on the characteristics of the font. 「SD Cohhee」 is characterized by generous horizontal spacing between the initial and medial consonants, contrasted with notably short side strokes. Compared to conventional sans-serif Hangul fonts, its side strokes feel almost as if they stop midway.
They were set as short as possible while still allowing characters to remain recognizable at standard sizes.
Why? Because I judged this to be one of the elements in the original lettering that made the characters look exceptionally cute. If this rule is applied consistently to vertical structures, then the short stem in characters like ‘고’ must also be short.
Image Source: “National Folk Museum of Korea”
However, as seen above, even when older lettering uses generous horizontal spacing, this rule does not necessarily carry over to vertical spacing. The distance between short stems and the initial–medial area is extremely tight. I adopted this as another defining characteristic of 「SD Cohhee」.
Within a single character, two rules coexist harmoniously: generous horizontal spacing and compact vertical spacing. Can you see the contrast when viewing the two stems together? Is this gap not intriguing, like a child darting back and forth between cold and hot baths?
5-3) The puffed ‘ㅇ’
This is my favorite element from the original. The ‘ㅇ’ that opens its mouth wide like puffed rice snacks.
When typeset in sentences, the bold, open ‘ㅇ’ immediately catches the eye. It almost seems to shout, “Look at me!”—which could feel a bit burdensome—but combined with the other traits of 「SD Cohhee」, it works surprisingly well. ‘ㅇ’ is one of the most frequently used consonants. Perhaps for that reason, when examining lettering originals, I often felt that consistency in the curvature of ‘ㅇ’ across different forms was particularly low. Some versions have sharp corners on both sides, with inverted stroke thickness between horizontal and vertical lines, and awkward transitions. Others show slightly varying thicknesses.
「SD Cohhee」 reflects this by adopting a more dynamic rule for ‘ㅇ’ within the font. When occupying a large space, it becomes a full, moon-like circle; in smaller spaces, it flattens into a UFO-like oval. While maintaining this rule, I worked to achieve natural curvature in each context.
5-4) Latin letters not present in the original
The original lettering contained only Hangul, so designing Latin characters required more imagination. The way Hangul and Latin are combined within a font varies depending on the design direction. 「SD Cohhee」 chose to align Latin characters so that, even if their inner spaces are larger, their physical width closely matches that of Hangul. I felt this better preserved Hangul’s retro impression while maintaining consistent flat proportions overall. Except for i, j, and l, characters share a width similar to n, like a cute monospace font. If i, j, and l had also been kept wide, the typesetting would have felt too uniform and monotonous, so they were used as a slight irregular element.
Because of this, the Latin characters of 「SD Cohhee」 reveal their charm especially well when used at large sizes alongside Hangul.
5-5) 「SD Cohhee」 in a strange land
In multiple feedback sessions and work-sharing meetings, I often described 「SD Cohhee」 as “ugly” or “awkward.” Of course, this was the same tone as affectionately saying, “Wow, you’re really ugly,” to a chubby cat yawning. Still, I wonder if I should have searched for a more appropriate word.
Looking back, why did I choose those expressions? Perhaps because it felt like a new form that fell outside the category of the “ordinary,” leading me to use such vocabulary instinctively. I also think that, in that era, rules for Hangul type design were not yet widely standardized.
Of course, in Hangul lettering, it is possible to intentionally break rules—by ignoring consistency or applying extreme stroke contrast. But in lettering from that era, one often encounters forms that disregard rules considered fundamental in modern Hangul type design, resulting in very unfamiliar shapes. Yet, once I began the project, I realized that these forms must have felt entirely natural to users of that time. It would be wrong to simply label them, from today’s perspective, as unfinished, lacking, or crude.
With its stubby side strokes, tall short stems, dough-like ‘ㅇ,’ and inconsistent ‘ㄹ,’ 「SD Cohhee」.
I hope it remains a font that may feel unfamiliar to some, yet still endearing.
[spoiler] It might come back with a thick weight, going “ta-da”…
Insight ∙Original Font
The mindset when encountering something new or unfamiliar
1. A new taste
I enjoy watching cooking survival programs. When you watch them, judges sometimes make comments like this: “It’s a flavor I’ve never experienced before.” Then, after a brief second of silence: “But it’s fresh and innovative.” Or, “Something is wrong. This is the worst dish of my life.”
With such short evaluations, a chef’s fate is decided in an instant. Watching these repeated scenes, I always find myself wondering how one can immediately judge whether something never experienced before is good or bad. Given the nature of survival programs, it is only natural that judges give their assessments right after tasting. Still, it feels somewhat harsh. And is it not more likely that unfamiliar things are received negatively?
Yet I catch myself speaking like those judges at times—when I first encounter a font or lettering. In that moment, it genuinely feels strange and unappealing. But after some time has passed, when I look at it again, it suddenly appears truly new and attractive. This tends to happen often when I encounter a style of creative work I have never seen before. For me, the lettering from past eras that I encountered while working on this project was exactly that.
2. New old things
Old things are new. It may sound strange, but not in the sense of an “old future”—they are genuinely new. We receive signs and advertising images that were considered ordinary in their time with a fresh sensibility today. Our way of engaging with past culture is clearly different from that of those who lived in that era. That is why I believe retro-themed works created today inevitably reflect the diverse sensibilities of contemporary creators. Below are a few unfamiliar letterforms from past eras.
2-1) Early grotesque
The early grotesque* sans-serif typefaces below look quite different from the neo-grotesque** style 「Helvetica」 that we commonly use today, do they not?
(Above) 1898, 「Gothic No 125」 / (Below) 1957, 「Helvetica」
*Grotesque: A category referring to early sans-serif typefaces that emerged and were used in the 19th century. As a transitional period shifting from serif to sans-serif, traces of serif characteristics remain. Typical examples include Grotesque MT and Franklin Gothic.
**Neo-Grotesque: A group of refined sans-serif fonts that emerged around the mid-20th century, developed based on early grotesque sans-serif styles, such as Helvetica and Univers.
Reference: Kim Hyun-mi, A Study on a New Classification System for Roman Typefaces – Focusing on the Vox-ATypI Classification, 2014, p.97
2-2) Fresh and appealing lettering from the 1900s
Source: “National Folk Museum of Korea”
3.The relationship between retro and 「SD Cohhee」
Are you familiar with the many styles that once defined entire eras, such as Art Deco, Futurism, psychedelic, and Y2K? Even today, many creators long for past styles and enjoy recreating them in their work.
「SD Cohhee」 also wanted to become a useful material for such work. At the same time, it aimed to carry on the retro concepts of Sandoll’s representative best-selling fonts—「Sandoll Gyeokdong Gothic」, 「Sandoll Cheongryu」, and 「Sandoll Rotary」—while expressing a different sensibility from those earlier fonts. The name 「SD Cohhee」 itself was inspired by narration in retro advertisements. The way copy was drawn out slowly and nostalgically felt characteristic of that era. I wrote down the sound of the word “coffee” as it was stretched out and spoken slowly. Its horizontally wide, flat proportion also fits this idea well. Perhaps drinking a lot of coffee during production played a role too.
The era 「SD Cohhee」 chose is the 1950s–1960s. It was created by reinterpreting lettering originals from that time. I hoped viewers might think, “Ah, this feels nostalgic,” but I intentionally avoided reproducing any specific lettering original so precisely that it would immediately come to mind. At the concept stage, I selected several lettering originals as motifs, then decided which elements to adopt and which to discard.
The criterion for these choices was always the blank in the sentence: “I hope users feel ◌◌ when they see this font.” I attached and removed various interesting elements, emphasizing some while leaving others only as traces. Through this process of customization toward the impression I wanted, the degree of reinterpretation naturally took shape. The ratio of old and new that I subjectively aimed for is as follows.
4. The ‘◌◌’ of 「SD Cohhee」
I imagine 「SD Cohhee」 as if it had time-leaped from the 1950s–1960s to 2023. How would it face the world? I sometimes indulge in such fantasies. I hope it is lovable, endearingly awkward, and kind to living things. At the same time, it still feels more comfortable using quirky words like “ice popsicle” or “super market.” Below are a few parts where the original lettering and I worked in harmony to best express this ‘◌◌’.
5. The original and me: restoration and reinterpretation
5-1) Rounded corners
「SD Cohhee」 is a rounded-style font with softened stroke ends and corners. In particular, curvature was applied to both the inner and outer lines of character corners. Take 「Sandoll Gogo」, another rounded-style font. Only the outer corners are rounded, while the inner corners remain straight, keeping the narrow and complex inner spaces clean.
「Sandoll Gogo cond」 and 「SD Cohhee」
「SD Cohhee」, however, applies rounding to both inside and outside corners—without exception, even on the tiny corners of the double consonant in ‘빵.’ As curves increase within each character, the soft and friendly impression of 「Keuohi」 becomes more pronounced on the page. Do these generously curved forms not remind you of vinyl lettering on old laundromat windows or bakery signs?
5-2) Short side strokes and tall short stems
It is always a point of consideration. When developing Hangul, the question is how long the side strokes and short stems should be.
Of course, this varies depending on the characteristics of the font. 「SD Cohhee」 is characterized by generous horizontal spacing between the initial and medial consonants, contrasted with notably short side strokes. Compared to conventional sans-serif Hangul fonts, its side strokes feel almost as if they stop midway.
They were set as short as possible while still allowing characters to remain recognizable at standard sizes.
Why? Because I judged this to be one of the elements in the original lettering that made the characters look exceptionally cute. If this rule is applied consistently to vertical structures, then the short stem in characters like ‘고’ must also be short.
Image Source: “National Folk Museum of Korea”
However, as seen above, even when older lettering uses generous horizontal spacing, this rule does not necessarily carry over to vertical spacing. The distance between short stems and the initial–medial area is extremely tight. I adopted this as another defining characteristic of 「SD Cohhee」.
Within a single character, two rules coexist harmoniously: generous horizontal spacing and compact vertical spacing. Can you see the contrast when viewing the two stems together? Is this gap not intriguing, like a child darting back and forth between cold and hot baths?
5-3) The puffed ‘ㅇ’
This is my favorite element from the original. The ‘ㅇ’ that opens its mouth wide like puffed rice snacks.
When typeset in sentences, the bold, open ‘ㅇ’ immediately catches the eye. It almost seems to shout, “Look at me!”—which could feel a bit burdensome—but combined with the other traits of 「SD Cohhee」, it works surprisingly well. ‘ㅇ’ is one of the most frequently used consonants. Perhaps for that reason, when examining lettering originals, I often felt that consistency in the curvature of ‘ㅇ’ across different forms was particularly low. Some versions have sharp corners on both sides, with inverted stroke thickness between horizontal and vertical lines, and awkward transitions. Others show slightly varying thicknesses.
「SD Cohhee」 reflects this by adopting a more dynamic rule for ‘ㅇ’ within the font. When occupying a large space, it becomes a full, moon-like circle; in smaller spaces, it flattens into a UFO-like oval. While maintaining this rule, I worked to achieve natural curvature in each context.
5-4) Latin letters not present in the original
The original lettering contained only Hangul, so designing Latin characters required more imagination. The way Hangul and Latin are combined within a font varies depending on the design direction. 「SD Cohhee」 chose to align Latin characters so that, even if their inner spaces are larger, their physical width closely matches that of Hangul. I felt this better preserved Hangul’s retro impression while maintaining consistent flat proportions overall. Except for i, j, and l, characters share a width similar to n, like a cute monospace font. If i, j, and l had also been kept wide, the typesetting would have felt too uniform and monotonous, so they were used as a slight irregular element.
Because of this, the Latin characters of 「SD Cohhee」 reveal their charm especially well when used at large sizes alongside Hangul.
5-5) 「SD Cohhee」 in a strange land
In multiple feedback sessions and work-sharing meetings, I often described 「SD Cohhee」 as “ugly” or “awkward.” Of course, this was the same tone as affectionately saying, “Wow, you’re really ugly,” to a chubby cat yawning. Still, I wonder if I should have searched for a more appropriate word.
Looking back, why did I choose those expressions? Perhaps because it felt like a new form that fell outside the category of the “ordinary,” leading me to use such vocabulary instinctively. I also think that, in that era, rules for Hangul type design were not yet widely standardized.
Of course, in Hangul lettering, it is possible to intentionally break rules—by ignoring consistency or applying extreme stroke contrast. But in lettering from that era, one often encounters forms that disregard rules considered fundamental in modern Hangul type design, resulting in very unfamiliar shapes. Yet, once I began the project, I realized that these forms must have felt entirely natural to users of that time. It would be wrong to simply label them, from today’s perspective, as unfinished, lacking, or crude.
With its stubby side strokes, tall short stems, dough-like ‘ㅇ,’ and inconsistent ‘ㄹ,’ 「SD Cohhee」.
I hope it remains a font that may feel unfamiliar to some, yet still endearing.
[spoiler] It might come back with a thick weight, going “ta-da”…