Opinion BY Armin

Not your Grandparents’ Korean Record Label

Established in 1996, YG Entertainment is a record label and talent agency based in Seoul, South Korea. It handles everything from casting and talent scouting, to recording and distribution, to artist management, to concert production, to online promotion. Specializing in hip-hop and the now popular K-pop, YG Entertainment represents dozens of artists, most notably due to recent popularity, PSY. Earlier this year YG introduced a revised logo and overhauled identity designed by Seoul-based Plus X. (Although there are plenty of images in this post, this is an edited version of the full range of images that can be seen here).

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Opinion BY Armin

SSG: Health- and Design-Conscious

Established this year in the Chungdam neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea, SSG Food Market is a health-conscious food establishment that sells domestic and seasonal fresh food, traditional native food and eco-friendly products, health products with no chemical additives, and more. SSG’s identity, packaging, and environment have been designed by New York, NY-based Mucca.

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Opinion BY Armin

Pull Here

Founded in 1989 and 1986 respectively, Nara Bank and Center Bank have provided financial services to the Korean-American community across the United States. This past November they announced a merger to create BBCN Bank, creating the largest financial institution for this community in the country, with 44 full-service branches in California, New York, New Jersey, Washington and Illinois. I couldn’t find out who designed the logo, nor are there any explanations of what it means but, for some reason, I thought it was an interesting logo to point out.

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Opinion BY Armin

Italicized Mail

This will be a fairly short introduction and light in informative design background because the little information there is about this is in Korean — but, as always, the universal language of identity design will get us through this together. Korea Post is the mail carrier of Korea in charge of all postal services and the financial services offered by the post offices. A new identity, exhaustively covered in this brand manual, is now being implemented.

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