일제강점기 간판디자인의 시각성

Background The purpose of this study is to investigate the visual characteristics of signboards related to the formation of modern commercial districts during the Japanese colonial era. By doing so, it traces back the origin of commercial visuality found in signboards, which are one of the major visual media that form the cityscape of South Korea. Methods As for the research method, this study considered magazine and newspaper articles published during the relevant period, and preceding researches related to commercial activity in the Gyeongseong district in the 1920s to 1930s to look into socio-cultural factors which served to the appearance of a sign of modern function. Also, based on literature research like this, this study analyzed the visual characteristics inherent in sign design of the Gyeongseong district during the period of Japanese Occupation(1920s to 1930s). Results The research, results show that the commercial area expansion by the Japanese during the period of the Japanese Occupation caused modern signs to be placed in Korea. Also, modern signs were found to represent a visuality distinct from that of traditional commercial signs from the aspect of its constituting method & outdoor installation scale. Such a phenomenon was found to be the result of the spread of the visual constituting method imported from Japanese merchants, in addition to the emergence of a hybrid modeling occurring in this process when an imported material culture from the outside is tied to the existing indigenous culture. Conclusions If we define a traditional sign board as "a letter-centered notice board placed below the roof", a modern sign can be defined as "an image-centered notice board" placed on the exterior wall of a store. A modern sign, which came to assume a stereoscopic shape as it was placed on an exterior wall of a building, had utility as a visual selling slogan on a street in at concentrated shopping area. At this point, the formative corporeality given off by a modern sign connoted extrinsic value as a symbol of civilization itself, and it functioned as a visual guide which directed and ushered in the modern times as a place for stimulating and meeting people’s curiosity about new products of civilization which they had never experienced before.