Japanese Design Letters and Decorative Advertising Typography in 1920s Colonial Korea

Background This paper explores the role of typography in the transition towards more visual advertising design in 1920s colonial Korea. The study focuses on decorative “design letters” that became popular in Japanese advertising design in the 1920s, analyzes the phenomenon of design letters across Korea and Japan in detail, and articulates their influence and significance. Methods Focusing on literature research and case analysis, this study traces the movement of objects and information between Korea and Japan. Korean and Japanese advertisements from the 1910s to the early 1930s were collected to identify trends in typography. Publications from both countries were reviewed to understand the context of advertising design and design letters. Korean advertisement cases were analyzed to clarify the formal similarities, influences, and routes of information transfer in advertising typography between Korea and Japan. Results Korean companies designed advertisements expressing the visuality of letters since the 1900s through calligraphic or godik typefaces. Decorative design letters, which became popular in 1920s Japan, were contemporaneously introduced to Korea through brands such as Club and were later used by pioneering Korean pharmaceutical companies and Gyeongseong Bangjik. Korean advertisement creators referenced Japanese sources and overcame the restrictions of existing typefaces through design letters, diversifying the visual expression of typography. Conclusions The transition towards more visual advertising design in the 1920s was influenced by Japanese design letters. Based on their flexible expressiveness, decorative design letters spread in Korea as a typographic form symbolizing modern consumer culture such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, movies, and fashion.