this is a self indulgent post as a graphic design major on the current typography trends in kpop. this is a small breakdown of those trends and other interesting and notable pieces of typography in the industry. PART TWO
𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 - 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 2000'𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨:
recently, there has been a trend of emulating, what I recognise as, early 2000’s style typography. This reflects on the current fashion trends shifting to include pieces from early 2000’s. Here are some notable uses of this retro style:
Screenshot from Chungha’s Bicycle:
Screenshot from The Boyz’s Breaking Dawn:
Screenshot from NCT 127’s Gimme Gimme:
You can see in each of these example the use of shine on the letters, and the use of a ‘metallic’ looking fill on the typography. The use of an arc over the letters is noticeable in the top two examples, and this is reminiscent of 90’s and 2000’s typography in animation such as anime, and movie logos too.
Examples of use:
Seen above are examples of that ‘chrome’ or ‘metallic’ look that was somewhat common.
𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 - 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐋𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞/𝐔𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐟 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲:
Screenshot from Kai’s Ride or Die
Screenshot from MCND’s Crush/우당탕
Above are examples of uses of sans serif fonts, the top example being all uppercase, and the bottom example being all lowercase. This has been a common trend in Kpop Mv title lettering, since the use of this font type is easily legible, unlike some of the previously mentioned typography, and it is also easily recognisable. It creates a recognisable logo but one that is also easily repeated, and printed onto merchandise etc. The use of the black background in almost all of these examples, shows good contrast for the typography, and also proves just how legible this font family is. It can easily be seen with such a dark background which proves that it is effective in it’s purpose to be seen and recognisable. To become iconic, if you will.
PART TWO HERE
Thank you for reading this post, well done for getting to the end lol. I know this is a bit different from the regularly scheduled normal kpop posts, however it’s been on my mind for a while so I wanted to elaborate on it and share my thoughts hehe. I hope this was interesting enough, and let me know your takes on it!!
