More terrifying than something that will decay is something that will never decay: The story of 「Sandoll Jeongche」
Fonts can broadly be categorized into title fonts (body type) and text fonts (display type). Text fonts are harder to make and take longer, and many new fonts are primarily designed for titles due to this tendency. Of course, well-established font foundries have at least one high-quality text font, proving their history and tradition as a "flagship model" that has been made and sold for a long time.
Finally Surfaced
In a survey of users of the font platform Sandoll Cloud, there was feedback that there was a shortage of text fonts. It had been postponed despite the need to allocate considerable budget and manpower. In the spring of 2017, the accumulated guilt bore fruit, leading to the formation of the TF team. The director was not a font designer but a typographer with experience in printing and publishing and knowledge of typesetting. Approaching from the perspective of someone who has used fonts extensively rather than someone who has created many fonts, they could meticulously address the requirements that text fonts should meet. It was an attempt to directly produce fonts while pondering over the thirst for Korean typography held by longtime heavy users.
Forming a team with strangers
As the scale of the project grew, so did the burden on the responsible person. Honestly, rather than thinking "I should do well," I found myself worrying about "what if it fails?" Everyone treated me kindly with smiling faces, but I felt extremely pressured. I read Korean and Japanese calligraphy theory books as they came, practiced brush calligraphy in my spare moments, and even watched Chinese, Japanese, and Korean calligraphy YouTube videos before bed. After defining the concept, I created prototype fonts to assess their feasibility. Thanks to this, I could communicate smoothly with veteran font designers. It seemed difficult to get back on my feet if it failed.
Now it's time to build the team. When an external director works with a designer they're meeting for the first time, what should they do first? We decided to extract what each person had in mind to create a common goal and vocabulary. The quickest and easiest way was a hands-on workshop (avoiding digital tools). We spoke, listened, wrote, and drew together about the ideal framework for text fonts, discovering and narrowing differences in our thoughts. We also conducted a workshop where we extracted the framework of the respected 「SM SEMyungJo」 and tried to add flesh to it again.
Concepts and formats for concretely envisioning text fonts as envisioned by each individual
When you draw on a slightly larger canvas, things that were buried or hidden become distinctly revealed.
To draw at this scale requires a lot of consideration. It took several days to complete this single sheet of paper. What's important here is not the outcome but the process of refining thoughts.
Research on character density and frequency
To create a font according to KS standards, 2,350 Korean characters must be drawn. It seemed essential to understand the identity of this group first before proceeding with anything. Therefore, I first attempted to determine the density and frequency of each character. Density was calculated by assigning values based on stroke length and summing them, while frequency was derived by dissecting the 2,350 Korean characters into individual components (initial consonants, vowels, and final consonants) and tallying their appearances. Initial consonants like 'ㅇㄱㅅㅎㄴ' and final consonants like 'ㄴㄹㅇㅁㅂㄱ' appeared most frequently. This research enabled prioritization of which characters should be drawn first. It was a necessary study to create a new process.
The study targeted 2,350 characters, with equal weight given to all characters. However, it's important to know which characters are used most frequently. Unfortunately, it was not possible to determine which characters people use most nowadays.
A new process: the power of short repetitions
A full-fledged development process was developed as well. Creating something new requires a new process. Just as you can't see the forest from one tree, it's difficult to anticipate how multiple characters will form sentences when drawn one by one. Therefore, the quality of text fonts depends on how early designers can simulate sentences. The existing process involved testing typesetting after drawing a substantial number of characters, making it difficult to incorporate active revisions due to the proportional amount of changes relative to the number of characters. By conducting typesetting tests early with a minimal number of characters, it becomes agile and allows for quick and easy modifications. As a result, around 460 characters were selected including characters responsible for key visuals and characters handling endings. Since text fonts are often associated with literature, I wrote in the style of a short story. I first created words, then connected them to form a literary context. With fewer words, it turned into a four-dimensional fantasy novel.
1st, 2nd, 3rd rounds of revisions
To complete a font, you need to draw several hundred characters, typeset them, read through, and repeat the editing process multiple times. This approach is often called test-driven development, agile, or iteration. Since I created a text composed of only a few hundred characters, all that's left is designing. However, it's important to remember that characters at this stage may look unattractive, and altering them prematurely can derail the development plan.
1st typesetting test results: As expected, it looked unimpressive, but fortunately, I resisted the urge to make changes. Fixing one character, such as 'ㄱ', also means fixing 'ㅋ' and 'ㄲ'. Attempting to perfect one character can escalate the workload. While refining one character and then drawing the next may seem straightforward, it's difficult to determine what's best without directly typesetting multiple characters. In other words, without clear judgment criteria, it's best not to make changes even if it's unsatisfactory—or rather, it can't be fixed. Therefore, initially, I focused on determining the positions of strokes like 'ㅣ' or 'ㅡ', which have the longest strokes. For characters like 'ㄱㄴㄷㄹ', I simply placed them in appropriate sizes and positions. I divided the process into a total of 6 stages, specifying key checkpoints for each round to gradually improve completeness. Even if there were numerous areas I wanted to fix, if they didn't fit the current round's checklist, I boldly ignored them and moved on. For a designer who instinctively reaches out to fix awkwardness, this was no easy process—it felt like living under a damp blanket for six months.
The same goes for the 2nd round. It's still far from perfect. However, don't be deceived by its unattractiveness and focus only on the combinations of consonants and vowels. For now, the position and length of strokes are crucial. Let's leave the shape of the outline for later adjustments.
The 3rd round is the most challenging. Drawing over 30% of the characters raises expectations, but it's still not good enough. It's exhausting to put in effort without immediate rewards. However, remember this: we haven't addressed spacing widths, punctuation, numbers, or Latin characters yet. We still need to focus on refining the skeleton structure.
4th, 5th, 6th rounds of revisions
By the 4th round, the font finally started to reveal a believable shape, and adding punctuation in the 5th round made it quite presentable. I was delighted after the long wait. Now that the skeleton is in place, I could finally examine the outline. To achieve this, I had to move away from the method of flowing sentences and instead create inspection texts centered around words or individual characters. In detailed work, practicality is more important than the designer's sensibilities. In this field, without end, it's almost impossible to find the way forward without working together with others. Like scuba divers diving into the vast ocean, teamwork is crucial for protecting each other's lives. The appropriate inspection text played that role.
As I ventured into numbers and Latin characters, my ambitions grew. I expanded the scope of Latin characters to include the full European range, added italics, and even included decorative uppercase swashes. I designed punctuation marks separately for both Korean and Latin characters. It was challenging, but as I began to see the end, I felt empowered. The worries of "what if it fails?" transformed into a confident "I can do this."
Back to basics—, New Text Fonts 「Jeonche」 Presentation
There are primarily two roles in a font foundry: ① Creating fonts on commission from companies (custom font development), and ② Developing fonts independently (proprietary font development). While creating fonts independently is enjoyable, generating revenue can be slow and challenging. Therefore, opening up to a presentation is as daring a new challenge as it gets, and such cases are extremely rare even internationally. Dozens of people prepared for a year. We cordially invited those we hoped would come, made reservations at a suitable venue to ensure no one who might come would be turned away, prepared sandwiches in case they missed dinner after work, and even included time for those who might need to eat outside. We didn't want to send anyone away empty-handed, so we also prepared gifts and prizes, and invited a designer who has created books with ‘Jeonche’ to talk about it. We decided we absolutely wouldn't run late because the night could be dangerous if it ended too late. (However, both the presentation and talk show went over time.)
『Sandoll Jeongche』 is not a family name but a lineage name. It's that significant. It's currently under development. That's why its name is also in three-digit numbers. The first digit represents modernity, the second weight, and the third character width. 「Jeonche 930」 is more modern than 「Jeonche 530」 but has the same weight and width. Occasionally, a Latin letter is appended as a suffix. 'i' denotes italic. 「Jeonche530」 is in regular style, while 「Jeonche 530i」 is in italic style.
Talk show panel: From left to right, , General Graphics CEO Moon Janghyun, Workroom Director Lee Kyungsoo, and Minumsa Director Hwang Il-sun.
More terrifying than decay is not decaying
Digital fonts remain unchanged from the moment they are born, no matter how much time passes. This enduring quality is referred to as "immortality" (不朽). In the world, there exist immortal masterpieces and failures. How tragic it would be if something I have preserved turns into an immortal failure, drifting through the world. Therefore, rather than dreaming of masterpieces, my heart desires to avoid failures. This is because the disgrace of a failure is much greater than the honor of a masterpiece.
At Sandoll, there is an unwritten rule that has unknowingly accumulated, a lower limit stating, "This must be achieved." (There is no need to set an upper limit) A realistic and flexible mindset that beautifies the world by not being excessive has naturally become a philosophy. This realization stems from experiencing, little by little, over 38 years that fonts can indeed make the world beautiful. We may have felt it a little earlier than others through consistent efforts. I want to share this sweet feeling with all of you.
Written by: Sandoll Lab Sim Woojin