It was a design project of medals for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. A medal is a symbolic object, and since the meaning of the symbol can vary depending on a person, we had to think of value understandable and accepted by the entire world. We wanted to tell the global sentiment such as the value of the process, effort and patience in preparation for the Olympics, and local stories such as Korea, Pyeongchang, and Korean culture.
If the foundation of culture is language and letters, then the letters are the seeds of culture. We wanted to interpret Hangeul, the seed of culture, in a more three-dimensional way. When Hangeul, the seed, is sincerely cultivated, the culture flourishes like fruits, and the stem is the process of bearing fruits. The two-dimensional consonants of Hangeul grow into a three-dimensional circle, and the circle is cut and divided into the seed of culture, Hangeul. And the stem stands for the process.
At the front, the Olympic athletes, the history of Korean culture, efforts and patience are expressed in a diagonal line, and the side contains the Korean alphabet of the 'PyeongChang Winter Olympics'.
The strap was designed with the fabric used for "Hanbok," traditional Korean clothes, to atmosphere, and allowed two colors to overlap using a Korean traditional technique for Hanbok. The snowflakes were engraved for the feeling of Hanbok, and the Olympic flag and the emblem of PyeongChang Winter Olympics were embroidered on the strap.
