Ahn sang-soo has been one of the most influential designers in East Asia. He can justifiably claim to have masterminded a revolutionary transition of the traditional Hangul, the Korean alphabet, into a functional medium for today, with all its digital interpretations.
Born in Chungju in 1952, he has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a designer and educator. He graduated from Seoul’s Hongik University where he served as Professor and Head of the School of Graphic Design for 21 years. He is now establishing an alternative typography institute called PaTI.
He has fifteen design-related books to his credit. He is also responsible for translating seminal works on typography by Jan Tschichold and Emil Ruder. He holds a number of awards including Gutenberg-preis (2007), a commendation by the Korean Language Academy (he has four major Korean fonts to his credit). As early as 1983, he was selected as Designer of the Year by Design magazine.
He regularly travels abroad to lecture on his projects and to promote Asian design. From 1997 to 2001, Ahn was Vice President of Icograda. In 2000 October, he chaired Icograda’s prestigious Millennium Congress Oullim 2000held in Seoul. In 2001 and 2011, he organised TypoJanchi, an international typography biennale held in Seoul.
Ahn Graphics Ltd. is a leading graphic design consultancy in Seoul, South Korea, founded by the renowned designer Ahn Sang-soo in 1985. With strong roots in typography and editorial design, the firm today has expanded to branding, way-finding, digital and publishing. Not only serving the clients and audience a well-considered design product, Ahn Graphics is also committed to be the bridge between the Korean and International design world by fostering and collaborating with like-minded creative individuals and enterprise.
Website: www.ag.co.kr
