Lyric Poster

The phrase “What if that moment’s right now?” holds special significance to me because prior to making this poster, I had not designed in a year. I feared “that moment” — the moment of the artist’s death — had already come and gone. Yet having finished the poster, the words now hold a double meaning: What if that moment — the moment of renewal — is right now?

Though abstract, the poster makes visual reference to swan feather down, a jagged horizon of ever-mounting challenges, and the night sky, the dark hour that invites such fears.

Min Yoongi’s aesthetic explorations in Daechwita are extraordinary, fusing traditional Korean aspects with modern hip hop in a half-dozen different art disciplines: music, fashion, storytelling, dance, film and more. This poster is my attempt to bring this exploration into the arena of typography.

Using traditional Korean typography styles (the online magazines from Mulgogi Publishing were indispensable reference materials), I added modern sans serifs and a certain “computer generated” flair. Developing a way of marrying vertical hangul type and horizontal English was an especially intriguing challenge.

To paraphrase for who can’t read hangul: “Before you, I was just a 사람 (person). There were only straight lines in my heart (ㅁ). But you eroded all my edges (ㅇ). You made me into a 사랑 (love).”
RM often speaks in interviews about his desire to see his thoughts delivered sincerely to his fans. As a creator, I often wonder if my intentions can be felt in my work, whether that connection I seek is actually forged.

‘Reflection’ is an introspective song that RM wrote one night in Ttukseom, a riverside park in the middle of Seoul. He has explained that it’s a place he is drawn to when there’s a lot on his mind.

Whenever I listen to this song – something about the intro – it’s like it changes the rhythm of my heartbeat and I’m pushed through into a different mental plane. I can see the bright cityscape doubled in river eddies, the darkening sky. I can smell the river murk. With this mood and setting in mind, I created a lyric poster to visualize ‘Reflection’.