Jin-Hoo Park is a visual communicator and typographer based in Seoul and London. She specialises in type design and creative direction.
Before studying MA Visual Communication at the RCA, Jin-Hoo completed her BFA in Visual Communication Design at Seoul National University. After her undergraduate studies, she worked as an intern at the type design studio 'Fontya' in Seoul.
The collective and the 'we'.
I believe in the power of collective voices. I love learning from people, finding out what they think, and bringing them together into the project. For me 'live research' emphasises listening, empathy, and operating in the personal and communal realms.
I wondered why typography appears to be a particularly male-dominated area of the design industry; where are the women, transgender, and non-binary people in the world of typography? I want to make a space for underrepresented designers and artists, to create a more gender balanced world of typography. I am bringing people together and connecting them to create a type family.
To make room for all, I'm running a workshop to co-design a type-family using simple methods and tools that don't require any specialist or technical knowledge. In this workshop, both participants and I will interact and get involved to create a typeface. Even though each version looks different, they are all part of the type-family since they come from the same root.
I'm still looking for participants in this movement.
I will be pleased if you come. Please, be my family!
Bodonus is a type family that involves female and gender non-conforming designers and artists, making interactions and creating bonds by co-working, co-designing, and co-publishing. As a result of the 'be my family!' workshops, Bodonus is composed of multiple versions, each named after its creator. Even though each version looks different, they are all part of the Bodonus type family, since they come from the same root. This type-family has been and will continue to be expanded with female and gender non-conforming designers and artists.
The framework of Bodonus comes from Bodoni; however, the name for this type-family represents that it was not ‘I’ who expanded it - it was ‘us’.
Bodonus into the world!
You can download the whole type family of Bodonus here. Please keep your eyes on our family; it will be continually updated and expanded.
1. These posters are for Grafik x RCA, a special edition of the online design and visual art magazine. I digitised the word 'family' based on the participants' lettering works in the "be my family!" workshops.
2. These poster works are in collaboration with Daisy Suhwoo Park. Daisy was invited to the ‘be my family!’ workshop, and I designed a typeface in response to her creation, named 'Bodonus-Daisy'. The typeface ‘Bodonus-Daisy’ is used on the posters which display her work. This project covers women's lives, general perspectives on women's bodies, and some articles that deal with female bodies.
The typeface Bodoni is often used for the title of women's magazines. However, ironically, it was designed by a male designer and has been refined by many male designers, since type design is rooted in the historically male-dominated world of printing. In the 2020s, the environment of typeface usage has now changed. Typesetting is not only limited to printed matter - many magazines, newspapers, and books have shifted to publishing online. Just as the typeface environment has changed, I insist that the shapes and system of typefaces should also change. The framework of Bodonus reinterprets the typeface Bodoni by a female designer who is working within this digital environment. The type family of Bodonus should be expanded with female and gender non-conforming designers and artists in the 2020s. To make this reinterpreting movement broader and more substantial, Bodonus will constantly evolve.
A kit for 'be my family!' includes a paper with a word printed in Bodonus-Jin P, black inked pens, and a pen corrector. The participant can create a new version of Bodonus by modifying it with pens and pen correctors, a simple but effective way of creating typeface variants without starting from scratch.
