LEE GEON MAAN (영문)

[Design Trend] Designer LEE GEON MAAN Found a Desi
the first person who comes into the mind when hearing hangeul must be sejong the great. then what about the second? although it may vary in different people, most will think of the designer lee geon maan. designer lee geon maan, who have been concentrating on hangeu motif designs for over 10 years, has been highly renowned as a representative designer of hangeul. an artist who found a design code from the values of korean culture. beyond the jahamun tunnel, on a quiet street of buamdong, there is an office of lee geon maan. taking a step into the office, you can see the followings on the ceiling. 1. the boss is always right. 2. if you doubt it, return to 1. you may feel that the company is too suppressive, but you will understand this after listening to lee geon maan. “i did not put that message up there. one of our members did. it is a message from the members to me, saying that they will always trust and follow me, so i need to make the right decisions. it is a sarcasm in a way. i always feel burdened by that message (laugh).” lee geon maan, who is well known for his designs with hangeul motif, was, in fact, not a designer from the beginning. he majored in textiles and designs in school of arts in hongik university and in cranbrook academy of arts in the usa. until the age of 38, he used be a pure artist and an adjunct professor, who opened 6 personal exhibitions and 200 group exhibitions. then in later 1990, in a lecture, he opened up a business with 2 other students in order to find out whether his theories are right or not. he was at the age of 38. what he chose as a motif in his design was hangeul. he thought nothing else represents the korean culture, has the specialty and has the global competitiveness as hangeul does. hangeul has been continuously and creatively developed in his hands and the products he designed were used as the protocol in the blue house and the national assembly, and also as the gifts for the summits and diplomats from other countries. it was the start of the spread of the excellence of hangeul and the korean traditions. like so, he has been attributing to the development of design in korea and has been renowned as a representative designer of korea. now, in 2014, he is on a new pathway for the future. lee geon maan anf has been striving with its own strength “i have been burning my passion for one goal for over 10 years. as a result, we opened a store not only in department stores and incheon airport duty free shop, but also in the japanese department stores, which is notorious for its high barrier. yet, in 2012, we had to close the stores in all of the overseas and domestic department stores. i finally realized who we were actually competing with. brands like hassys and beanpole invest over 20 and 50 billion, which is not easy for an individual to spend.” lee has been considering the foreign luxury brands as his rivals and striving for spreading its awareness in overseas with the most korean-like designs. but what made him to make such decisions? “i think i was experiencing the ‘good boy syndrome.’ as people around give me compliments and call me the leader and the innovator, i was pressurized to come up with more. i had been investing not only my personal properties, but also money from my family members. so i thought it was the time for me to make a wise decision. it felt as if my expertise were in boxing, but i was fighting on a wrestling ring. there was no way for me to win the game. this is how difficult it is to make products out of hangeul monogram as an individual.” devotion in building the fundamental db of hangeul designs in 2013, there was a pleasurable occasion for lee geon maan anf. it was ed as a business for atc, which supports the growth the ed companies as a global professional company by founding the research institutes for the excellent companies. it is extremely difficult for a design company to receive such support, that lee geon maan anf was the second design company that was ed for the project ever. “from 2014, we will enhance the research center that provides a full service including the promotion and brand consultations. at the same time, we have planned to close the good-looking shops from department stores and increase the number of road shops instead. we are not giving up on our brand, but have changed our strategies. we will continue to develop and improve our brand.” it was not easy to make the hangeul monogram products in the same competition with other luxury goods in 10 years, but lee said he will continue with the brand studies as the fundamental research. “the design db in korea is weak. so i am planning to build the fundamentals for the design database by working on the hangeul monogram studies. i believe the experiences will finally build up to create the unique hangeul monogram brand products.” necessity for a fair k-design competition there are 3 things that lee tells his students often: do not attempt to prove it, do not think it’s unfair and do not give excuses. as it can be inferred, he has a solid confidence in his own decisions. “now the ‘designed by’ is over the ‘made in’.” as a leader of a company and as a designer, he always suffers from agonies. yet, no one will deny the fact that he has created a new design code by converging hangeul with fashion and uniquely expanded the motif of arts and culture, opening up the new ways for development of designs. it makes people to look forward to see lee geon maan’s new goals and his future moves.

[Design Trend] Designer LEE GEON MAAN Found a Desi

the first person who comes into the mind when hearing hangeul must be sejong the great. then what about the second? although it may

vary in different people, most will think of the designer lee geon maan. designer lee geon maan, who have been concentrating on hangeu

motif designs for over 10 years, has been highly renowned as a representative designer of hangeul.

an artist who found a design code from the values of korean culture.

beyond the jahamun tunnel, on a quiet street of buamdong, there is an office of lee geon maan. taking a step into the office, you can see the

followings on the ceiling.

1. the boss is always right.

2. if you doubt it, return to 1.

you may feel that the company is too suppressive, but you will understand this after listening to lee geon maan.

“i did not put that message up there. one of our members did. it is a message from the members to me, saying that they will always trust and

follow me, so i need to make the right decisions. it is a sarcasm in a way. i always feel burdened by that message (laugh).”

lee geon maan, who is well known for his designs with hangeul motif, was, in fact, not a designer from the beginning. he majored in textiles

and designs in school of arts in hongik university and in cranbrook academy of arts in the usa. until the age of 38, he used be a pure artist and an adjunct professor, who opened 6 personal exhibitions and 200 group exhibitions. then in later 1990, in a lecture, he opened up a

business with 2 other students in order to find out whether his theories are right or not. he was at the age of 38.

what he chose as a motif in his design was hangeul. he thought nothing else represents the korean

culture, has the specialty and has the global competitiveness as hangeul does. hangeul has been continuously and creatively developed in his

hands and the products he designed were used as the protocol in the blue house and the national assembly, and also as the gifts for the

summits and diplomats from other countries. it was the start of the spread of the excellence of hangeul and the korean traditions. like so, he

has been attributing to the development of design in korea and has been renowned as a representative designer of korea. now, in 2014, he is on a new pathway for the future.

lee geon maan anf has been striving with its own strength

“i have been burning my passion for one goal for over 10 years. as a result, we opened a store not only in department stores and incheon

airport duty free shop, but also in the japanese department stores, which is notorious for its high barrier. yet, in 2012, we had to close the

stores in all of the overseas and domestic department stores. i finally realized who we were actually competing with. brands like hassys and

beanpole invest over 20 and 50 billion, which is not easy for an individual to spend.”

lee has been considering the foreign luxury brands as his rivals and striving for spreading its awareness in overseas with the most korean-like

designs. but what made him to make such decisions?

“i think i was experiencing the ‘good boy syndrome.’ as people around give me compliments and call me the leader and the innovator, i was

pressurized to come up with more. i had been investing not only my personal properties, but also money from my family members. so i

thought it was the time for me to make a wise decision. it felt as if my expertise were in boxing, but i was fighting on a wrestling ring. there was no way for me to win the game. this is how difficult it is to make products out of hangeul monogram as an individual.”

devotion in building the fundamental db of hangeul designs

in 2013, there was a pleasurable occasion for lee geon maan anf.

it was ed as a business for atc, which supports the growth the ed companies as a global professional company by founding the research institutes for the excellent companies. it is extremely difficult for a design company to receive such support, that lee geon maan anf was the second design company that was ed for the project ever.

“from 2014, we will enhance the research center that provides a full service including the promotion and brand consultations. at the same

time, we have planned to close the good-looking shops from department stores and increase the number of road shops instead. we are not

giving up on our brand, but have changed our strategies. we will continue to develop and improve our brand.”

it was not easy to make the hangeul monogram products in the same competition with other luxury goods in 10 years, but lee said he will

continue with the brand studies as the fundamental research.

“the design db in korea is weak. so i am planning to build the fundamentals for the design database by working on the hangeul monogram studies. i believe the experiences will finally build up to create the unique hangeul monogram brand products.”

necessity for a fair k-design competition

there are 3 things that lee tells his students often: do not attempt to prove it, do not think it’s unfair

and do not give excuses. as it can be inferred, he has a solid confidence in his own decisions.

“now the ‘designed by’ is over the ‘made in’.”

as a leader of a company and as a designer, he always suffers from agonies. yet, no one will deny the fact that he has created a new design

code by converging hangeul with fashion and uniquely expanded the motif of arts and culture, opening up the new ways for development of

designs. it makes people to look forward to see lee geon maan’s new goals and his future moves.

PRESS