Kkumim
Kkumim no.2, March 1977, Mokchon Architecture Archive Collection, Gift of Moon Shin-kyu

Kkumim

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Kkumim (Embellishments) was a bimonthly design magazine that began to be published in December 1976 (first volume issued in January 1977) by Moon Shin-kyu, the head of Total Design. Gum Nuri served as the editor-in-chief from the first volume through the seventeenth (except the fourth), and Ahn Sang-Soo joined the publication of the magazine as art director. Its editorial staff included Kang Chankyun, Kwak Daeung, Kim Gilhong, Oh Kwang-su, Jeon Donghun, and Chung Shihwa. Kkumim led the discourse on Korean design in the late 1970s, along with the architecture magazine Gonggan (Space) founded in 1966, Dijain pojang (Design packaging) founded in 1970, and Wolgan dijain (Design monthly) founded in 1976. Since its inception, Kkumim had been an all-encompassing design magazine, covering a wide range of issues related to design, crafts, and architecture. However, as it transformed into an architectural criticism magazine beginning with the twenty-eighth volume published in 1981, design-related articles were naturally scaled back. Kkumim actively implemented modular grids, an unconventional format at the time. In terms of content, it pushed to develop a public taste for letters in the public sphere and the establishment of an institutional system for it. It also contributed to shaping the discourse on Hangeul (Korean alphabet) typography in the late 1970s by featuring remarks and writings by figures representing Hangeul typography at the time.
* Source: Multilingual Glossary of Korean Art. Korea Arts Management Service