Not long ago, Copenhagen, Denmark was abuzz with excitement following the Nordic concert tour of the Korean girl group BLACKPINK. Countless young people responded with fervent enthusiasm, and the event drew significant attention from various media outlets. Today, K-culture phenomena such as (K-pop Demon Hunters) are no longer considered novel. The global interest and popularity of K-pop, K-dramas, and K-movies were just as evident in Northern Europe, where the author once resided. When examining the content at the center of the K-syndrome, one clear commonality emerges: everything is meticulously prepared. Idols who are launched into the world are not only equipped with singing and dancing skills, but are also thoroughly trained in language, acting, interviews, and communication. Entertainment agencies collaborate with specialized trainers in each field to train and develop them, a process that naturally cannot be completed in a short period of time. The frequent mention by artists of spending many years as trainees during interviews serves as clear evidence of this reality. Through repeated preparation and refinement in pursuit of perfection, they eventually reveal their presence to the world.

This offers significant implications for the field of design. Today, design can no longer be explained solely through an aesthetic pursuit of beauty. Indeed, design also requires intense and rigorous preparation. Faithful functionality rooted in essence, intuitive usability, trend reflective colors and materials, brand identity, sustainability considerations, packaging and many other factors must be in place before a product can be launched. Neglecting any one of these areas inevitably affects brand perception, which is why close collaboration with experts from each field is essential. Designers, mechanical engineers, audio engineers, product planners, marketers, sales teams, and packaging teams all come together, investing time and collective effort into the process. This is closely aligned with the way idols are prepared, as mentioned earlier. Only when every domain reaches a level of completion and readiness can something finally see the light of day. Yet that preparation is far from easy. When multiple teams collaborate, aligning differing voices into a single direction is no small task. As a result, countless products never make it to market, stalled in the preparation stage, much like the fiercely competitive idol industry.

Branding + Story

When an agency designs and plans the concept of an idol group to present to the world, that is branding. Boy group versus girl group, song selection, performance composition, visual concept, target age group, all of these fall within the realm of branding. At concerts, the nature of the fandom is also clearly visible. Fans are drawn to and devoted to the unique story of the idol. This is one of the most challenging areas for designers as well. It is crucial to direct the initial design concept so that it seamlessly permeates planning, marketing, sales, and advertising, yet this process is anything but easy. Unexpected problems and issues emerge as if on cue, and collaboration and coordination with other departments or clients must be repeated countless times. It is never a smooth journey. The author, too, has participated in and led numerous product launches for various brands as a designer, yet not a single product has ever been released smoothly without issues. Design that speaks in a consistent branding language may appear simple in writing, but the process behind it is anything but straightforward.