The Government of South Korea has appointed an internationally respected design leader to act as its advisor for the development of their new National Visual Identity. The client is the Presidential Council on Nation Branding which falls (unsurprisingly) under the direction of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

Michel de Boer is creative director of the highly regarded and long established Dutch design practice Studio Dumbar – a company with considerable experience of graphic / information design and design for major public projects.

The much talked-about Melbourne City brand was developed by leading international group Landor Associates (reportedly for a  price tag in the region of US$200,000), and this Korean Nation Branding is to be built on similarly strong and professional foundations. Studio Dumbar was established in 1977 by Gert Dumbar and from the start it established a reputation for excellence, creativity – and simplicity. It has offices in Rotterdam and Shanghai. It has been responsible for the redesign of Corporate Identities for Dutch Postal and Telecom Services (PTT), the ANWB (Dutch Automobile Association), the Dutch Railways and the Dutch Police and for the collateral for the European Design Festival.

Michel de Boer has worked in Korea before: he collaborated on the design of national traffic signs (both in urban areas and in the provinces and highways) and on the identity design for a newly established city close to Seoul called Unjeong. Both projects involved significant graphic / information design elements as well a series of public furniture designs and 3D related items.

South Korea is a relatively young country but it has taken a very mature position in terms of Design Policy …  and recently harvested the benefits of those design policies when Seoul won the designation of World Design Capital 2010.

http://www.studiodumbar.cn/en/index.php

http://www.studiodumbar.eu/main2.php

http://www.flickr.com/photos/studiodumbar/4166525120/in/set-72157620440731030/