InterviewInfographic expert dissects hidden layers behind K-culture

Infographics themed on Korea and K-culture produced by Infographics Lab 203 / Courtesy of Infographics Lab 203

The office of Infographics Lab 203 in western Seoul is cozy, dimly lit and filled with design-inspiring books, neatly arranged paraphernalia and framed posters of infographic projects it has produced. The place resembles a small art gallery.

Creative Director Jang Sung-hwan occupies one room for himself. He has a lot to say, probably as much as the hundreds of books on the shelves. One argument, however, touched on K-culture. He said the country's cultural products, ranging from music to food and beauty products, are now being consumed extensively worldwide, but many global audiences are missing a point. He asks, are we reading K-culture right?

It is easy for global audiences to join millions of fans surfing the Korean wave, but far less easy for them to grasp the hidden layers that form the wave — the history, statistics and fun facts behind those cultural products. These layers underpin the deeper reasons global audiences are drawn to K-culture, but remain as an underutilized selling point for Korea in promoting its culture abroad.

This is where infographics step up, a single-page illustration displaying all the information in a juxtaposed design with precise data.

“Infographics stimulate viewers’ brains faster than text. Languages can be overcome by visual structures using numbers, ratios, flow and references. What is lacking in selling K-content to the world right now is explaining about that why,” Jang said during an interview with The Korea Times.

Infographics Lab 203 Creative Director Jang Sung-hwan poses inside his lab in Seoul's Mapo District, Wednesday. Courtesy of Infographics Lab 203

“Take kimchi, for example. Related topics might include different recipes, lactic acid bacteria changing throughout fermentation stages and comparisons with other fermented foods outside Korea. If we weave them together into a single visual structure, a 'delicious food’ can become an ‘explainable culture.’ It then leads to consumers starting to trust that brand. I use infographics not as product promotion but as a way to convey culture beyond language. For K-culture to build trust in global markets, it must deliver an attractive information structure instead of relying on a sentimental dig.”

Jang’s infographics have demonstrated their edges by winning medals in Spain's Malofiej Awards each year from 2018 to 2020. It was the first time a non-English-speaking country won the internationally renowned award. He also won Graphis International Awards in the United States three times, Asian Media Awards in Singapore six times and a Red Dot medal in Germany.

“All those judges didn’t know a word of Korean. They were purely persuaded by the graphics,” he said.

One of his most arduous works was OCT Loft Creative Culture Park in Shenzhen, China, which took him almost a year to complete with frequent on-site searches and on-and-off communication with the client, OCT Group. The repurposed public space, formerly a manufacturing facility in the 1980s, only had a 2D floor plan for promotional material, providing no further explanation at all.

Jang’s infographic literally brought the piece of paper up in three dimensions, with a visual portrayal that could rivet even those who never heard of the place and encourage them to look closer. The project won him the Best Infographic at the 2025 Asian Media Awards.

One of his memorable clients includes Cheong Wa Dae, during former President Moon Jae-in's tenure. In 2019, when the world witnessed Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the inter-Korean border and shaking hands with each other, Jang was asked to be part of the historic event by creating an infographic encapsulating the entire periodic flow.

A mind-mapping process for Infographics Lab 203's "The Journey of Newspaper" project which showed newspaper printing procedures for both rotary printing press and computerized typesetting system / Courtesy of Infographics Lab 203

That project never saw the light of day. According to Jang, Cheong Wa Dae had expected the event might somehow formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, which remains under an armistice, but when that did not happen, it called off the project.

“I had completed most of that project, leaving only that last part undone," Jang said. "I was eventually paid in full. Still, that project could have been my ultimate credential."

He is currently working on putting together a page showing halal markets across Seoul.

Better than AI

There is a belief that infographic images can be easily generated by artificial intelligence (AI), which Jang dismisses. He said AI at the present level of technology can mix up text and images with certain limitations and cannot produce a streamlined context-atop-design in a visual structure pleasing to viewers.

“Nano Banana is one of those AI-guided design tools that misguide PowerPoint experts into believing they can come up with infographics too. Infographics must be intuitive. And not text-heavy, something AI is apt to blunder. For an infographic’s front end to come out beautiful and attractive, there are much more complicated back ends hustling hard and doing all the work like brainstorming, researching, mind-mapping and designing.”

A core process in Jang’s infographic process is “narrative diagram.” It is where he and his client share ideas and needs while laying down any predetermined schemes or concepts. He compares the process to the demilitarized zone in Korea.

“A narrative diagram is where a visual hierarchy is built. It is a gray zone where we freely work things out with our clients. Without this process, our products will not agree with our clients who obviously expected something else. It saves us from that emotional labor,” Jang said.