Airman wins iF Design Award
Members of the Republic of Korea Air Force's media content division at the Office of Public Affairs, including the designer Seo Hee-kang, second from left, staff sergeant at the ROKAF, pose for a photo together with iF CEO Ralph Wiegmann, second from right, during the iF Design Award 2019 held at the BMW Welt in Munich, Germany, March 15. Courtesy of ROKAF
By Jung Da-min
Character designs for military uniforms worn by members of the Republic of Korea Air Force have been honored at Germany's annual iF Design Award, the world-famous design contest.
There are about 50 character designs featuring different uniforms worn in various situations, including battle gear and jumpsuits.
The designs were created by Staff Sergeant Seo Hee-kang, 29.
“I felt proud as it marked the first time for a military force to have been honored for its creative work,” Seo told The Korea Times in a recent interview after he returned from Germany.
He attended the award night held at the BMW Welt in Munich on March 15 to receive the award for the contest's branding category.
“It was more meaningful that I worked as a member of the Air Force design team, as I know I could not make it as an individual.”
Seo said he received the spotlight as he was an airman and wore his uniform for the award ceremony.
Staff Sergeant Seo Hee-kang works for the ROKAF's division of media contents at the Office of Public Affairs. Courtesy of ROKAF
Majoring in visual design at Hongik University in Seoul, he joined the ROKAF's division of media contents at the Office of Public Affairs after graduating university.
All able-bodied South Korean men should serve 21-24 months in army to counter the possible North Korean invasion.
Before enlisting, Seo also created designs of album covers for popular singers including Kim Wan-sun, indie rock band Guckkasten and boy band Noel.
Seo said he could continue his creative works thanks to the encouragement of Air Force's media contents team.
“My team leader once told me, 'Let's make a souvenir that we could proudly present to anyone,' and that was how the first military uniform character design was created to be applied to a badge,” he said.
He said his favorite design among the military uniforms character collection was this first character design made for the ROKAF's basic uniform, as it was the start of the design project.
“Starting from this, over 50 variations with different kinds of uniforms have been created.”
ROKAF's uniform character designs created by Staff Sergeant Seo Hee-kang have been honored at the iF Design Award 2019 in Germany. Courtesy of ROKAF
The design project's focus on human-oriented values as well as the ROKAF's efforts to better communicate with the public have been highly appreciated by iF CEO Ralph Wiegmann and the 67-member jury panel of design experts for the iF Design Award 2019.
Started in 1954, the if Design Award has been recognized as one of the three major design awards along with Red Dot Design Award in Germany and IDEA Design Award in the U.S.
The ROKAF has distributed the uniform character designs for free on their official blog (
), for those who want to use them freely for non-profit purposes.