Article:

This paper attempts to illustrate how trademark design, as an early form of visual identity design, emerged and was established within the Korean visual culture from 1897 to the late 1910s. Since Korea (or Joseon Dynasty) remained as a closed country, trademarks were first introduced after the opening of its ports to foreign trade in 1876. The first chapter explains the import of the idea of modern capitalist trademark from the West through the Japanese colonialists. Although a trademark law was not legislated in Korea until 1908, the first appearance of a trademark as a visual symbol is found in the media from 1897. The second chapter characterizes this period between 1897 and 1908 as the ‘emergence’ of trademark design. During this era the inflow of foreign goods and the increase of image media such as newspapers affected trademark design. The enforcement of the trademark law in 1908, along with Japan’s colonial occupation caused a turning point in Korean trademark. The number of trademarks increased rapidly, and companies started to advertise actively. The third chapter of this paper describes the period after the legislation of a trademark law until late 1910s as the ‘establishment’ of trademark design in Korea. Trademark designs of this era became more elaborate compared to the previous, influenced by the formation of colonial-capitalist market and the institutional protection of trademarks.