
Korean Graphic Art Club
The Korean Graphic Art Club [Hanguk grapic ateu cleop; KGAC] is an organization founded in 1963 by a group of active graphic designers who graduated from the Department of Applied Arts at Seoul National University. Its name, which excluded terms like applied art or commercial art, and its practitioner-oriented membership set the KGAC apart from other organizations of designers at the time. The KGAC consisted of seven members, all of whom were working in corporations, national or public institutions, and schools after graduation. They were Bong Sangkyun and Jeong Nampil at National Film Studio, Kang Huisu at Yuhan Corporation, Yim Iseop at Dongin Dyeing, Kim Seonyeong at Daehan Travel Agency, Kim Geunbae at Deoksu Commercial High School, and Kim Hongryeon at Beomyang Chemicals. The KGAC held the group exhibition Graphic Art from May 11 to 19, 1963 at the Press Center of Korea in Taepyeong-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul. A total of thirty works were displayed at the exhibition, including record jackets, title designs for films and TV programs, calendars, medicine packages, and posters. The KGAC pioneered the concept of graphic art in the 1960s when graphic art was slowly emerging as a specialized field. Its members received modern art education that was initiated from the late 1950s by the faculty who studied abroad in the U.S. and returned to Korea, including Kim Choungza, Kwon Soonhyung, and Min Chulhong. After graduation, they worked in the field of graphic art. After the emergence of the KGAC, the term “graphic art” was eventually used widely, as seen in the Han Hongtaik’s Graphic Art, a solo exhibition held by the industrial artist Han Hongtaik in 1966.

Korean Society of Design Science
The Korean Society of Design Science [Hanguk dijain hakhoe; KSDS] is a leading design society that was founded in 1978 and is still active after its re-establishment in 1994. It has the longest history among Korean design societies, and the number of its accumulated members reaches 7,000. In October 1978, it held its first general meeting at the Korea Design and Packaging Center and elected Park Daisoon as its first president. The goals of the KSDS were to build a body of knowledge about design and expand design theory. From its founding and before its re-establishment in May 1994, it published seven volumes of their journal. Based on discussions on the need for an integrated pan-Korean design society and the revitalization of the KSDS, a general meeting was held in May 1994 at the Korea Institute of Industrial Design and Packaging Development to announce the re-launching of the KSDS. At the time, Kim Youngki was elected as its second president. Through its pioneering activities, the KSDS contributed to establish design as an independent academic field. Even today, it continues to engage in theoretical and practical explorations across the field of design. It has published the Dijainhak yeongu (Archives of design research), the only international journal in the design field in Korea, and Dijain woks (Design works), a journal geared toward research on works and projects, which began to be published in 2018. In addition, it has been conducting a wide range of projects for the academic development and industrial utilization of Korean designs by holding an international conference and an invitational exhibition of overseas design creations twice a year, publishing design books, and discovering and facilitating overseas design networks.